Amazing!

So last week I talked about my pet peeves (and I have discovered more) so this time I thought I'd write about things that amaze me. Not amaze in that Twilight Zone sort of way, but in a happy way. Everyday, there is at least one thing that will catch me off guard and make me smile.

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First, Little Man is absolutely amazing. Everything about him is amazing. Parents, you know what I mean. Not a day goes by when he doesn't say or do something that just takes me off guard and sweeps me off my feet. By far, however, the most amazing thing he does is something he hasn't changed all that much since he could reach out his little hand. In the morning, he reaches out his hands and places them on my cheeks and says, "Good morning, Mama." Then he puts his nose to my nose and gives me an Eskimo kiss and says, "nose, nose, nose," with each rub. This has varied over the few years of his life. At first he'd put his hand on my face and I'd say good morning and rub his nose. This made him smile. It evolved to two hands and his pulling my face to his so we could rub noses. That made him giggle. When "mama" and "dada" were his only words he'd just say "mama" and then we'd nose rub. Of course, now he can climb up in my lap and initiate the whole ritual. I love this more than anything and the day it stops I will secretly weep.

The second amazing thing is my husband. He is after all math-science guy and therefore very analytical. Yet he has taken up the hobby of woodworking and has demonstrated a hidden creative streak. He has designed and built several beautiful things. His current project is making a Federal-style table for our foyer that will match an antique piece we have. I am amazed at the vision he has for it and how he is carefully executing it in such detail.

So, my advice is to look for the things that are amazing!

Watching Grass Grow

Sometimes things seem to take a loooong time to finish. I don't know it it's a matter of actual time passing or if it's the interest the task holds. Like doing laundry. It doesn't take any time at all really to sort or to load the machines. But folding and putting it away seems to take an eternity during which Little Man plays "ball" with the eggs in the refrigerator or manages to download apps on my cell phone. Really, folding and putting away laundry takes only 5 to 10 minutes per load. It's nothing. Still, it seems like it takes a long time. Like watching grass grow.

Aside from raising our Little Man, our biggest project is fixing up our fixer-upper house. We've been in the house a year already and it seems like we haven't gotten enough done. Truth is we've accomplished quite a bit. And the house is livable so it's not like we're camped in the garage waiting for it to be finished. This month has been "Dining Room" month. We've hung crown molding on the lower ceiling and in the upper tray. We repaired dry wall, sanded and primed the walls twice. We (my husband) caulked the crown molding. Next we'll (he'll) install the medallion and paint the ceiling. Then it will be my turn to to take over and paint the walls and trim. It's exciting to think about the finished project and having our first dinner in our new dining room! It just seems like it takes soooo looong to get each piece done. Like watching grass grow.

Side yard after all the work.

We're also working on the outside of the house now that it's spring. We desperately need to improve the curb appeal. The BIGGEST eye-sore on the house (visible from the street) was the side yard. I wish I had a "before" picture. Picture if you can vines of various and unknown kinds tangled together, a privacy fence falling down, over grown mint, bulb plants planted haphazardly with no intention or plan and apparently handfuls of wildflower seeds strewn across the area. It took 2 weeks to weed, dig out stumps and bulbs and roots, and take down the fence. It was a veritable archaeological dig in which we found reading glasses, broken solar lights, bricks, brick edging and rail road ties. Finally, we raked it out and put down grass seed. So we are actually watching grass grow.

The thing is, that it's okay to take time to do things if you are doing things right. It's okay to take time to fold the laundry and put it away. That way it's not getting wrinkled in a pile or left out out all over the place. It's okay if it take a couple of years or more to get our home finished. It will be our home with our touches on it and done the way we want it. And it's okay if it takes time to get the gardens and yard looking good. When it's all said and done, we'll just sit back and watch the grass grow.

Opposites Attract

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It is a force of nature that opposites attract. We see this in magnets and on the molecular level between protons and electrons. We see it in relationships too. The perfect example is my husband and me. I can say this because we are the perfect couple and in many ways we are opposites. Yes, I am a planner and he is more spontaneous, but there's more to it than that.



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My husband is outdoorsy. He likes hiking and backpacking, camping, skiing, hunting, windsurfing (in his youth), and all manner of being outside. I, on the other hand, view the outdoors as that place I briefly passed through going from one temperature-controlled bug-free environment to another. I will admit, however, to having enjoyed sitting outside with a pitcher of sangria or dining al fresco in the evening, as long as it's not too hot or too buggy.


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Hubby is also a morning person and I am a night person. He is up right at dawn, feet on the floor ready to start the day beginning with breakfast. I prefer sleeping in a little past sun up, then into the shower, have coffee and look for brunch. At night, my husband is ready to go to sleep shortly after sundown (I exaggerate), about 9:30 and I am looking to go do something fun. For those of you a certain age, the television show Green Acres should instantly pop into your heads. It's terrific because it works for us.

Opposites not only attract but they are attractive. How many times have we turned our heads for a double-take when we see a very tall person with a short person, even more fun if it is a tall woman with a short man. Even bi-racial couples still turn heads. There is a popular breakfast cereal that has made a commercial about opposites being attractive. Opposition is not bad. It is the whole Yin-Yang of the universe that actually binds us together. Opposites are not conflicting, but complimentary. They give us a different point of view, humor, and sometimes, just something different to think about. That's what makes them so attractive.

It works in writing. How many times have we enjoyed a book that made us think about something different? How often has an author employed the use of paradox to highlight a scene? Isn't there a protagonist and an antagonist? What about the opposition that is within all of us? Shouldn't that natural state also show up in our characters? Revisions are imminent and opposites must be included to keep the story strong and natural and attractive.