March 8, 2017

I was abandoned at my dinner post last night.  As I washed pots and pans and plates all alone, I could hear the joyous shrieks raining down from the upstairs.  Greg had finally brought home our Wii from the shop where it was being repaired since Christmas.  The kids were over the moon with excitement to try out the game Emma got from Santa--Mario Party 9.  It was an unfortunate event when the Wii  broke down just a few days before Christmas and rendered Emma's Santa gift practically useless.  So, it was with extreme anticipation that the kids wolfed down their dinner, dropped their forks onto their plates, and raced upstairs to play.  I was left alone, mid bite.  Greg hurried to drive Miles to Scouts, and I sat quietly at the table finishing up the leftovers on everyone's plates.  It was ground beef stroganoff, which only makes an appearance at our table about once a year.  But I've finally got enough eaters who actually enjoyed it that it might be a more frequent visitor in the future.  It felt so much like home that I just kept eating it and remembering all those nights around the table with my family growing up.  I usually came into the house exhausted from school and sports, and starving!  And I loved my mom's home cooking; I still do.  Beef Stroganoff just tastes like love.  So I ate way too much, of course.

As I stood at the sink washing, I let my mind wander around a bit.  A few nights ago, I finished reading "Because of Winn-Dixie" to my little boys.  We had been reading a few chapters every night until the boys were sufficiently relaxed and sleepy.  It's about a little girl named Opal who lives alone with her dad the preacher.  They have recently moved to a new little southern town when she finds a dog and names it Winn-Dixie.  She is lonely in her new town and missing her mama, who abandoned them both when Opal was just a little girl.  But soon, she has all sorts of adventures that summer and makes a strangely random assortment of friends, all because of her dog, Winn-Dixie.  In one heartbreaking part, she asks her dad about her mama.  He doesn't usually talk about her, and Opal is aching to know anything about her mother.  The preacher finally decides to tell Opal ten things about her mother since Opal is ten years old.  The ten things he tells her are both sweet and sad.  Opal immediately goes to her room, writes them down word for word, and memorizes each description about her mother.  In the end, which involves crying in the rain, Opal and her dad both realize that her mother is never coming back.  But their broken hearts are full with the friends who are in their life.

It was a sweet story.  I had never read it before, but I liked the message it shared.  Opal found friends, young and old, wherever she went.  As I loaded up the dishes, I wondered about ten unique things about me.  Once, when Greg's dad was at our house, he was working on his life history and he made a list just like this.  He must have printed it on our printer and then forgotten about it, because I found it on the floor of Greg's office the next day, after he had left.  He titled it, "Things I Want My Family to Remember About Me," or something like that.  I thought it was so neat to read, that I put it up on my fridge.  It made me happy every time I saw it.  So here goes.

Ten Things About Me

1.  I love being outside.  I could sit by the pool or on the beach or at a park on a blanket for an entire day and never get tired of it.

2.  I am super competitive.  When we were boating and my twenty-something nephew did a 360 on the knee board, well, guess who went out after him and did a 360 on the knee board?  Me.  That's who.

3.  I have donated loads of breast milk for newborns in the hospital who might be in need.  But I'm more proud of the fact that I have exclusively nursed six babies to well past a year old.  Snuggling up close and nursing my baby is perhaps one of the most precious experiences of my mortal existence.

4.  I spend a silly amount of time thinking back over the things I've said in conversation, hoping I didn't offend anyone or sound really stupid.  I'm always tempted to text back with an overarching apology for anything that I've said.  I always hope that people can love me enough to overlook some of the stupid things I say.

5.  I am quietly, constantly reading.  I usually have two or three books going at once.  I fantasize about being able to sit outside and read all day.  But I think I'm a super fast reader.  I can finish a book in a day or two.  And I retain a lot of what I read.  It's like I'm stuffing my brain with thoughts and ideas.  I love it.   And I'm a night owl.  If I didn't have to get up so early, I would prefer to read late into the night.  Sometimes I still do.

6. I am the biggest fan of my children.  I love watching them do ANYTHING.  I never want to miss a game, a concert, a performance, a talk, or even just watching them among their peers.  It makes my life super busy, but there is nowhere I'd rather be than watching my children. It makes all my work worth it.

7.  I love life, and I'm always ready to go have fun.  I'm always happy to go on a hike, or to the movies, or out to dinner, or hey, let's go camping!  I'm up for anything spontaneous and adventuresome.  And I especially love adventure with Greg.  The marathon is one of my best memories ever.  Learning to golf with Greg, exploring new restaurants, new vacations, and new places is a major highlight in my life.

8.  I really like doing family history work.  I'm a quick learner and I wish I could spend more time doing it.  Then, if I had nothing to do, I would love to spend my days at the temple getting the work done.  I mostly learned how to do it from my dad, who is a genealogist extraordinaire!

9.  I love fresh tomatoes with salt.  And I love salt in general!  I love to eat fruits and vegetables, much better than desserts.  But I do love Twizzlers, Swedish Fish, and Nibs.  In college, my boyfriend used to bring me a pack of Nibs almost daily.  I hung the empty wrappers on a little clothes line in my teeny tiny dorm room.  It was cute.

10.  I love to talk.  And I love to ask questions about people.  Sometimes, I ask a few too many questions.  But I'm fascinated by other people and their lives.  So, I love meeting new people and asking them all about their lives.  And I guess that transfers over to reading memoirs and life histories.  I've read all about both mine and Greg's ancestors.  Once while I was at Greg's parents' house, I took a family history off the shelf and started reading it.  All of a sudden, it started talking about my hometown of Hooper.  It was mentioning people that I knew about.  I was so surprised.  But while reading about it is cool, I'd much rather sit and listen to someone tell about their life.  Then I can ask the millions of questions I have! :)

Kisses from Owen

In the end, I have a fantastic life.  I'm super happy to be able to live my dream everyday.  I'm super happy to be me.