Bless-ed Home.

What is it about going home that makes everything seem right?

Last week Mom and I stayed up late baking caramel pecan squares, swooning over paint colors for her bedroom remodel, and drinking more wine than is appropriate on a Wednesday evening. It was perfect.

Dad filled me in on all of his new projects, and drove me to the train in the morning, waiting with the seat warmers turned up high.

Life is pretty wonderful like that.

Week, End-ed.

Finally, this long week has come to a close and I can look forward to a mini-break filled with the following:

An hour alone with my book, uninteruppted.

(No, that's not me.)

A birthday meal of shrimp and grits with Mom & Dad

(Happy Birthday Mommy dearest!)

Massive Crumbs cupcakes for Mom's sweet tooth.

A race along the river, baby sister's in the Big East!

 A long drive home in the rain, 

listening to Mom's jazz music.

 A lazy Sunday evening spent under the covers.

Rust-ed out.

"It's better to wear out than to rust out," Mom always says.

Go a mile further.  Reach an inch higher.  Hug a second longer.

And above all, love.

First tim-ed.

This morning.

Corn beef and cabbage is simmering away in my beloved crock pot as I type this to you from my cubicle 23 floors in the sky.  It is the first year that it isn't Mom making it.  Truly embracing my Irish roots (that would be potatoes), I do believe this trumps making my own turkey.  Isn't it funny how much weight the little things carry sometimes?

Do something for the first time today.  The first time may not always be the best, but it will never be the same again.
And green is the color of new beginnings, what better day to start something new than on St. Patty's?
pic:weheartit

Be Littl-ed.

This morning my aunt sent me one of those chain e-mails that tells some cheesy story about an old man and the good deeds he did paying off even after he passed away.  I was about to delete it when I saw the quote at the bottom, "It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived."  For some reason, this resonated with me.  Life is the little smiles at strangers, the long overdue phone calls to old friends, and the cups of coffee shared with Mom.  It is holding the door for your neighbor, laughing with Dad, and playing fetch with the pup.  Take time to recognize all the ordinary miracles that make up our days.

To quote a famous coffee table book, life is too short to 'sweat the small stuff,' but the greatest of lives are filled with small stuff. 

Don't belittle people, be littl-ed.

pic: weheartit