Friday, May 16, 2008

Joy Rush

[Edited to add: Once more Dawn has linked to me without warning me, which is akin to the people at NOAA seeing an F5 hurricane bearing down on some unsuspecting coastal town and not bothering to mention it. Those of you looking for tales about my love affair with Ektorp furniture from IKEA, just type "Ektorp" or "IKEA" into the search bar up there.]


I am accepting Barb's challenge to do a joy rush meme, seeing as how Barb is always so optimistic and loving and makes me feel like a grinch every single time I read her blog (but hey, her daughters are 10 and under). And I think she gets more traffic than me, so maybe there is something to be said for being a less cynical blogger. Therefore, I am going to try to think like Barb tonight. I hope my brain doesn't explode. Here goes...

10 Things That Give Me Joy

1. Fat, squeezy baby thighs (as opposed to my fat middle-age thighs, which do not give me a joy rush at all)
2. Yarn (the possibilities!)
3. Homeschooling catalogs (again, the possibilities!)
4. Birds singing in the morning (but not too early, like some of the crazy carolers who have been starting up before 4 o'clock) (for heaven's sake, that's not even morning yet; knock it off, guys, will ya?)
5. Coca-Cola, on ice (I'm a simple person, what can I say?)
6. The way 2-year-olds talk and walk and giggle and blow kisses (okay, everything about 2-year-olds except the part where they poop on my family room rug like a puppy) (not that that happened today or anything)
7. Listening to A Prairie Home Companion (notwithstanding how I have to scream at the kids to pipe down so that I can hear my boyfriend Garrison Keillor speaking)
8. Watching my kids playing together (happily, quietly, not bothering Mommy)
9. Two more, huh? This is getting difficult for hardbitten old me. How about...um...mountains? I love seeing mountains. Not climbing them, or anything, though. I'm scared of heights.

[It is just now occurring to me that the more I talk, the less sense that I make.]

10. Anything that makes me laugh. (Is that begging the question? The thing that gives me joy is anything that gives me joy?) Life without laughter is not worth living. (Oooh, I could start writing stuff for fortune cookies now, couldn't I?)

Okay, Barb, I did it. I'm trying to be more like you. Lord knows why I've become more cynical over the years [teens], but I will certainly attempt to overcome any and all obstacles [teens] to my greeting each day with joy and anticipation, the way I used to [before my kids became teens] just a couple of years ago.

Especially if it makes my sitemeter stats go up.

26 comments:

  1. Boy, SC, when you warned me that you poked fun at me a bit in this post, I went to bed making an entirely different list: the one of all the absurd and horrible things I do/have done. I considered posting my resume so you could see what a badass I am--er--WAS before I had children.

    And then look at how NICE this is. Look! You DID it and it's totally nice. Um, don't look now but JOY RUSH!

    I love those two-year-olds, too. Mine never had those squishy thighs but I've loved them on OTHER people's kids. (My kids are incredibly lean, proving once again that while I might have gestated them, they are 100% their father's children. Damn him. Would it have killed on of them to at least have some curly hair?)

    Anyway, thanks for a great start to my day, Oh Can Be Snarky One. IF you want my resume though, I'll send it to you...

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  2. I've told you before, I'll tell you again. Garrison is my boyfriend. I'm going to have his babies. As long as we keep the lights off anyway.... and he just spends all his time talking to me in the dark.

    Coke with ice. Ummm yumm. That is what I have whenever I have a headache. My Georgia Grandma tought me that trick to cure a headache. Works great. The real stuff, not the diet.

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  3. I'm hosed. I think I started down the cynical route when my kids were toddlers.

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  4. mary alice - Definitely, lights off...and with "the voice" going...what is it about his voice?

    barb - you should know I could never say anything truly mean about you! I mean, unless you start acting like those dental receptionists...

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  5. All my boys had fat, squeezy baby thighs . . . and that memory gives me joy right here and now.

    I'm sure you'll survive these teenage angsts and that a few years from now you'll be able to sit down with them and enjoy a cup of coffee and a meaningful conversation about mountains, yarn, and Garrison Keillor . . . and you'll laugh a lot, I'm sure.

    God bless, I'm off to visit the IKEA site. We don't have one around here, but I want to see what all this hype is about.

    God bless on this joyful day.

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  6. Fat, squeezy baby appendages are the best. But homeschooling catalogs intimidate me.

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  7. Oh, don't loose the cynicism! I need to know what I'm up against with my 2 year old and 5 month old girls. My 11 year old boy has sprouted 'tude, but I have an idea it is just a cheap imitation of what is truly to come.

    Not that anyone reads my blog, but I'm putting you in my new category of 'blogs I want to be when I grow up'.

    Rock on!

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  8. Just the fact that you have vomit as a blog category makes this reader happy :-).

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  9. Cynicism is highly underrated.

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  10. AnonymousMay 16, 2008

    A great list. I think I laid claim on our man Garrison, however.

    Baby thighs--I just got to snuggle with some last night! And morning birdsongs. All good stuff!

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  11. I have an 11 year old daughter and you're scaring me. Oh how I miss those chubby thigh days!!

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  12. Sorry about that. I'll be sure to give you written 48 hour notice the next time I link to you. ;) But you crack me up, so I feel the need to share your hilarity with my readers.

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  13. All of my kids had those incredibly squishy thighs.
    We nicknamed one of them "chubbilicious" because he was.
    Why does fat look so cute on babies & toddlers, but not so cute on me?

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  14. When I had an ultrasound with my last baby, the doctor said "Wow! She's a chubby one!" This was before she was born. Boy was I excited for delivery. She, indeed, had squishy thighs and squishy cheeks.

    Okay, this is weird. Just as I was reading about your 2-yr-old's poop on the carpet, my 2-yr-old climbed up on the chair behind me and reached around me with the bluest hands I have ever seen. I now have blue handprints on the back of my shirt and a bottle of blue food coloring all over my carpet. Yeah, fun. So where's the joy now?

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  15. When I had an ultrasound with my last baby, the doctor said "Wow! She's a chubby one!" This was before she was born. Boy was I excited for delivery. She, indeed, had squishy thighs and squishy cheeks.

    Okay, this is weird. Just as I was reading about your 2-yr-old's poop on the carpet, my 2-yr-old climbed up on the chair behind me and reached around me with the bluest hands I have ever seen. I now have blue handprints on the back of my shirt and a bottle of blue food coloring all over my carpet. Yeah, fun. So where's the joy now?

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  16. i really proud of you. you did it.

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  17. I am with you on the Coca Cola on and ice and the homeschooling magazines. The Rainbow Resource Catalog is like porn for me. All the choice.

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  18. Great list. Toddler thighs! Coca Cola...yum.

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  19. The more cynical I got, the more my stats went up. They've tripled since I started. You can find happiness anywhere, but to find a dyed in the wool cynic, total bliss.

    Carry on.

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  20. Hi from another Dawn who won't send hurricanes your way ;)
    I completely understand the coca cola on ice. and it has to be from a soda fountain, not from a can or bottle!
    Dawn/cookie
    www.momscookiejar.blogspot.com

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  21. Seriously, the cynicism is why I come. Don't change it!

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  22. I just knew there was a gushy moment of joy hiding somewhere under all that cynicism.

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  23. AnonymousMay 17, 2008

    I like the toddler thighs... but more than that, I love baby smell. I don't know why but all babies are born with an inherent smell of baby powder. Yummmm.

    I can't agree with you on the Coke thing, because I work for the other guy and it impact(s) children's college savings accounts.

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  24. I agree with Mary Alice--there's a reason Garrison is on the radio, not on t.v.!

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  25. Well I had to delurk....forgive me for the lurkiness. I suck and I am sorry. I love your blog. Does that make it better?
    I think that your snarkiness is fabulous! Maybe that did the trick?

    Reading your comments is ALMOST as good as the posts,lol.

    You and I might be living in parallel universes, only my drink is Dr. Pepper on ice, lots of ice. It is creepy really.

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  26. You made me totally laugh. You brought me joy by bringing me joy! I'm going to have to go back and read about the mice.

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