These are a few of my favorite things...
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens...I was thinking about that contagious song. It is so fun to sing, and the movie is a great one too! I've always thought about recording my favorites so that my kids can know a little more about the things that made me smile, or remember how some of them provided me such comfort someday when they're reflecting on their mom. There are some things that have been on my list for years...never changing, always filling me full of happiness, and there are some things that have been added more recently. I've gotten to share some of these things before with perfect strangers sometimes, by filling out the email questionarre about "What is your favorite smell...movie...place...
Those are the simple things.
Favorite smells: fresh cut grass, lilacs, a brewing pot of good coffee, and of course a freshly sealed gym floor...maybe my favorite smell of all. In my mind, this smell is associated with fall...my favorite season. The night sky is often reddish with a little haze...it's a football sky. The weather is crisp...a good time to unpack those warm sweaters that have been put away for months. The season is changing, the leaves are falling. The year kind of starts anew again...new schedules, new shoes for school, new sports seasons...volleyball 3 and 2-a-days in that gym with a freshly sealed floor. It was always a very exciting time.
Favorite Foods: It may be easier to just say that I don't eat liver! Yuck. I did...with a bottle of Heinz 57 sauce...the three required bites, and then when i wasn't made to eat it anymore, I didn't, and haven't! Blackberry dumplings, minute steak and almost anything Mexican definitely top my list. i could eat Mexican food 6 days a week I'm sure. I need to learn to make blackberry dumplings, because it is a rare occasion that I get them anymore...but when I do, I know just how much my mom loves me!!! Diet Coke is my drink...just for the taste of it. When I was little, I had a friend whose mom drank Diet Coke...6 or 7 cans in the short time frame of our play dates. I never understood that. I do now. :) If I am pregnant or nursing, it simply changes to caffiene free Diet Coke. Sugar-free Hazelnut latte with skim milk is my hot treat of choice, and if it has alcohol in it...a wheat beer or a margarita on the rocks with salt on the rim. Snacks...well, that's hard. I have a sweet tooth, so if it has sugar, it is bound to be a favorite. Chocolate chip cookies, real fudge, and bottle caps are on top today at least.
Favorite flicks: I really would have to say that "Pretty Woman" remains at the top of my list. It never gets old. TV doesn't get viewed much these days. I followed "ER" from debut to final episode and I haven't missed an episode of "Chuck" thanks to DVR. I must confess that I have also watched "Days of Our Lives" (I know, it is trash!) since I had the chicken pox in 3rd grade. Imagine how boring the days can get when of the three channels that we got on TV, when Sesame Street was over in the morning, nothing else was on, and way back then, chicken pox meant staying in bed for like 7 days! My poor mother finally gave in to my begging to watch just one hour of TV in the afternoon. Although I don't watch it faithfully, I can't help but want to catch up on it occasionally. It doesn't take long to figure out what is going on and get wrapped up in the story line, as screwed up as it is.
Favorite holiday: It is definitely a tie between Easter and Christmas. I love them both. One to celebrate Christ's birth, the other to celebrate what He did to offer us eternal life and that He is risen.
The rest of the things on my "list" I think are random. I love to decorate, read magazines, create things. I love to be outside to garden, hike, camp, sun bathe, play, work...it doesn't matter what it is...if it is sunny and warm, you'll find me outdoors if it is possible. My favorite color must be black, brown, or grey. I scrapbook in these colors, I dress in these colors, I decorate in these colors.
I love going home which is back to where i grew up. I love it when my Grandma makes chicken noodle soup and butterballs and when my Grandpa lets the kids listen to the squeal of his hearing aid. I love it when my dad teaches me things and talking to my mom on the phone like we're old friends. I love posing for pictures with my sister and brother on either side of me just like we have for as long as I can remember. I love that I love my siblings!
I love good friends...the ones that don't judge me based on my messy house. The ones that can hear me snapping at my kids when I'm on the phone and laugh because I am. The ones that are happy for me when I'm happy and cry with me when I'm sad. The ones that pray for me. The ones that I would trust to raise my kids if I couldn't. The ones that are walking in my shoes. The ones that I feel I've known all my life even if I've only known them a short time. The ones that understand when I stand them up for a 6 am run because I overslept. (That happened this morning)
I love the feel of a forming little one in my womb...and the rush of delivering that baby into the world. I really do, pain and all that goes with it, well ALMOST all that goes with it. I could do without what else happens when you push that hard! I love the smell of a newborn and the feel of their skin next to mine. I love the little tiny squeaks that they make when they're sleeping and the purposeful noises they begin to make as they grow. I love watching them discover things and learn things, like how to pick up things in between their thumb and finger, play patty cake, how to climb up the ladder on the slide and turn around at the top to go down on their tummies. I love it when someone laughs and it is so contageous that before long everyone is laughing and no one can remember why.
I love the way the sky looks when it is going to rain, and how it smells when the rain comes down. I love to watch the chickens peck at the ground to get every last bit of food that has been scattered. I love watching the kids play catch in the yard or build sandcastles and cities in the sand for hours. I love eating at the table as a family, even though it is loud and crazy. I love to snuggle on the couch with as many kids can fit to watch a movie, and go for bike rides in the summer time. I love to fly. I think it makes me feel like I am priveledged or something. I love a lazy Saturday, and afternoon naps. I love how the bare winter trees transform almost magically into full leafy canopies from just the little dots of green buds in just a matter of days and how the green starts creeping across the grass as spring arrives.
I love it when my husband tells me how good dinner was or tells the kids they have the best mom in the world. (I love it when they remind him that I am second best...right behind Mary, but that I am the best mom on earth).
I love our St. Teresa's family...the friends, the education, the priests, the opportunities, the way it seems easier to provide our children not only an education but an environment that offers safety and the ability to surround our children with God's love.
Oh, there are so many things. I may need to visit this blog post when I'm having a pity party for myself to remember how many things make me happy. I could go on and on. "When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don't feel sooo bad."
Those are the simple things.
Favorite smells: fresh cut grass, lilacs, a brewing pot of good coffee, and of course a freshly sealed gym floor...maybe my favorite smell of all. In my mind, this smell is associated with fall...my favorite season. The night sky is often reddish with a little haze...it's a football sky. The weather is crisp...a good time to unpack those warm sweaters that have been put away for months. The season is changing, the leaves are falling. The year kind of starts anew again...new schedules, new shoes for school, new sports seasons...volleyball 3 and 2-a-days in that gym with a freshly sealed floor. It was always a very exciting time.
Favorite Foods: It may be easier to just say that I don't eat liver! Yuck. I did...with a bottle of Heinz 57 sauce...the three required bites, and then when i wasn't made to eat it anymore, I didn't, and haven't! Blackberry dumplings, minute steak and almost anything Mexican definitely top my list. i could eat Mexican food 6 days a week I'm sure. I need to learn to make blackberry dumplings, because it is a rare occasion that I get them anymore...but when I do, I know just how much my mom loves me!!! Diet Coke is my drink...just for the taste of it. When I was little, I had a friend whose mom drank Diet Coke...6 or 7 cans in the short time frame of our play dates. I never understood that. I do now. :) If I am pregnant or nursing, it simply changes to caffiene free Diet Coke. Sugar-free Hazelnut latte with skim milk is my hot treat of choice, and if it has alcohol in it...a wheat beer or a margarita on the rocks with salt on the rim. Snacks...well, that's hard. I have a sweet tooth, so if it has sugar, it is bound to be a favorite. Chocolate chip cookies, real fudge, and bottle caps are on top today at least.
Favorite flicks: I really would have to say that "Pretty Woman" remains at the top of my list. It never gets old. TV doesn't get viewed much these days. I followed "ER" from debut to final episode and I haven't missed an episode of "Chuck" thanks to DVR. I must confess that I have also watched "Days of Our Lives" (I know, it is trash!) since I had the chicken pox in 3rd grade. Imagine how boring the days can get when of the three channels that we got on TV, when Sesame Street was over in the morning, nothing else was on, and way back then, chicken pox meant staying in bed for like 7 days! My poor mother finally gave in to my begging to watch just one hour of TV in the afternoon. Although I don't watch it faithfully, I can't help but want to catch up on it occasionally. It doesn't take long to figure out what is going on and get wrapped up in the story line, as screwed up as it is.
Favorite holiday: It is definitely a tie between Easter and Christmas. I love them both. One to celebrate Christ's birth, the other to celebrate what He did to offer us eternal life and that He is risen.
The rest of the things on my "list" I think are random. I love to decorate, read magazines, create things. I love to be outside to garden, hike, camp, sun bathe, play, work...it doesn't matter what it is...if it is sunny and warm, you'll find me outdoors if it is possible. My favorite color must be black, brown, or grey. I scrapbook in these colors, I dress in these colors, I decorate in these colors.
I love going home which is back to where i grew up. I love it when my Grandma makes chicken noodle soup and butterballs and when my Grandpa lets the kids listen to the squeal of his hearing aid. I love it when my dad teaches me things and talking to my mom on the phone like we're old friends. I love posing for pictures with my sister and brother on either side of me just like we have for as long as I can remember. I love that I love my siblings!
I love good friends...the ones that don't judge me based on my messy house. The ones that can hear me snapping at my kids when I'm on the phone and laugh because I am. The ones that are happy for me when I'm happy and cry with me when I'm sad. The ones that pray for me. The ones that I would trust to raise my kids if I couldn't. The ones that are walking in my shoes. The ones that I feel I've known all my life even if I've only known them a short time. The ones that understand when I stand them up for a 6 am run because I overslept. (That happened this morning)
I love the feel of a forming little one in my womb...and the rush of delivering that baby into the world. I really do, pain and all that goes with it, well ALMOST all that goes with it. I could do without what else happens when you push that hard! I love the smell of a newborn and the feel of their skin next to mine. I love the little tiny squeaks that they make when they're sleeping and the purposeful noises they begin to make as they grow. I love watching them discover things and learn things, like how to pick up things in between their thumb and finger, play patty cake, how to climb up the ladder on the slide and turn around at the top to go down on their tummies. I love it when someone laughs and it is so contageous that before long everyone is laughing and no one can remember why.
I love the way the sky looks when it is going to rain, and how it smells when the rain comes down. I love to watch the chickens peck at the ground to get every last bit of food that has been scattered. I love watching the kids play catch in the yard or build sandcastles and cities in the sand for hours. I love eating at the table as a family, even though it is loud and crazy. I love to snuggle on the couch with as many kids can fit to watch a movie, and go for bike rides in the summer time. I love to fly. I think it makes me feel like I am priveledged or something. I love a lazy Saturday, and afternoon naps. I love how the bare winter trees transform almost magically into full leafy canopies from just the little dots of green buds in just a matter of days and how the green starts creeping across the grass as spring arrives.
I love it when my husband tells me how good dinner was or tells the kids they have the best mom in the world. (I love it when they remind him that I am second best...right behind Mary, but that I am the best mom on earth).
I love our St. Teresa's family...the friends, the education, the priests, the opportunities, the way it seems easier to provide our children not only an education but an environment that offers safety and the ability to surround our children with God's love.
Oh, there are so many things. I may need to visit this blog post when I'm having a pity party for myself to remember how many things make me happy. I could go on and on. "When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don't feel sooo bad."
