When your 2 1/2 year old yells from another room that her "eye" is missing, it may cause immediate panic...
But as you turn the corner you realize it wasn't the crisis you thought.
"Thank goodness!!! I thought you meant your actual EYE."
:::Blank stare:::
"Oh, nevermind."
Most people would agree that it can be easy to invent scenarios to worry about, and sometimes a crisis averted is like a hammock for our hearts.
I expect royalties from the sales of any Hallmark cards bearing that statement.
I've come to notice that just one or two things going wrong can easily "ruin" a day, when we haven't focused on the other million things that went right, like not getting in a wreck, knowing that all your family is safe, healthy, and accounted for, and not being the victim of identity theft.
But as my Dad always says, "Must catastrophe be the alternative to a good day?"
When you're a kid and receive $5 in a Birthday card, the Heavens open up with possibilities...until reality sets in during adulthood and every time you turn around, expenses pile up.
Take, for example, heating and cooling units. Why are earth are they so expensive, and wouldn't a block of ice and fan be just as effective? Besides, for the price of two units you could be happily engaged to the person of your dreams.
"I know the cut and clarity aren't what you dreamed, but check out that efficiency rating!"
"IT'S OVER."
"But I'm your number one FAN, get it?"
:::silence:::
On second hand, maybe not. But the more advanced we get, the more difficulties arise. Sometimes it's best to just keep things simple, like our recent family outing to celebrate Uncle David's Birthday. We had a great time!
One of Emerson's teachers braided her hair like the Wendy's girl, and I LOVED it!!! Why can't she sit still that long for me?!
That evening Poppy and Emerson played ball in the front yard, and Emerson threw it as hard as she could down the steep incline that is our street, sending Poppy on a wild goose chase to retrieve it before it got lost in a neighbor's yard. He was running at Cheetah speed as his pants were falling down. If I had gotten a video of this we could all retire, because it would be everywhere.
My cousin Caroline is expecting her first baby, and we had a great time catching up with her and her sister, Laura. Every detail was perfect!
Sweet Claire let Emerson play with all of her dolls and toys.
She was also amazed with the guests' dogs.
HOW precious are Claire and Emerson?!?
And those SUGAR cookies! I devoured mine before I was out of Laura's subdivision.
One of my best friends in the world, Joy, turned 31 last weekend. I had been looking forward to celebrating with her for a while. A relaxing day!?? What does that even mean?!
Dorothy and I had such fun riding together to Greenville, and fortunately we were able to coordinate a lunch date with Jamie, Karen, and Eden, as well. I've said it before, and I'll said it again: to have so many of your friends or family in the same place at the same time is one of life's greatest blessings of which you never want to let go.
These girls have been in my core group of friends for FOREVER, and I wouldn't trade them for the world.
Look at this gem!
Things I love about this picture: bangs, accessories, the background geometry shapes, and the marker on Dorothy's hand that likely says, "I love Dorothy" with the pages of our homework assignment written next to it.
...Down memory lane we kept trucking! I was ecstatic to meet Rachael and Bryan's new son, Benjamin that afternoon. WHAT a sweetie! I could have cuddled this precious boy all day, and I was so, so happy to see and visit with them.
Look at those little features and fist! :::swoon:::
Suffice it to say that Eden and Benjamin were quite smitten with each other!
Future middle school dance...
While all this fun was taking place I got a picture text from my Mom (an accomplishment in itself) of Emerson exercising with Poppy. Priceless!
Unfortunately, Emerson developed a cough and ear infection this week that turned into many nights of little to no sleep and me taking her to daycare sporting an Einstein 'do.
Where am I?
Who am I??
Who am I??
What day is it??
WHAT'S A SHOWER?!?!?
This resulted in me caving in and putting her in our bed a few times at night. WHY is this statement so true, and how can such a tiny body take up so much room?
So we headed to the doctor's office this week for a visit, and as always, Emerson will meet a friend in a heartbeat.
"And this is the sick patient area?!?"
When she hasn't been coughing her head off or complaining about her ear (poor baby) she has thoroughly enjoyed Face-timing cousin Harper, whom she affectionately calls, "Hopper." It's the sweetest thing.
At the end of the day, you've just gotta focus on the more important and positive things in life, like this...
And playing with sparklers is sure to brighten your day!
Emerson's new saying -and I don't know where she got it- is this: "It's not gonna rain, Mommy. It's sunny today."
One thing is for sure; this ray of sunshine was Heaven sent, and every day is sunny with her!
The good thing about rain is that it almost gives us something new afterwards...a clean slate. My parents bought a Honda Odyssey in 2004 and were in hog Heaven. In fact, I'm fairly certain that they would scoff at the thought of a Maserati. Although, to this day my Dad still has trouble operating the remote and controls to their van, and he has a talent for making the smallest tasks infinitely more difficult than necessary.
We had many good times in this vehicle. It helped move me no less than NINE times to and from college and other various places. We've taken many family trips in it, had some arguments, and it was just a jolly Carlson caravan for a good long while.
But car years are like dog years, and it had just gotten old.
"Bluetooth?!? I thought you said bacon and fruit."
For one thing, my parents had taken it to numerous repair shops, and they were never able to find someone who could stop the brakes from making a whistling, steamboat noise when pressed.
"Your ride is here!"
So they took the plunge and bought the latest model, and I anxiously called them later that day to see what they thought of it.
My Dad, as usual, stifling no feelings: "I HATE IT!"
Me: "Why"?
"There are too many bells and whistles, a push-button start, and trying to turn on the radio is like navigating a NASA cockpit. I want a 1974 sedan."
Have you ever had a moment where you needed to keep a straight face but were laughing so hard on the inside? This was one of those moments. My Dad was not joking. He's the only person on the planet that goes into Verizon and asks for a 'downgrade.'
After almost two weeks with their new van, he said it had moved up to a C+ rating, but seeing his eyes dart when he tries to do something as simple as turn on the air still amuses me. I appropriately named the new van "Margo" after the snooty, modern couple next door in the National Lampoon's Christmas movie. If you get the reference, I'll take you for a spin. Just bring your engineering diploma.
Emerson calls it the "Monster car," because they happened to have a Monsters Inc. DVD playing, and now that's the first thing she asks for while getting in. It seems pretty fitting, after all, because technology can be scary.
As they were driving the van home the first day they saw something very strange while on the interstate. In one of the cameras there was a fluttering bird stuck to the car. Poor guy; he was trying his best to hang on during the high speed winds and aced his audition for that meteorologist job.
In an effort to save the little thing they tried to figure out where he was located.
"WHERE IS THE CAMERA, ANN?!"
"I DON'T KNOW, RANDY."
"LOOK IN THE MANUAL!"
"THERE IS NO MANUAL. IT'S ALL ONLINE! AHHHHH!!!!"
They ended up stopping at another Honda place to un-ruffle the feathers. Yikes. Let's just say that Tweety Bird is singing sweetly with Jesus now.
So just when you think you've had a bad day and can't bear it, always remember this one piece of timeless advice: being stuck to the back of a car is definitely for the birds.
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