Up, Up, and Away

My sweet babies
were given the movie Up!
for Christmas (by my in-laws).
I think my MIL actually gave it to them
a bit before Christmas---because, if you recall,
she was here and they needed things to do during
those days of bedrest and 1,000 doctor appointments.
So the children have seen that movie
several times. Lloyd Dobbler and I had not
watched it until last night.
Fridays, you know, have become our
Pizza and a Movie night
and we all look forward to it.
So last night we parked ourselves
on the couch
in a pile
and all watched this movie together.

That is THE CUTEST movie.
Oh, it was so sweet.
I mean, how many cartoons will bring a
tear to your eye and make you laugh out loud?
If you haven't seen it, I recommend it.
I loved it.

You know what else I love?
Sunshine.
We have had it for two days in a row now
and I think it might be addictive. I don't know if
you know this about me or not, but sunshine
on my shoulders makes me happy. If it's in my
eyes, it can make me cry. It has this same effect
on John Denver. Or it did.
(He is no longer among the living.)

Today was a beautiful day.
I don't think it got as warm as they told us it would.
There was a very chilly breeze blowing around,
but the beautiful sunshine was the star of the show.
I took the snuggy thing off of Baby J's
car seat/carrier and I think he enjoyed getting
a better view of the world around him. He went
with me to the barber this morning.
I got my hair cut.
Not a big change, but it will be easier for me to
fix and it was in need of something. I hadn't
had anything done to it since November.
It's still long enough to go up in a ponytail
which is an important thing for me.

My lovely husband returned the Twilight book today
to the young teeny-bopper who loaned the book
to me---and he borrowed the second book in that
vampire series for me. I started reading it while
fixing supper tonight. I am so glad I have started
reading fiction again. I went for years where I didn't
read fiction. It was always something on
Education or "raising children"
(believe it or not---and you would think I'd be
doing a better job at both of those things
for all the reading I did)
or books by people like
Elisabeth Elliott and Ruth Bell Graham.
And don't get me wrong.
I'm not patting myself on the back
for reading this particular book.
But I am enjoying it.
I forgot how pleasant it can be to get sucked into a book.
It's a nice escape from reality.

And I feel like my own creative juices
have begun to flow again
in a way they have not done in a very long time.
I have always longed to write.
I believe I have the necessary skill
to write....it's just developing and cultivating that.
It's work, you know, and it takes time.
Time is a precious commodity at this point in my life.
I keep a quote (by Robert Hass) on my desk that says:

Take the time to write.
You can do your life's work
in half and hour a day.

That quote gives me a sense of hope.
I find myself wishing I had pursued
certain classes and experiences and various opportunities
when I was younger and freer. I regret some of the things
I didn't do when I was younger.
I wish I'd been wiser.
I wish I'd looked ahead and thought about
the way things would be in the future.
I don't know that I ever did that.
Maybe I did but I just didn't see
the reality of how things can be.
I have a tendency to romanticize things.
I wish I'd not wasted time and chances in my youth.
But maybe that's something we can all say.
How do you know, when you are
young and blissfully ignorant,
that some things you let slip by
will never pass your way again?

In other news:
We are mostly on the mend,
all us sickies here at the homestead.
Lovely K seems to be back at 100%.
Big E's horrible cough has subsided.
Sweet T seemed to be dragging today.
I hope he's not going to go through it.
I'd like for us to be done with this sickness mess.
Baby J coughed once tonight
when I was putting him to bed
and I just thought "Oh no! Not him."
And I hope he doesn't get sick.
I feel like he won't, but who knows?
I am praying that he doesn't.
There's nothing more pitiful than a sick baby.
And he's still such a little bitty sweetie.
It's been a long, hard week
and I have felt really bad a lot of the time.
I have wished that I could take something
that would really help.
Like Nyquil.
You know how you can't take anything
that might actually help when you're nursing.
But it's getting better and I am making it without medication.
I am overdosing on grace and mercy
(as I suspect I have been for some time now).

I am going to get up from this computer now
and go get in a nice hot bath.
And read from my vampire book.
And relax.
I've had a terrible kink in my neck today.
I could really use an adjustment,
wish my chiropractor wasn't so far away.
Maybe the hot bath will help.

Have a lovely weekend, Dear Reader.
I hope the sun is shining on you
and that you are soaking in the rays.