once i got started i just had to keep going until i was done...)
i will welcome feet that are wet & dirty & sweaty & lotion-ie & not worry about it because our carpet is horrid already. (proof: 6 year old visitors, who are well known for not noticing much of anything outside of snacks & little pet shop have commented on how dirty our carpet is) so who cares? bring on the dirty feet!
we will go swimming because we all love it. so much. & i will decide again (as i have for the last several years) that it's more important to enjoy the time with my kids & brian then to worry about how i look in a swim suit. i will never have the best body at the pool & if i have the worst body at the pool, it's going to have way more fun than any of the other bodies.
i will not wish we lived in the country. well, actually i will, but i will not dwell on the fact that we don't live in the country. i will be happy for the great suburb things that we have: lots of neighborhood kids, quick trips to the grocery store, cute raised bed gardens, a park within walking distance. would i trade it all in a heartbeat? well, of course! but i can be happy where i am, no problem ;)
~
i will say many many many times, in many many many ways how thankful i am that brian is a teacher & has the summers off. i would choose the days of togetherness over having lots of money every single time.
we will take advantage of the fact that we live in a really amazing part of the world. we will go 1 hour west (the coast). we will go 1 hour east (the mountians). we will go 1 hour north (museums & carousels). we will go 1 hour south (hmmm we will explore & find out). we will look at the map & point & say 'i wonder what that is.' & then we will go find out.
we will have some really hard days. life is like that, you know.
we will water & pick & love the heck out of the plants & flowers that are & will spring up in the raised beds that brian & Q built in the backyard. We will eat tomatoes & blueberries & strawberries right off the vine & we will say 'yum!'
i'm going to think about & be thankful that our kids are ages where we can go anywhere & do anything (or go no where & do nothing). we lived through years of naps & potty training & 'we can't go there because she might have a fit'. & you know, that's just a normal part of having kids. (if you're in it right now, please know that it ends eventually. yes, it stinks some days. totally stinks. & then you read about your friends who are going someplace in the middle of the afternoon (the middle of the afternoon!!) & you can not comprehend ever being able to do that. & maybe you want to kick your friend in the shins. it's all okay. it's all part of it. just remember when you're safely through it to look behind you & reassure the next generation. pay it backward, baby). & you know, she very may well have a fit still but so might i & that doesn't keep me from wandering around the town, enjoying life...
*i made this list after reading ali's list on her blog...
inspiring, she is.
i recommend doing this, it's getting me really excited
& also really preparing my mind & heart for it all...
good stuff :)