I love to make people laugh. I think it’s just ingrained in me to give people a reason to guffaw, chuckle, chortle, rofl, or lmao. I am also one of those people who – no matter how very hard I try not to – I DO care what other people think and the highest compliments someone can give me is: a.) I think you are so smart! Or b.) I think you are so funny! So for my sister to comment and say she had tears rolling down her cheeks laughing because of my last blog – I was extremely flattered! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much, keep it coming!

We are off to the Valley this weekend. I am planning on getting LOTS of photos so Wordless Wednesday next week may be quite picturesque. At least I’m hoping it will. I’m just happy to be getting THE HECK OUT OF HERE for a while. Yes, I was yelling that part.

So – my smiles and I leave you until Tuesday.

My son. He is learning to do laundry and he actually LIKES it !?!?
Making people laugh. Explanation above.
A good book. I’m reading a good one now! I’ll probably add a great book list to the side margin – this will definitely be included.
Thursday after weigh-in. Yep, I was up. Nope, I’m not all that upset because I wasn’t up all that much and I blew it big this week. But I’ve decided – the Thursday after weigh-in is cheat night. I can eat anything I want and not feel guilty. Of course, last night it was (yes I know it sounds gross) pizza, tater tots and spaghetti! MMmmm I could feel the carbs hit my thighs.
Sabrina. During weigh in we got these sample little Weight Watcher bars. I was really really hungry because of course I hadn’t eaten hardly anything all day because of the dreaded weigh in so when I got in my car to leave, I opened it and ate it immediately and then felt guilty and then didn’t because it was, after all, Thursday Night Cheat Night. And then I though of Bebe – my thoughts went something like this “SHE probably still has her little fruit bar. SHE probably will wait until after a sensible dinner or maybe have it as a bedtime snack. SHE probably won’t eat hers so fast that she has a hard time swallowing because she shoved nearly the whole thing in her mouth. I wonder if SHE will think it tasted kinda like cardboard with fruit bits pushed down into it.” So just a little bit later, SHE calls:

Bebe: Babe, did you eat your fruit bar yet? (Thought: Great, she’s going to hold me accountable and I cannot lie to her)
Babe: YEP. Surrre did!
Bebe: Me too, it was gone by the time I made it to Highway N.
Babe: At least you made it that far. Mine was gone before I pulled out of the parking lot.

I have been advised to keep my blog happy and funny instead of maudlin and intense. In response to said recommendation, it will depend upon my mood as to if a funny and happy blog is recorded. As we’ve already established, my mood is not always chipper and positive. But I’m working on it. I really am.

I have been banned from going to a few places close to work during lunchtime because if I frequent these preferred merchandisers during my half-hour of midday freedom, I am always late. Always. So I have to go after work. Yesterday, it was The Goodwiller. Go with me here – you’ll understand the -er in a moment. That’s the funny part. I sometimes shop at the Goodwiller since the kids grow out of pants in an hour. And for this reason, I also refuse to spend a ton of money on jeans. I can save a lot of money and buy gently used brand name stuff and the most expensive piece of clothing I bought was $6 and it was for Ambercrombie pants. Ta Da!

The Goodwiller is also full of other good stuff and I love to just roam around, look at all the junk (ahem) good stuff. Sometimes they have really good stuff and it’s new! Store tags on still!!

So yesterday, I am just meandering up and down the aisles and I’m thinking to myself, I love the Goodwiller. And that got me thinking. Why do I call it Goodwiller? I think it is my mom’s fault. So I called my mom. Here’s the conversation. Keep in mind this is over the “loud speaker” while my dad is in the background talking on his cellphone on his “loud speaker” and my sister is there texting me dirty messages that really come out not dirty because her predictive text changes dirty words to clean words. FYI: Sabrina is Bebe. I (Catrina) am Babe.

Bebe: BABE. Where are you? Are you coming over to moms?
Babe: No I’m not coming over to moms, I was at the Goodwiller and I am on my way home now.
Bebe: Didn’t you get my message?
Babe: What message? Did you text?
Bebe: No, I sent you an e-mail.
Babe: What time?
Bebe: Hell-O. 4:30!
Babe: I didn’t get it.
Bebe: Maybe you should get your e-mail more often.
Babe: I got it as I was leaving at FIVE and there were not ANY messages from you.
Bebe: I got Outlook now. Why do all your e-mails ask for a read receipt?
Babe: I have it set up that way.
More conversation on the read receipt and why I have it set up that way and why do I even bother when the reader can say NO.
Bebe (to Aunt Emma on dad’s cell phone): Hi Aunt Emma.
Aunt Emma: HI Sabrina
Babe (to Aunt Emma on dad’s cell phone): Hi Aunt Emma.
Aunt Emma: WHAT?
Dad: That was Catrina, she says Hi.
Aunt Emma: OH HI Catrina.
Babe: How are you?
Silence.
Silence.
Babe: Hello?
Babe: Hello?
End Call

TEXT MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM BEBE CELL: DITCH.
TEXT MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM MOM CELL: 636577****
TEXT MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM MOM CELL: Citch bunt. (Obviously penned by Bebe)

Ring Ring:
Bebe: Why did you hang up on me?
Babe: I didn’t hang up on YOU. I hung up after I couldn’t hear anything
Bebe: Did you get my text message?
Babe: Yes I did. You can go ‘sips’ up a rope.
Bebe: Did you get moms text message?
Babe: Yep, She’s going to make me a bunt cake.
Bebe (to mom) NOW she thinks you’re going to make her a bunt cake.
Mom: I don’t even know HOW to text. That wasn’t from me.
Bebe: So where are you?
Babe: I was at the Goodwiller.
Bebe: Why were you at the Goodwill?
Babe: Buying jeans for Lizzie and Sam.
Bebe: Hopefully it wasn’t any of the pants I just gave to Goodwill.
Babe: Me too. Why do we call it the Goodwiller? Who started that?
Bebe: I don’t call it the Goodwiller.
Mom: I don’t remember. I think it was Sam. NO wait, it was Lizzie. NO wait! It was you [Babe] that started it. I overheard you one day talking to John (our old dog) who was being bad or something (probably crapped in the family room again) and you told him if he wasn’t good, mom was going to give him to the Goodwiller.

Conversation went on from there. I think there was more conversation within this dialog, but the gist of the entire thing – it took me two phone calls (actually three because Bebe hung up on me trying to get me on the speaker phone), three texts and about 15 minutes to get the answer to my question.

SMILES:

Anticipation of the LONG weekend!
Photos.
Family.
Good days.
Tater tots.

My doctor has told me in the past to stay off webmd.com. Simply because I try to diagnose myself and of course more oft than not, I am completely wrong. Here are my past incorrect diagnosis’: (WHAT is the plural of diagnosis? Diagnoses, diagnosises??)

• Lock Jaw
• Stroke
• Heart Attack
• Fractured Foot
• Pneumonia
• Diabetes
• Brain tumor

Now, mind you this has been over the past ten years or so - NO I am NOT a hypochondriac. I just get these weird symptoms sometimes that are truly nothing at all to worry about until I go to … (drum roll) THE SYMPTOM CHECKER. For God’s sake, have you ever checked symptoms on there? I am POSITIVE I am not the only one who misdiagnosed herself with something major after being on there. Hence – the doctor’s statement “Catrina. DO NOT go on webmd.com EVER again.” Or something to that effect.

But I often wonder if one particular diagnosis was correct. I worry, truly worry, that I suffer from clinical depression. Sometimes I get in these moods that I just can’t get out of. I know, everyone gets down and I know, everyone has problems – most of them a lot worse than my problems. I’ve heard it all and it makes me all the more depressed. Is that why 80% of American people today are on some sort of anti-depressant? Is that why the CDC says anti-depressants are the most commonly prescribed medication? There’s a book out there called “Artificial Unhappiness: The Dark Side of the New Happy Class” by Dr. Dworkin or something like that. In it, he says “Too many people take drugs when they really need to be making changes in their lives." I don’t want to be on an anti-depressant and I don’t want to be a statistic. Is it a inherited? Is it a chemical imbalance? Am I just friggin’ sad?

I do know of some changes I need to make. I need to get back with God. And I honestly believe that right there is the sole (soul) problem. I think there really are people that suffer from chemical imbalances that need the prescriptions, etc. but I also think, after thinking it through-typing it out really-that I am not one of them. God needs to be first in my life again. I have much that has drifted in front of Him, some knowingly and some unknowingly. I need to remember this whole thing about life - it is not about ME. I was reading a book yesterday and one statement in particular jumped out at me so much that for the first time in a very long time, I reached for a highlighter along with a pen and paper so I could remember it, write it down and dwell on it.

“For only if we let Him in, can He pull us out”.

Out of the muck and mire of our world. Out of the depths of despair that sometimes overtake us because we live in a fallen world that is completely selfish, imperfect and all about self self self and why self isn’t getting what self deserves. Looking at it that why, no wonder 80% of the population needs an outside resource to be seen as happy and well adjusted! If self got what self REALLY deserves according the Bible, self would be rotting in The Sulfur Pit also knows as H-E-double hockey sticks.

Wow. And try to make a smile list after that. HA

1. Enlightenment. It’s good to know I’m not suffering from clinical depression.
2. Cucumbers. My pastor gave me a HUGE bag of cucumbers and I’ve nearly made myself sick.
3. My brother. I haven’t talked to him in a few days but I think I’ve said it before. He’s the kind of guy I need in my life when I need to hear the truth. It’s not always what I want to hear. Not some trumped up, nerve-soothing speech but the honest truth, which sometimes I really do not WANT to hear but NEED to. Example “Catrina – no wonder you feel like your life is screwed up right now, IT IS! Get back to God where you belong!”
4. Weather. Again, it’s beautiful.
5. Hope. ‘Nuf said.

I leave you with another highlighted portion of my book…

His will, or yours?

My good friend Elizabeth has a blogroll. She has a list of interesting & friends blogs on the margin of her blog. She included me in her list so maybe...just maybe...I'll score some more traffic. I love reading other peoples blogs but especially when I know more about that person. In that tradition, I've decided to start my own blogroll. Of course, I only have three at the moment: Elizabeth's and my Aunts and Stef's, but I'm not sure she still blogs. For any new people that happen upon my pages. Comment - tell me what you like/think, I'll add you to the blogroll and we can become Blog Buddies. How cute is that?

Also, some smiles from the past few days, but without the lengthy explanations. These are just things that made me smile:
1. THE WEEKEND!
2. A vegetable garden
3. Cardinals Baseball
4. A long family bike ride
5. A mulberry bush
6. My family
7. My friends
8. Sleeping late
9. Lazy days
10. BEAUTIFUL weather!

Remember when I said I was going to write Lizzie a letter for her 10th birthday? Well, as busy as we got I was never able to do that for her. I did write one over the course of this past week and I've finished it and plan on giving it to her this weekend. I folded it up like back when we used to pass notes in Junior High and wrote on the outside and everything. I'm absolutely sure she will love it and cherish it - well, I hope she will. So instead of a smile list today, I've dediced to post a copy of her letter. Of course, this is the typed version - I wrote hers by hand. Seems more personal this way. Tell me what you think...

So I was lax and didn’t get anything posted yesterday. I was actually pretty busy. Was going to post the smiles from the weekend but didn’t get around to it. So here’s an all-inclusive list from Friday through Yesterday:

1. MY KIDS ARE HOME! I am very grateful they are home. This year was worse on me than ever. I’ll just leave it at that but they had a blast.
2. Movies! We took the kids to see Rocket Man at the dollar show Sunday. They saw it while in North Carolina but wanted to “take us” to see it so we all went and it was a very good movie. Fun doing that kind of thing with them.
3. Good Times! One of my friends got married in Vegas about a month ago then had a reception on Saturday night. It was great fun connecting with old friends and having a good time.
4. Bike Rides! The kids and I have gone on a bike ride the last two days. Granted, mom doesn’t go very far because she is so very out of shape, but hence the bike riding: I’m getting in shape even if it kills me!
5. Weight Loss! Another good week!
6. School Starts Today! I know – I’m over my five but I have 3 days worth of stuff to post here so it’s ok. Sam, Liz and I went yesterday morning for Sam’s football physical and then went to their schools to get a feel for class location, etc. They had a great time and were very excited to get back in school. Funny. I don’t remember being excited AT ALL. I’m glad they enjoy it and I hope that lasts!
7. My brother! Left me a voice mail yesterday as ‘Catholic Guy’. If you don’t know, I cannot explain it by a mere written word. Ask me sometime and I’ll tell you. If you do know, then you know I did not just smile but gut laughed!
8. My sisters! Each in their own way support me and encourage me so very much.

Tomorrow – I’m instituting Wordless Wednesday. It’ll be all pictures – maybe just one, maybe more. But you’ll see. Hopefully I remember.

And I’m asking for prayers. I have three VERY hot irons in the fire regarding new employment and I’m hoping one of them is THE place for me!

I didn’t get my list posted yesterday. I thought about and then apparently forgot. I think sometimes I’m very airheaded. So here is my list from yesterday:

1. Practical Joke retaliation: This is technically a leftover from Tuesday but it has been ongoing since the hanging of the Aflac duck. I got to work Tuesday and he was hanging from my overhead shelf. I got totally busted trying to hang him from her ceiling. I’ve added length to his noose and am waiting patiently for an obscure moment to finish what I started.
2. Inspirations: Another leftover from Tuesday. As you know, Bebe and I joined Weight Watchers together and I got to see her Tuesday night. It seems like her weight is just flying off and she looks fabulous! She’s my inspiration to keep trudging along.
3. Family: Yes, again. My family is a huge part of my existence. We’ve been through a lot together. We’ve held each other up when we’ve lost loved ones and we’ve watched each other soar during great moments and everything in between. I’m just happy to be a part of so a close-knit unit and that I can do my part holding up and witnessing the soars.
4. Homemade Ranch Dressing: I know, its stupid but I LOVE homemade buttermilk ranch and I made some the other day and brought it with me to work. Carrots and homemade buttermilk ranch. Mmm mmm mmm mmm mm!
5. More fresh tomatoes: I was able to pick about ten more ripe tomatoes from the abandoned garden next door. Well. They’re not really abandoned. I found out the new neighbors are moving in soon and they’ve been doing some work over there. At one point, they took all the ripe tomatoes so I had to wait for new ones. I know, how dare they!

And I have a big smile for today! My Sammy and my Lizzie come home tomorrow. YAY!

Tell me how you like the new layout and the new title. Be sure to read the reason for the title, too. Comments are not required but appreciated very much!

Smiles from Monday!

1. I have to say – the weather! How crazy is it that we’ve had temperatures in the 70’s and 80’s in August in St. Louis? I love it! I sat outside on my deck last night until about 11pm just enjoying…
2. My parents. Again. I got a voicemail last night from my mom to call my dad on his cell phone. I tried dad’s cell phone, straight to his voicemail. Tried to call mom back on her cell phone, straight to voicemail. Called the house. She said call dad back on his cell phone in a few minutes because he had both cell phones taken apart. That’s my daddy!




3. Matthew – he called last night to tell us how his first week of school went. He’s doing great, only forgot his locker combination “a few times” and has joined the ROTC program!
4. Simple Fixes. I love it when something breaks or has a problem and I find out it’s a simple fix. I had a coworker with a computer problem that we thought was going to be a long drawn out process to correct but turns out it was a matter of uninstalling and reinstalling a program!
5. Practical Jokes. Yep. I’m a practical joker. I played one on Terry (another coworker) after everyone left the office. She has a stuffed Aflac duck and I hung it by a noose from her overhead lights. And – tomorrow’s smile list will be including the retaliation list.

This smile list is not only a good way to stay upbeat and positive, but it is turning out to be a good way to at least post something to the blog everyday. I’m not sure it’s all that informative as far as what’s going on in my life, but hey – it’s something new to read, right?

Sam and Lizzie come home on Friday. Halleluiah! This year I have missed them more than any other year. Maybe that’s why my world seems so off track right now – who knows?

I have a smile list and then some...

First of all, my smile list from the weekend. I'll keep it to five but I'm sure there were more.

1. Hanging out with good friends. There's really nothing like just being with a friend who knows almost everything about you. Chris and I share alot of history and I loved just getting to hang out.
2. New Shoes! Chris' mom, who thinks of me as a third daughter, had to buy new tennis shoes for a surgery on her toe but never wore them and didn't want to keep them so she gave them to me! I think that's kind of like enabling someone/codependency/feeding a fetish but hey, FREE SHOES! HELLO!
3. A fixed speedometer. While we were in Springfield, my mom and dad's neighbor fixed my instrument panel for me and now I have a working speedometer. I was driving to work this morning, doing just a bit over the speed limit and cannot believe how unbelievably slow I felt like I was driving. I DO NOT even want to know how fast I was driving pre-speedometer fix. I'm glad it's working.
4. My family. I'm adding this smile today because I actually read my comments yesterday via my cell phone. I have two of the greatest sisters that God ever invented. Isn't it funny how our families are just what we need when we need them to be? I have a poem hanging on my wall that starts off "Sister - God knew that I would need you...." and how true. He knew what He was doing when He gave me Stephanie and Sabrina. And He knew I would need Randy too. Randy's the guy I can call at any time and he'll tell me straight what I need to hear wether I want to hear it or not. And yes, that is a good thing.
5. My mom and dad. Reading Bebe's smile list about my mom and dad sitting in the heat, drinking a beer together and being happy made me smile, because I can picture them too. They are so cute. And we -as in my siblings and I- really are who we are because of them.

Elizabeth posted a blog about "Have You" and it's a list of things you either have or haven't done and I am supposed to post it with the things I've done highlighted. I would also like to ask anybody who reads this to make their "Have You" list, too. Maybe Bebe should just get herself a blog. Stef has one - she should update it with the Have You list. So just copy and paste this list in your blog, and bold the things that you have done. Here's my list:

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten tipsy on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse of both the sun and moon
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had/Have amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted a river
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Gotten flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in a Rocky Horror Picture Show
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Passed out cold
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge – I HAD THE CHANCE, CHICKENED OUT!
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a TV game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept 30 hours in a 48 hour time frame
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read “The Iliad”
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

There you are. My have you's.

Happy Birthday, Jess.

Smile List:

1. Comments! I got on my blog yesterday to post the smile list and noticed I had a comment. I got so excited I almost put that in yesterdays smile list but I quickly remembered that I am posting smiles from the day before so I couldn’t wait to actually post this one today. YAY!
2. Weight Loss. Again, seemingly small at only .2 (yes that is POINT 2) but hey, better than being up.
3. Sabrina. She’s attending weight watchers with me and yesterday she lost .8. (yes, POINT). She was being funny and said… POINT 8? POINT?? Can’t even be a pound?? And then realized that together with my POINT 2 and her POINT 8, we made a pound and that made us both smile.
4. Robbie. He just makes me smile everyday. He was in a play at Clayton Community Theatre and played the part of Captain Keller, Helen Keller’s father in ‘The Miracle Worker’. For the part, he grew a mustache and goatee. He looked good but I think he looks better clean-shaven and he shaved yesterday. He is so handsome.
5. Kisses. I also love Robbie’s clean-shaven kisses and I got some kisses yesterday!

SO there’s my list…. still waiting on comments. I won’t be able to post a list again until Monday. Robbie and I are headed off to Springfield for the weekend as soon as work lets out. So my post Monday will be my smiles from the weekend. Who knows – maybe there will be more than 5!

Today’s smile list:

1. Jewelry. A co-worker used to sell Premier Jewelry and has recently decided she no longer wanted to sell it. She brought in all her samples that she didn’t want and sold them for CHEAP! I got some stuff that I really liked and it made me smile.
2. My mom and dad. Since Robbie has been working late, I decided yesterday I’d go hang out with my mom and dad for a while after work and anytime I do that, it just makes me smile!!
3. A date. I had some gift cards for Red Lobster and last night, Robbie and I met there and had a dinner date. It was great fun.
4. Seeing old friends. One of the waitresses at Red Lobster was a girl I grew up across the street from. It was great fun catching up with her and seeing how much she’s done with her life!!
5. Siblings. I talked to all three of my siblings yesterday (well one I played phone tag with) and all three made me smile. I love them dearly.

So there you go. My smile list. You know what would be cool is if anyone decides they have a smile list or just maybe an extra smile moment they could comment with it !!???!!! Please !!!???!!

I’ve decided to try to make a list everyday (well I'll try for everyday but don't scoff if I don't make it) of the five things that made me happy/smile from the day before. That way I can focus on the happy things and not the things that make me sad! So here’s my first list.

1. The kids are in North Carolina again visiting Grandma and Poppy. They love it there and get to do all sorts of fun things. Sam’s voice is changing and he sounds like a man these days. A few days ago he called me at work and said “HI MOM” and it sounded really low. I tried to imitate him and tell him how he sounded – in my fake-not-really-even-close baritone voice. I called to see how they were doing in NC on my way home from work yesterday and when Sam answered he said “HI MOM” in his imitation of my imitation-fake-not-really-even-close baritone. Very cute. And it made me smile.
2. The people that were rehabbing the house next door suddenly moved out and stopped all progress. They are not the owners of the home but were rehabbing for the owner and there was a fight or something so they moved out. NO – that is not what made me happy. What DID make me happy is that they planted tomato plants this past spring on the side of the house right next to our house and as they were leaving, the guy said “Help yourself to the tomatoes!” but before he left, he took all the ripe ones off so I’ve been waiting. Wallah! Yesterday – SEVEN!!! YAY! HUGE SMILE!
3. Our new puppy Zeus is not a very good listener. He’s learning though and that’s a good thing, but he’s still a puppy inside and doesn’t like to do what he’s told. Normally after he’s done eating it takes a bit of yelling and shoving to get him back off the deck so we can close the gate. Yesterday, I just pointed and said firmly “OUT” – and he did it. Good boy! And I smiled.
4. Robbie has been working overtime. He is now scheduled to work 12-16 hour days until Friday. Which, granted, I hate not getting to spend the time together, but it will help us financially and that’s what makes me smile. Actually – my husband in general makes me smile.
5. So. Since Robbie is working late and since the kids are in North Carolina, I actually had a little time to myself yesterday to just be. I made my dinner, grabbed a lemonade and sat in front of the TV to watch a movie. Granted I probably should’ve been exercising or doing something more productive but that smile came in the form of a little down time.

I did have a sixth thing yesterday so I'll add a side bar here. Encouraging, positive e-mails from Bebe. It's nice to know I'm loved like that. Right back at ya Bebe. I hope you know that you are loved like that, too.

I think I’m finally getting back on the right track with God. He and I have had a lot of sorting and fixing. Well, obviously He doesn’t need to be fixed, but I do. And we’re finally working it out. And when you’re off track, even in the slightest bit, it makes the rest of your world seem off kilter. So here I am Lord – ready to get back in the saddle.

And what’s cool so far today – I’m already seeing moments as “smile moments” for tomorrow’s update. Don’t worry folks – I’m on it!