Five for Friday

Fireflies. Joe loves fireflies. Last night, he came in from outside with a jar containing an inch worm and a slug. He quickly placed the jar on a table by the living room window. “This is a good place for the bugs to stay tonight.” He said. “They can watch the fireflies from here.”

Earlier this week, Suzann mentioned her back pasture is filled with fireflies at night, which tweaked Joe’s interest immediately. With Suzann’s permission, we agreed to take Joe and Charlie back to her house around 9:15 PM.

That night, Joe watched the clock, anticipating 9pm. A thunderstorm started brewing around 6pm, and Joe became nervous about the firefly expedition. His focus switched from the weather radar to the clock and then back to the weather radar. Fortunately, the rain and thunder lessened by the time we were to head to Suzann’s house. Having rained, Suzann’s pasture didn’t light up like a Christmas tree, as we had hoped. Still, Joe and Charlie had fun chasing the fireflies, but they were surprised how hard it was to catch the fireflies in the dark.

I think the anticipation of going to Suzann’s late at night was more fun than the actual experience. Still, it’s the little things. Much like when the boys ask me to honk twice when I drive away from Suzann’s house (like today). As I honked, I looked back at the house, and I saw both Joe and Charlie jumping up and down with excitement. Little moments like anticipating, watching and catching fireflies and hearing your Mom or Dad honk the horn are some of life’s biggest (and best) memories.

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My theory: More often than not, someone takes on the negative emotion not being shown by someone else in the group.

Example: Rob and I are going to a party. We are running late. Very late. 30 minutes late. Typically, I would be the one getting frustrated with our tardiness. However, if Rob were to become frustrated, I wouldn’t take on that negative emotion, frustration.

The above is just an example, but the following is real life. And yes, my theory applies to animals, too.

Tonight we are experiencing serious thunderstorms with frequent lightening. Our two dogs, Wilbur and Cherokee, are visibly nervous. Wilbur is pacing the house, clearly uneasy with the frequent lightening and loud thunder.

Now, back up to previous storms when we had three dogs. During severe storms with frequent lightening and thunder, our dog Sydney, would become very nervous, pacing the house and looking for shelter. And Wilbur and Cherokee? They would rest, calm, cool and collected.

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This week I went through a bunch of drawings and creations the boys generated these past 4 years. I did this project in my bedroom, where I could set up my laptop, keeping tabs on my paid gig. When the sorting and purging task was completed, I continued my work day in my room.

I love my room. In fact, my bedroom is my favorite room in the house. I’m not sure why I haven’t worked in my room prior to today. And, if I needed another reason to like my job, I am grateful that my job has mobile flexibility. Have laptop and wireless access: Can travel. Nice.

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Did you read my post about laundry and lists? Yes, well, as I stated lists are not a guarantee that tasks will be tackled, and I was reminded of that very fact this week.

I buy birthday cards at the end of every month for the coming month. This month is the month one of my sisters celebrates her birthday. The card I bought her is hilarious. In fact, the card is so funny, I bought two. It was hard for me to wait to send it to my sister, because I couldn’t wait to hear if she found it funny.

The first part of the month, we traveled to Texas. I thought I put all the birthday cards in the mail before we left town, including the one for my sister. So, this week, on my sister’s birthday, I checked in to see if she had received the card. She hadn’t. I assured her it was hilarious, and she said she would let me know when she got it. We checked in daily.

One evening, I pulled out the card drawer to get out the card for one of my nephews. I notice the card I bought my sister. At first, I thought nothing of it, because I bought more than one. Then I realized – two cards were in the drawer. Hmm… did I buy three? The next afternoon, my sister emailed me, “Still haven’t gotten the card.” That’s when I knew. I never mailed her the card. No worries. It is in the mail as I type. *sigh*

My sister may not find the card as funny as I found it, especially after the days of build up. However, she had a good laugh at the fact that the card, she was anticipating the most, had yet to be mailed. Stupid lists.

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I am putting together a scrapbook of sorts (via Shutterfly) for our day care provider, Suzann. I will give it to her on Joe’s last day at her house. As I go through all the photographs of Joe and Suzann, I am becoming increasingly sad about his ‘graduation’.

I found a picture Joe painted back in October 2008, while at Suzann’s house. He was three years old at the time. Suzann made a note on the picture, letting me know what Joe was thinking about at the time: “Does God know babies cry?” I am sure God does know babies cry, and I am certain God knows I will cry on Joe’s last day at Suzann’s house.

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