and you turn yourself around

that's what it's all about.

hey!

I have just enough odds and ends to make a little list for you. Like to hear it? Here it go.

1. I have great parents. They are the kindest, quirkiest people ever, and tonight they brought dinner to our house, then stayed after the kids went to bed so that Brian and I could go out for a bit. The truth is, I give my mom a hard time for her odd little habits, but I have benefitted so much from her approach to life. Yes, she may run the dishwasher with only a few dishes loaded (and a sink still full), and she may have absolutely no concept of how to mix a bottle, no matter how many times I tell her, but she taught us about self-respect and confidence, how to care for others and how to live by our convictions, and I'm a better person for it. So thanks Mom, for dinner tonight, and washing some of the dishes, and for all the other stuff too.

2. Somewhere between pushing his brother for the fourteenth time, tearing a page out of his grandmother's novel, throwing his fork across the table, refusing lunch, refusing nap, and doing the exact opposite of whatever was asked of him today, it occurred to me that Asher was in the middle of an Excessively Two-Year-Old Day. He's been like this since Wednesday night, when he was up late because of company. Just ... persnickety. Even so-

3. I have been so - HAPPY - lately. There is a direct correlation between my daily mood and Silas's stomach acid. Is that dysfunctional or what? But if Silas feels well, so do I. Having an uncomfortable baby is like having a newborn all over again. As precious as newborns are, they are also HARD, and the only reason people get through that phase with their sanity intact is that it is incredibly short. It is not something a person can endure for months on end without becoming a tad crazy. All of that to say, I have been less crazy lately, and that has been nice. Silas still has no predictable schedule to speak of (except I can almost always get them both to nap at the same time now, and PRAISE JESUS for that), but I've let it go. "Contentment in all things" has been my mantra this week, and this week it has been much easier to honor because life is easy. The irony is not lost on me.

4. (Miss) Pat and Margaret had a group over for dinner last night. I sat in the kitchen, enjoying a reprieve from the noise in the living room, watching Margaret dry dishes, and she's telling me about the Episcopal church, and how worship encourages us to ask the right questions of God, not to seek the right answers. How, when we allow God to be God, liturgy has a new depth and our lives are changed, and I'm thinking - I need to spend more time here, doing this. I need to listen to Margaret talk more often. And Margaret, if you're reading (because sometimes she is), please start a blog. We all have much to learn from you.

5. From today's consignment sale: One 3T summer wardrobe - 45$. Knowing I'm doing my part to provide for my kids, stay out of debt, and support four people on one income - priceless.

6. Speaking of one income, for the first time in a long time (and for only the second time in our married life), we are getting a substantial tax refund. With it, we will be (hopefully) getting a new roof, having the house painted, and cushioning our savings account. How boring are we?

7. Those of you who know Brian will laugh at this: Brian is ... how do I put this? ... AWARE of where his money goes. He is OBSESSED with finding a good deal, and will wait for months (or years) for the very best price on any given purchase. So last night, when our DVD player stopped working, I just assumed it would be a while before we had another. You understand our television is limited to the nightly news, the first fifteen minutes of the Today show, cartoons, and the West Wing (on DVD), right? We use our DVD player every single day of our lives. But we've gone without vehicles, we've taped our shoes together, we've even waited to buy meat until Brian found the best possible deal. A DVD player will surely take a little while. So you can imagine my surprise when Brian realized at 6:35 this evening that ours was kaput, announced we would have a new one tonight, walked into a store, and bought one (without the first bit of research online first) off the shelf. I was SHOCKED. That has never happened. Never once, since I've known him. When I commented on it, he said, "If we can't watch the West Wing, what will we watch?" Fair enough.

Wow. I was more full of odds and ends than I thought, but now you're caught up. What's new with you?