My Happiness List for Today

It hasn't been a great day, but good enough overall. I thought I'd better write down some of my happy thoughts for the day so when I'm having another crappy day, I can reflect on why my life doesn't totally suck. :)

• Movie morning - Preston was up who knows how many times last night, which woke Dylan. Grr....I finally gave in and let Preston watch a Little Einsteins movie in the middle of the night. What's a mom to do? Exhausted, I slept past the alarm, skipped morning exercise, asked Marcos if he was crazy when he wanted me to make him breakfast and pack him a lunch, and lay dead on the couch through a couple PBS shows. Sometimes it's just necessary to be lazy until you can pull yourself together.
• Diet Mountain Dew - need I say more? After the laziness, I required a true pick-me-up. I really would be better off just drinking coffee in the mornings. Stupid word of wisdom.
• Sprinklers on the tramp - who needs the water park when you've got a hose with expensive water to leave on all day? The kids played for almost two hours outside with only minor fights over who should have possession of the hose.
• Backyard picnics - we even had lunch out back while the kids were drenched. Makes for much quicker cleanup for sure.
• My swamp cooler - okay, compared to your average central air conditioned house, mine is probably quite hot, but it does the job pretty well (especially considering it's July) and for pennies on the dollar. I'll keep it for now. :)
• 40 minutes of story time - I can't believe Dylan and Anthony will sit so well through so many books. It really helps wind down the playtime for Anthony's nap and Dylan's quiet time.
• Moon sand - okay, I hate the blasted stuff, but I'm grateful I no longer have carpet in the dining room so Dylan can play with the moon sand all he wants and it will clean right up.
• Scripture reading done by 3:00 - that's right, it's done. I'm trying to incorporate it into quiet time somehow so I don't end up falling asleep before I learn anything at night.
• Dr. Wayne Dyer - have you heard of him? Some of you will mock, and that's fine, but this guy inspires me. I've been reading a couple little self-help type books I found at my mom's house and he just helps me put life in perspective. It's the same old, let the past go, live in the present, forgive, meditate, etc. but he's just a peaceful man and he inspires me.
• Shade in the evening and a pretty great backyard - Anthony will be going home at 5 and we have round 2 of tending (a couple neighbor kids) that will start at 6. I can sit on the shaded deck and chill while they play to their heart's content and we may just end up with a semi-clean house at the end of this long day.
• A dinner plan - there is nothing that makes my day go better than when I actually have a plan. I'm not rigid, but if I have an idea of what I'm doing, life goes better. I love the spontaneous, let's go play at the park or go swimming, but if I already know the rest of the day, I'm not a mess by the end. I've got chicken marinating that can just be thrown on the grill so I don't make the house any hotter than it needs to be. Wa-hoo!
• Cute kids that play well together - Dylan is either a big tease or a really big help. I'm hoping as time goes on, the amount of teasing will decrease and the helpfulness will increase. I was folding laundry earlier and let the kids play a couple kid computer games while I worked in the basement. One of them was an alphabet/reading program and Dylan was so cute. He would ask Preston if he wanted to hear a certain letter, Preston would say no, so he'd ask about another one until Preston agreed. Oh, I love it when they get along!
• No more remodeling projects - at least not for awhile. Everything is done...I think. And I have a house that looks much better and is clean (except for the stuff that will probably never be clean with kids like windows and blinds - I've given up on those). If you want to actually see my house nice, you may want to stop by sooner than later. I don't know how long I can keep it up. :)