I have the need to re-create things. Re-create moments and events - trying to capture the exact feeling I once felt. When I go on vacation in the summer I want the air temperature in the hotel or cabin to be arctic because that's the way it's supposed to be...you're supposed to come in from the sweltering day and almost throw your body into shock when you walk into the refrigerator that is your temporary home. Not only do you keep the temperature the same as you remember, you go to the same place you've always gone...the smokey mountains. You MUST drive in through the long winding path that suddenly thrusts you into Gatlinburg (even though that road ALWAYS makes you carsick - but that's part of the experience), and you must ... this could really keep going, but I think only one or two of you would know what I was talking about. This problem doesn't just apply to vacations; I do this with everything. I am actually planning to do it tomorrow. My family and friends from church and I used to attend an Easter passion play every spring at a university about 2 hours away. We would load up the car with the most abundant and wonderful picnic food you can imagine (pringles in at least 4 different varieties), and we would picnic at the same spot every year before going to see the play. Well, there is a similar event happening here in Michigan tomorrow, and all I can think of is, how do I make it perfect? By this I mean, how do I recreate the good feelings I have associated with this event in the past? But as I do this I realize I am setting myself up for disappointment. It is not 2 hours away, it is 2 minutes away. My family and church friends are not here, there are only 3 of us going. Why would we need 4 cans of pringles? It is about 50 degrees instead of 70 (so no 1st sunburn of the year) sigh. sigh. sigh.
My husband tells me I need to experience things as they happen and not try to mold them to fit what I think is a good time (which reading over this I now realize includes hypothermia, car sickness, and a sun burn, hmmmm). I agree with him, and I know it's true, but . . . maybe I don't know how to live for the moment. Is that something you can learn?
1. I am mildly amused by the fact that there is snow today...APRIL 6TH!
2. I am super excited that my dear friend had her baby; it's almost surreal, I mean, I was used to her being pregnant now, but I think I talked with her so much about the pregnancy and the birth that I just forgot to prepare my mind that she would have a BABY! A beautiful little baby that she is now the mommy of...she's a mom! Wow.
3. I am very happy that my husband loves me even when I'm whinny and crazy. I have developed this weekly depression; it begins every Sunday night when I realize the weekend's over and I have to go back to work...and I can feel myself sinking and I realize I am becoming almost unbearable to others (others being my husband). But he is so patient and good to me, and he suggested we make Monday something to look foward to by taking an extra long lunch break together (the only day we can do this) and making stir-fry. :) He's a good man.
4. I am excited about my flowers and vegetables seeds! We bought them yesterday...so in the near future we will put our little seeds into their little cups - and love them and watch them grow until they are ready to make it outside - or rather till the outside is ready to take care of them. I am especially excited about my four very beautiful pots in which I will place my four different herbs :)
I have a purple pen. I feel the need to tell you this. It is a simple bic pen with a lid, but I have fallen in love with it. It writes in purple too. It says "April is Month Of The Young Child". Yep. Now that I write it, it sounds like some kind of Native American phrase...like, "Michigan is land of many snow" or something like that. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you about my pen. I am glad that small things can still make me happy. So here's to the small things........
Bubbles. I used to spend hours doing the dishes...making more and more bubbles...shaping them into things, blowing them around the kitchen.
A nicely made-up bed.
Kermit the frog singing "Wild Thing".
Winnie-the-Pooh.
Small children in plays and programs.
The home video of my little sister's first birthday.
Giving the perfect gift to someone.
Knowing that my long candle-lighter is always in the same place.
Planning things.
Forsythia. The name and the flower.
and purple pens that write in the perfect shade of purple.
Share what little things make you happy....maybe I want to add some to my list. :)
