good morning!!!

I am in a very happy mood this morning, for no apparent reason. Perhaps because the sun is shining, although it is very deceptive..it is ten degrees out there. I took Miss Rosie out for her morning walk, and oh my goodness it was cold.

Perhaps I am happy because although Sonja forgot the Goldfish crackers I bought for her snack (after calling me no less than four times to remind me last evening, poor child), Mirielle and Joseph are taking the old blue car to the shop, so they can bring her snack to school. I might need to beg and cajole, but I am willing to do that.

Perhaps I am glad that I finally have the paint and spackle for the kids' room.

Or maybe it is that Camille The Huggy One is cuddled up to me with her nice footy jammies on.

Whatever it is, I will take it. I like being happy. Although I do wish some things were different:

1. I wish I was one of those high-energy moms. The kind who don't have to go sit down after sweeping a few rooms.

2. I wish I could put things back where they belong, every single time....not always waiting until later.

3. I wish I could be consistent in where I put things away. It took me years to finally always put the peanut butter in the same cupboard. My cupboards reflect my personality....one has to look in four places to find a can of kidney beans.

4. I wish I had the time and energy to organize everything for once and for all, and keep it that way.

5. I wish someone else would come along and organize everything for once and for all and keep it like that, so I could just play with the kids.

5. I wish I didn't have to fight so hard against procrastinating. I don't know why I can't just DO what I am supposed to do without all the "putting it off"....

6. I wish I could spend time with Ben before summer. It seems like a cruelly long time.

7. I wish I could spend more time with Paul...but I am also glad I feel that way.

8. I wish I could spend more time with my sister and sister-in-law....life is speeding by, and we don't have enough breakfasts out.

9. I wish I could let the kids skip school at least once a week each without any nagging from the school.

10. I wish, as long as I'm wishing, that I had a huge new house with lots of cupboard space and a few more bathrooms and another washer and dryer....a big garage that I could pull that big van into, and bring the groceries right into the spacious pantry on those freezing cold nights.

11. I wish our well water wasn't so iron-y (we do have an iron filter, but it only does so much...) . It is hard water, and leaves sediment on the dishes and everywhere it splashes.

12. I wish Rosie would listen to me better.

And with that, I should mention that I AM thankful for my lot in life. I am thankful for my kids, and the house I have, and my big horrible van, and that Paul has a job, and that the older ones are doing well and finding their way in this world. (Mali was accepted to nursing school!!! Sixteen years old, and graduating a year early, and she was actually accepted....to be blunt here, I thought she was setting herself up for disapointment, but I was wrong!)

And yes, I know I can just try harder to accomplish some of the things I wish for. I know that. And I also know that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, and that we as people are just never satisfied. So today I shall do what I can do, and really fight to be at rest about the rest of it. Because really, our life here is so temporal. As I tell the kids, gaining treasures in heaven is the important part.