This Will Be A Funny Story

Last week when we read through our year of blessings, I read one that I had written, saying whatever is living under the porch and making the dogs crazy, is going to make a funny story one day.

That's how I live my life.  I take the no good, horrible, rotten, bad day events and try to find the humor.  Or at least tell myself one day this too will be a funny story.

Today for instance.  It's foggy, I turn on my headlights, and as I am known to do, I left them on.  Much later when I got in the car, I realized I had a dead battery.  

Here's where it gets funny.

The handle to the driver's door isn't working.  I have to roll down the window to open my door with the outside handle. But I have power windows, so I can't get out. The passenger seat is full of boxes and bags, inventory for my shop.  So is the back seat, but I think I can wiggle between the seats and get out the back.

But do I really want to?  I have my phone, my daughter is on her way to help.  I could just sit in the car and be fine.....

Except, as soon as I think that, I realize I have to go to the bathroom.  I suffer through several minutes of toe tapping, debating the worth of wiggling, before I decide I have to go. I can't wait.

It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, and as my butt was stuck up in the windshield, while I contorted my way to freedom, all without wetting my pants, I knew, this will be a funny story.

It pairs nicely with me getting stuck inside the car, due to the handle (again) only the windows were frozen shut and I was wearing a skirt and decided dignity was a nice thing and just waited until the car was literally an oven and the windows unstuck.

I think this door handle business is only going to be funny for about two more stuck in the car stories!

2014 Good Things Highlights

A year ago, my daughter and I sat down at the table and made up jars to hold our daily good things.  It wasn't as daily as we had original thought, but when we opened our jars on New Years Eve and read our good things out loud, taking turns sharing moments that had made our days better, it was astounding.

Our days are filled to the brim with good things, like:

Clean sheets
Erik is home
Date with mom, it's nice to be a kid & have her undivided attention
Blue skies & sunshine so brilliant on a cold morning it hurts
Cousin dance party at #3 nephews birthday, I joined in when All the Single Ladies played
Evening walks with Leah and the dogs
Scrambled eggs for dinner two nights in a row
Our spring break day!  Shopping, movies, food & spending time with Leah, wonderful!
A 50 cent horse puzzle, with all the pieces
Saying 'yes' to Leah's trip to France and seeing her excitement
Date night on a Monday!
Lunch & shopping with "the girls" Mom, Amy, Lisa and me
The spreadsheet of my dreams
Sunday nights when Erik is home, watching The Walking Dead
I opened my door to find a Marine standing at attention-Travis!!!-home for a moment, surprise visit
Breakfast at The Bluebird....always reminds me of going there after our ultrasound said 80% chance of baby girl and we ate breakfast and said Leah is a very good name....

It was such a good thing, such a blessing to read our years worth of blessings, we carefully smoothed flat all those notes, found envelopes to hold them, stored them in our hope chests, and started 2015's good things jars.

First good thing of this year: hearing my name as I was walking the dogs, and turning to see Leah catching up with me.  Walking with her and listening to her stories is the perfect start to this year.

Resolution And Commitment

Yes, you saw me out walking the dogs this morning.
No, this isn't a New Years Resolution,
Yes, you haven't seen me walking in awhile.
Yes, it does coincide nicely with New Years Day.
No, this really is not a New Years Resolution.
But, it is a renewed commitment to get out and walk whenever I can and today is a day off and the sun is shining so I bundled up and hit the sidewalks.....

For all you know, I get up at 5 AM to walk every day.
I don't.
But I could if I wanted to.
But I don't.

Still, this is not a resolution.
It's a commitment.
And that is Entirely Different.

Where I Am From

I am from summer long skinned knees, and Band-aids peeling off and bicycles pedaling faster and faster.

I am from a long, winding road, a Grandview in every way.

I am from the Wild Mountain Blackberry, the hunt, the clothes catching, skin scratching thorns, the better patch is just over the next hill, the filled to the brim buckets, the more precious than gold pie.

I am from Ogres and the secret to safety: biting fingernails, humming, whistling, all at the same time, from Christy and Dan and Amy and Lisa.

I am from weak arms after side splitting rounds of laughter and furniture mover extraordinaire, as long as I haven't been laughing.

I am from Let's Go To The Movies and You Are My Sunshine.

I am from Jesus Loves Me and This I Know and faith just because it is faith.

I am from the one place that has never changed, from Grandpa coming in for tea, and Grandma in the kitchen baking, from a cookie jar never empty of chocolate chip cookies and tales of lutefisk and pickled herring.

I am from yearly sister trips to Seaside, the feel of cold sand under our bare feet, blankets and jackets for wrapping up in, and the way watching our kids play on the beach makes us glad.

I am from a place of love and pride, of senior pictures lining hallways, of fridge doors held together by Masterpieces, of the knowledge that my family is behind me, beside me, united with me, all the way, all the time.


This post is inspired by prompt #1 at Mama's Losin' It!

What It Is, What It Isn't

Love isn't just some words I say
Reading them by rote off a page
Little kid anticipating a gold star
Trembling, hoping, Teacher recognize me!
I'm reading real good today.

It's not an accidental habit
An uncontrollable tick
A compulsion that overrides my brain
In thoughtless repetition
As everyday routine as breathing in and out.

I will take this fragile hopeful feeling
And I will grow it in the cold dark moments
Greenhouse style with humid warmth
So in the sunshine glory days
It will cover us both and we can't help but grin.

Moment of Perfection

That moment when you turn on your car, and the best song in the universe is just starting, and you turn it up louder than  you usually would because it is that good, and the sky is pale, pale blue with the sun throwing it's chilly day glow around and even though you've become one of the three little kittens and lost your mittens, the steering wheel isn't so cold you can't stand to touch it, and you can't help but smile because everything about this moment, in this day, is absolute perfection.

The Fives Have It

Five things you don't know about me:

1. I take a lot of selfies.  I'll take a selfie on a family vacation because I know exactly the right angle that makes me look fantastic!

2. I'm crazy for vintage Christmas.  When eBay opens up, it wants to show me all the recently listed vintage Christmas things, and I usually let it.

3. I wear my hair up in a messy bun every night to sleep.  If I didn't pile it up high (crazy Kim Kardashian break the internet high) I die of heat stroke.  Even with the fan blowing on me.

4. I hate the word 'slacks.'  Consequently, you won't find any of those things in my closet!

5. I'm a terrible speller, the worst actually, but I read so much entertainment news, I had no problem at all spelling "Kardashian".....but I spelled 'consequently' wrong.

I know tons of stuff about:

1. Vintage (Christmas especially!)
2. Mac Davis
3. Walking three dogs at the same time
4. Forgiveness
5. Anne of Green Gables (I'm re-reading the series.  Again!)

I know nothing about:

1. Statistics
2. Mechanics
3. Training for a Triathlon
4. Raising more than two kids
5. The sanity of a one dog house

I believe in:

1. Don Williams
2. Love
3. Things I can't explain
4. My Mother senses will never stop working
5. Family

This post inspired by prompt #5 at Mama's Losin' It!