The Little Things

It's been a while since I've done a "Little Things" post and I constantly find myself thinking of the little things in life that I'm thankful for. Time to jot some down.....

~ I love that Sophie often cries when she reads Puff the Magic Dragon or hears the song. Her empathetic nature is so heartwarming to me....

~ I use the Common Sense Media website quite often as I'm pretty conservative when it comes to what movies I'll let Sophie watch. Recently, we watched Ponyo for the first time. I think it's safe to say that all three of us adore the movie. Especially Sophie. The movie has such positive messages....my favorite being that we should treat seniors with respect and kindness. I also love that Sophie is exposed to a totally different visual aesthetic. Absolutely beautiful movie. Right up there on my list of favorite kids movies!

~ Tonight some friends and I went to the movies. We saw Larry Crowne and I thought it was adorable. Light and feel-good. I found myself giggling quite often. And it more than made up for seeing The Tree of Life last week. Sorry for any fans that might be reading but it's one of the worst movies I have ever seen.

~ Enjoying the fruits of my labor. Eating during this season is such a pleasure. We've recently started enjoying our tomatoes. We're still inundated with cucumbers but we somehow manage to eat them all in time. We are no doubt some cucumber-eating fools in this house. We're enjoying all of the potatoes and onions that I grew. As often as we can, we use the variety of herbs we have outside. The melons are getting BIG and should start turning any day now. Oh my, I can't even wait for that!!! From time to time, we'll enjoy something made from our zucchinis. Everything tastes so fresh and FULL OF FLAVOR. I love gardening. Every single time I read a quote about food miles (the average is around 2,000 miles from farm to table), I have to smile. Most of my produce these days travels about 20-30 steps.....

~ Even though I don't grow it myself, I love this time of year because we eat corn on the cob two to three nights a week. I could never grow tired of corn on the cob. Even better? Watching Sophie devour her cobs and LOVING THEM. She can butter up and salt & pepper a cob along with the best of 'em. Definitely my girl.

~ The plethora of calls/emails/texts/etc that I receive every day from friends checking up to see how I'm doing and wanting to know if the baby has arrived.

~ Party planning. No shocker here. This is a passion of mine. I recently sent a friend a list of ideas for her son's upcoming party and I ADORE seeing the party come together. We just received the invite today and it's so adorable!!!

~ The crazy anticipation we're all feeling as we await the arrival of our baby girl. I go to bed every single night wondering if this is the night my labor will start. I wake up every morning wondering if this will be my second daughter's birthday. But she is in control. And it really is nice to relinquish my own control and let life take over......

~ My two-hour afternoon naps. Since I barely sleep at night these days (too uncomfortable), the only way I'm surviving is to take a lengthy nap in the afternoons. I enjoy these naps in my throne chair in the den sitting straight up. It's the most restful part of my day and I relish it.

~ My husband recently introduced me to a new game on my laptop. Mahjong Titans. I've been a little bit of an addict over the past week. But I enjoy it so much and it's been a great way to pass the time as I've been taking it easy....

~ Being so proud of my lovely friend, Seana. She was my very first friend in Charlotte. We worked together at the bank for a number of years and we both left at different times. Although we had different reasons for leaving, we've often had conversations about how that line of work wasn't fulfilling enough. She's been searching for her new career since she left many years ago. Just last month she completed nursing school. And can I just say that I am so very proud of her? I admire and adore people who search so hard for the right thing....something rewarding in every way....I know it can be hard and requires a great deal of soul-searching and, in many cases, sacrifices. As I go through my own journey of this nature, Seana is someone I look up to and respect and admire. Love you, LS!!!