Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Mundane Good

I've been rubbernecking inside my own head for a few days now. I find myself unable to look away from the mental pileups of anxieties, and it's upsetting me: both what I see and my sudden inability to focus better on the day-to-day, here-and-now and enjoy living in the moment. From inside my head, my life looks pretty miserable. It's all too easy to believe the story I tell myself: Everything is bad.

And it's just not true! Well, thinking about selling the car to improve our financial situation sucks. But there's plenty of good around, too. It's mostly the mundane, everyday variety of "good," but that's the easiest kind to overlook.

Some "mundane good" things reminding me that my life doesn't suck:

Maybe you don't feel crafty, thrifty, and brilliant when your house smells like pickles, but I do. I felt especially brilliant when I realized that I could just screw a sprayer head right onto the glass bottle of white vinegar.


The actual cleaning part isn't much fun, it's true. But looking around and only seeing a little grime everything makes the future look just a little brighter.

2.) Napping with my son.
That phrase just put Billy Idol in my head. (Well there's nothin' to lose/When you cuddle and snooze/So I'm nappin' with my son...) It only took me 22 months, but I think I finally got the hang of the whole "sleep when your baby sleeps" thing. Better late than never, I guess. And I get to wake up to some serious cute in the afternoons.

They have Asian pears right now that are the size of my head. I take Westley there at least twice a week, because I don't have a lot of room in my fridge for fresh things, but also because it's so much fun to go. Bridget, as she was ringing up my order yesterday, asked what we were going to do when they close for the season. My first thought was, "Cry."

4.) Hot chocolate.
I am not a chocolate person. Most of the time, I don't actually like it. (No, really, you can have mine.) But there is something uber-comforting about a cup of homemade hot chocolate, and some days just call for a dessert drink. So go ahead and combine 1/4 cup sugar, 3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, and 2 1/3 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk in a small saucepan. Heat, while stirring constantly with a wire wisk (don't let it boil). Remove from heat, and stir in at least 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract (not the imitation stuff, cheapskate!). Pour into two mugs and share with your long-term-committed-relationship-partner-person.

5.) Vintage Westley photos.
As I was trying to figure out how to dress Westley for Halloween this year (this may be my last chance to inflict my costume-wishes upon him), I came across Halloween photos from last year.

Trick-or-treating Grandma, 2008.

OH HAI. I GOT YER BALL.

Two teeth down...


There's nothing like my tiny skunk to remind me that my life doesn't stink.

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