My Favorite Things

(A Sunday morning breakfast in January.

No photo from this morning.)

I woke up to my favorite kind of morning. Purple lightening was flashing through the early morning darkness, and thunder rumbling in the distance. Then came the pitter-patter of cool raindrops. I was so elated with the stormy August morning that I didn't even mind when the punk woke up early, probably by the same strange atmosphere that awakened me. We snuggled under my covers for a while, punk watching Sesame Street and mama dozing. Then we got up and had breakfast: Cheerios with banana slices for the punk and hot chocolate with buttered whole wheat toast for mama.

You know how you feel when the first warm, sunny day appears after a long, dreary winter? You hear the birds chirping and feel the yellow sun streaming in through the windows, and you take a deep breath and thank Mother Nature for this new season? Well, what spring is to many people, fall is to me. I feel happy, even giddy, when I pull on a sweatshirt and start warming my milk on the stove while the rain falls outside.

In honor of the first rainy day this season, I hereby present a list of my favorite things. I would love it if you would share your list with me too!

Rainy days

My dad's fresh tomato soup

A good book

The soft spot under the punk's chin

Hot chocolate

The Sound of Music

Falling leaves

Clean sheets

A long hug

Morning at my grandpa's ranch

Talking with a friend, one on one

Throwing a really great party

An hour to myself

Fall sweaters

My purple rain boots with skinny jeans

Have a lovely, wet day!

(Not His) First Day of School (Yet)

Hello. I've missed you. It's not that I don't love you anymore... I do! It's not you. It's me. I've been... not quite myself lately. I'm not prepared to discuss it any further, but just know that the reason I've been absent from the blogging world has nothing to do with my feelings for you, dear reader. I've just been preoccupied with some stuff. I'll explain everything later, I promise. But for now, just believe me when I say I'm glad you're in my life, and I'm happy to be back in my own life too, even if it's just for today.

Today was the first day of school for most of the world as I know it. Both my parents went back to their classrooms to teach. (When I asked my dad how his first day went, and if he has any snot-faced brats in his junior high classes, he said, "Bring it!") All four of my siblings are in school, which hasn't happened in a few years. Can I just say how happy I am to be done with school? Graduating from the U was one of the happiest accomplishments of my life, and not because I've found my mathematics degree so useful since then, and not because I was so proud of all the hard work I had suffered through, but because I knew I never had to set foot on campus again. I didn't even walk in my graduation ceremony; I think my man and I went out to dinner instead. Food or an hours-long ceremony in which I know maybe a handful of other students? Food please!

Aaaaaanyway. School started today. Neither the punk nor I actually set foot in a school, but the woody scent of sharpened pencils was in the brisk morning air, and academic improvement was on our minds.

I posted this photo on FB this morning, and my friend Tara said, "I bet he jumps from letter to letter as you say them." I scoffed, but later today, we played that game. Me: "Can you find Q?" He would study the canvas and then point. Me: "Go stand on Q." And then he would run over and dance on the funny-shaped letter.

For Health class, we practiced identifying body parts. He even learned 3 new parts that he never knew he had: hips, wrists, and earlobes.

And what would a perfect school day be without P.E.? Our friends Amy and Adam gave us a wonderful new punk-size slide, which we enjoyed for much longer than a 15-minute recess would have allowed. We even practiced counting the steps on the slide. The punk counted 10 steps! That's 7 more than I counted. He's pretty talented.

Happy First Day of School to you and yours! May this year be filled with lovely teachers, chocolate pudding snacks, and Algebra.

What?

Algebra is fun!

Sister Day

Little Sis and I created our own holiday 9 years ago, when we looked like this:

It's called Sister Day. Yes, we are very creative. On Sister Day this year, I posted the following status update on Facebook:

Happy Sister Day! On today's agenda: lunch, pedis, movie, photo albums.

Only spellcheck automatically corrected "pedis" to "penis." Yes, wholesome fun for everyone! Lunch. Penis! Movie. You're welcome Little Sis!