My Ten happy/Five quirky

Alright, I am doing these list things from Tilly's journal entry Ten Happy/Five Quirky.

10 Things that make me happy

1.  When Ray walks up behind me, gently moves my hair aside, leans down and softly kisses the back of my neck and then softly whispers "I love you".  It always gives me a chill and makes me feel very much loved.

2.  Going and reading the letters that my two oldest children wrote to me in 2003.  It always makes me feel better...about me, about my children and the things I did while raising them.

The one from my son was a school assignment where they had to write to someone who influenced their life in some way.  I learned a lot about him (and myself) that I didn't realize before.  It made me feel much closer to him.

The one my daughter wrote me was shortly before Rylie was born.  She basically told me how much she loved me, what a good mother I was and how lucky Rylie was to get me for a mom.  I felt a lot better about becoming a mom again (at this stage of my life) after reading her letter.

3.  Spending time alone, one on one, with my kids.  I feel like they open up so much more to me when we have "alone" time.  I like to spend the time getting to know them better and learning more about the people they are growing into. 

4.  When Rylie Jo comes up to me, for no reason at all, throws her tiny little arms around me and gives me a real tight hug.  As she begins to let loose of me, she will smile, then she leans over and gives me one of her wet sloppy kisses.  Her kisses are kind of like letting a dog lick your face, except I think you get more slobber from Rylie and her kisses you don't mind at all.

5.  Seeing my older children (David-20< in 15 days, Samantha-17) finding their niche in life.  You know seeing them find something that they really enjoy doing and finding out if it is something they can make a career out of, or if they want to. 

I guess, it is a bit about seeing them try out their wings.  Watching them test the waters of independence and feeling happy to know that they never swim in the deep end without being sure to check in with mom every now and then.

*(editted) Also knowing that they are past those "nasty" teen years when they feel like they have to argue with me about everything.  The stage that Christopher is now into full force {{sigh}}.

6.  This is the "Donna Reed" in me, but spending the afternoon cooking a meal for the family and sitting down all together and eating.  I love to see everyone replenish themselves and enjoy the meal I prepared for them. 

I also enjoy that little bit of time, that we spend during the meal, in which we are able to reconnect after spending the day apart.  Growing up as a child we always sat down to dinner at the dining room table.  I love that tradition and the connection, even if we aren't all able to sit down together every day. 

7.  Okay, I am going to have to break this one down into sub-categories.  Order and Structure in my life.  Don't laugh, here goes...

     7A.    I love the way the carpet looks just after it has been vacuumed.  I love all having the pile all pulling in the same direction, you know those lines the vacuum makes. 

This is not an easy thing to do with a toddler running about.  Now a days, I usually just whip the sweeper out and run it about real quick trying to get all the wee bits of food thatRylie is trailingabout the house.

    7B.  Making my bed every morning.  It just makes the whole room look cleaner.  Even when I have a pile of clothes, or whatever junk, in the corner of the room it always looks 90% neater when the bed is made.

    7C.  Getting rid of knick-knacks or clutter.  It feels like a 10 lb. weight has been lifted off my back when I get rid of some of the "pack rat" type things that we never use.

    7D.  Organization!  I just love having everything organized and knowing where everything is.  I hate when I can't find something.  For instance, the scissors are missing at the moment.  Which means I am using a small (about 3 inches) pair of scissors to cut the Christmas wrapping paper and it is driving me crazy!  lol

8.  Being able to do something for someone else.  Even though we can't afford to give money to charities and things, just being able to do something small for someone else makes me feel really good.

9.  When Ray makes the time to spend some alone time with me.  Just the two of us going out to dinner, watching a movie together, or cuddling.  Of course, if that should lead to something more "carnal"...that's always good too!

10.  Spending some time with my mom.  I love my mom and I would cry like a little girl if anything were to ever happen to her.  I think, even at my age, I would feel like an orphan if something terrible were to happen to her.  I'm not ashamed to say "I love my mommy". 

Hmmm, although I look at that written and it does look a bit silly doesn't it?  Well, I do!  And that is that!

My 5 Quirky Things

1.  I fold my underwear.

2.  My cd's are group by genre and thenalphabetized

3.  I always say I am sorry for things that I have no control over.  For example, if Ray had a really awful day at work, I say I am sorry.  Or if we go somewhere to eat and the service or foodwas bad, I say I am sorry.  Yet, I have a really, really hard time apologizing for something I did or said.

4.  I can't eat my dry cereal with milk poured on it.  I pour my cereal into a bowl, and I pour my milk into a coffee cup, then I spoon up the cereal and dip it into the milk. 

5.  I can't sneeze properly.  I always hold it back and end up sounding like a squeaky mouse.  Everyone makes fun of me when I sneeze.

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That was fun!  Let me know if you do one of these lists on your journal.  Have a wonderful day!