It's the little things

My husband went to the store the other night, and while he was there he picked up popcorn for our beloved hot air popper.

I've discovered that Jolly Time white popcorn is our favorite. They are small and crispy and absolutely perfect.

He was able to find Jolly Time, but they were yellow. Instead of coming in a jar, they came in a bag.

Now, bags are messy. Kernels have a mind of their own, and tend to go spilling into a zillion places. But, I was struck with an idea.

I love glass milk bottles. I don't know why I love them so, I just do. And here I had a convenient storage mechanism, and a cutesy display piece. Love it!

Pressing "Pause"

I'm feeling a bit stressed. I have end-of-the-school-year tasks coming out the wazoo. I need to devote real time to cleaning, instead of just doing a "good enough" job on my house. I am smack dab in the middle of a grad course.

Really. I'm asking Calgon to take me away.

Tonight, with 589443 things to do--and those are just the things that are due tomorrow--I decided that we will slow down and do something silly for dinner.

So we are eating our Hamburger Helper (I told you I was busy!) with chopsticks. It started out as something fun, but it made me slow down and enjoy my meal. I guess it was just what I needed.

Rewind and Recharge

I had a day today. A day that started out rough. I thought of throwing in the towel--calling for a sub and heading home to hide.

I didn't though.

I toughed it out. I prayed. I asked friends for prayer. I had a steaming up of coffee.

I felt better. I accomplished much more than I thought I could. I made it through.

One of the things that brightened my afternoon was reading through posts in this journal. I may not write a lot, but going back through lifted my spirits.

I feel the same way when I read through my personal journal. It's like taking myself by the hand and walking through the good times and the bad and seeing how I made it through. It's refreshing, really.

Quick Math Fact

Standardized testing + a rainy day = frazzled teacher

Brave

I've been thinking a lot about the song Brave by Nichole Nordeman in relationship to my life.

In general, I don't think I am brave. I'm scared of bugs. I hate the dark. Trying to sleep when my husband isn't home is pretty much a useless task--I hear every bump in the night.

But I've noticed that something changes when I am with my kids.

The lyrics say:
So long status quo
I think I just let go
You make me want to be brave
The way it always was
Is no longer good enough
You make me want to be brave

Suddenly when I'm with my little ones, all of the things that concern me are no longer concerns. I found myself walking with my Sophie through the woods this weekend, nonchalantly mentioning that we had to be careful as to not run into spider webs. I had to make myself not think about it all terribly hard or I would have gotten squeamish. Instead, I focused on my sweet girl and enjoying the great outdoors.