On a Wednesday.

I learned a few things today.

I learned that it's getting lighter earlier.  Hallelujah!  No more waking up in total darkness!  Me and Light have this fantastic, obsessive relationship:).

I learned that righteous habits are precious when used out of context.  Annie and I were reading Curious George.  The last page simply read, THE END.  However, before I was able to utter the words, Annie piped-out with, "Ahh-men."  Love that girl!

I've learned that being at the crossroads of my children's lives is SO important.  Crossroads, meaning when they leave home, when they come home, when I pick them up, drop them off, etc.  Since my kids are still young, I'm usually always physically present at their crossroads.  However, there's more to crossroads than just being there.  

When I picked William up from Scouts I was on the phone.  He usually takes a while getting out the door so I thought I had a few minutes to spare.  He got in the car looking a little solemn.  BUT, I was on the phone.  At that moment, I wished I'd never made the call.  

I needed to BE at his crossroads.  I needed to greet him with my crazy-mother love.  You can't just get that anywhere.  It was a little anticlimactic for William to get in the car, ready to melt down, only to realize that he couldn't melt down because I wasn't "there" to catch him.  He had to wait.  I could feel the emotion in the air and I felt so bad.  I tried to cut my call short.  THEN his tears could flow.  My sweet, little guy.  I made a commitment to myself to not get caught in the phone-trap again, if I can help it.

I learned that buying condoms from a family-owned grocery store is HILARIOUS!  Sorry for sharing, but it's too good to keep to myself.  They keep the "unmentionables" in a LOCKED, glass case right below the pharmacist's window.  You have to ASK PERMISSION for a pharmacist to unlock the door.  At that point I knew I should have gone to Walmart!  The lady tried and tried to open that blasted case to no avail.  Lincoln kept asking if he could try.  Out comes another pharmacist from behind the counter!  Great.  I'm happy to know my intimate life is on display.  As they fiddled with the lock I tried to lighten the mood, "Now, you guys, if I get pregnant it's gonna be all your fault!"  They laughed and said, "Well, if you get pregnant, there's pregnancy tests in here, too!"  Bah.  A few minutes later, we were on our way, "unmentionables" gently tossed between the bread and milk.  (I really think Ben needs to buck up and take a turn buying the goods.)

(A fort from last summer.  I just discovered it today.)

I learned that even if it's FREEZING outside with wind gusts of 50 MPH, it's still so nice to be outside, breathing fresh air, feeling the sun on your face, taking pictures.  Being outside is my peace.  The world is SO BEAUTIFUL, even when it's snow-less winter-ugly.  I yearn for warmer temperatures.  It's time for winter to go to sleep so spring can burst forth!  I am SO ready.

I learned that I should never doubt that I can have a really great time with my kids even, and especially, when we're doing nothing at all.