It's Alright To Be Little Bitty

I am at the office.THE office. Yeah, that's right, Ben has his own practice. And I am - in his words - his Chief Minion. I'm capitalizing that. If I have to be a minion, I'm going to be a proper one.

I'm tying up some loose ends to make next week smoother and I have my iTunes playing. One of the songs is Little Bitty by Alan Jackson. When I was in college, one of my roommates (who obviously loved Alan Jackson) told me that it reminded her of me. I remember being so shocked and a little insulted. She promised that she meant it in a nice way.

And now, a decade later, I get what she meant. And I'm sure that she meant it in a nice way.

It does kinda sum up my ideal life. I am happy here, in my little town with people I know and love. I am happy to do my best to bloom where I've been planted and find joy in the little things. When Ben and I decided to come back here, I was relieved. I never wanted to go off into the wide world and try to make a life in big cities that were mostly full of strangers. I didn't hate it or anything, and I have life long friends that I made in those days. I am glad to be home though.

I remember a friend of my dad's once saying that if you cut my dad he'd bleed St. Anthony.

I think I would as well.

Might as well share, might as well smile, life goes on for a little bitty while...

I Am Crazy, Oh Yes I Am

I think I've used that title for a post before. And I KNOW I will use it again. Cause it's true.

Last night I was in the grocery store in my little town. I was in a rush, it was late and I'd almost forgotten to buy peanut butter. I needed peanut butter, for the peanut butter cookies that I've been wanting to make every Sunday for a while now, but keep forgetting to buy peanut butter for. ANYWAY. I went rushing into the peanut butter aisle and saw my sister's friend and her husband there looking at the cereal. I don't know why, but I kinda felt like I was interrupting them. Like they were taking their cereal decision very seriously and I was in the way. They weren't rude or anything like that, I just have this thing that makes me feel like I'm bugging people all the time. Even when I'm probably not bugging them at all. So I go rushing into the aisle and smile and say hi when I recognize them. Then, feeling the need to over share I announce (a little too loudly) that "I need peanut butter!". Like it's some kind of great, non obvious thing. I am, after all, standing right in front of the peanut butter. Then, just for kicks and giggles, I say - still loudly - "I hate buying peanut butter when it's not on sale! It's so expensive that way!" I laugh nervously and then proceed to pick up a jar of peanut butter, that's on sale. Who am I and where is my brain? Why does purchasing peanut butter fluster me so? And why am I such a nerd!? I thought it was something that I was supposed to be able to grow out of at some point.

At least I remembered the peanut butter, right?

A Blast From The Past

Just for my friend Sarah. She's asked me to resume blogging a couple of times now so I'll be a bird of my word. It's actually her son that made me think of this post. You see, since there are so many holes in my blogging, it can't hurt to fill them in whenever I can. And today, while at lunch with Sarah and her sweet little son Josh, I was reminded of something that happened several years ago.

It was summer time and my sister Amanda, our Mom, and I were all in my parents' shop (read: gigantic storage shed). We were organizing things and reminiscing. My kids and Amanda's were in and out, back and forth between my house and the shop. And my sweet little brother Spencer - who is less than a year older than my own son - was with them. They had been in and out so much that we weren't alarmed when they bounded in as a herd, rosy cheeked and breathless.

"Mom!" chirped Beth. She's the informer. "Spencer was choking!"
"Oh my goodness, is he ok?" I said, alarmed.
"He's fine now!" added Will. Along with his customary arm flailing. He then hopped in the air and landed in a crouch. "We were in the dining room Mom. Spencer started to CHOKE! He was coughing and coughing! I knew just what to do!"
"He did the hind lick!" added Beth
I couldn't help but laugh - how could you not?
"Yes, I did the hind lick Mom!" resumed Will "I just kept doing it until he puked Mom! I thought it was ok to stop then. Once he'd puked."
I glanced at Spencer who was listening and nodding intently along with the description of events. He looked a little flushed and his eyes were watering.
"Are you ok bud?" I asked.
"Yeah, I'm ok now. And don't worry about the puke. Jack licked it all up. First he licked it off the cupboard, then he licked it off the floor. Everything is clean now!"

I'm glad I wrote this down. My posterity deserves to remember it.

First Spencer, then Will from back in the day.