Rubber meets the road

Today, I watched Marky go through something disappointing.  A situation arose where she wasn't able to do something that she really wanted to do.  It was a situation that I had no control over, and I couldn't help her out at all.  I listened, I hugged, I wiped her tears, I instructed her, but I couldn't change it for her.  I watched her experience many emotions: sadness, frustration, anger, longing.  What surprised me was how mature she was in how she approached her disappointment.  She still acted 10, but she acted like a very intelligent, soft hearted 10 year old. She got angry, yet didn't bottle it up; she was hurt, yet backed down when she was told no; she cried hard, but she faced what she needed to.   She has been taught to respect and obey authority - in her 10 year old way, she did that. Before she left me, we talked about how some times there are situations that we have to go through even though we don't like it.  She wasn't blameless or perfect, but I saw character beyond her years reflected in her behavior.  Even though it was hard to watch her go through this, I was a very proud mom of how my Marky acted tonight.  Yay you, Marky-moo.

Comfort "food"

These are things that give me comfort - 

• a snuggle from Meredith
• watching the television show "Friends": I've seen every episode 100 times and yet I can barely handle going to bed if I miss the 9:00 repeat every night.
• my mom's cooking - basic and delicious
• my Bible that is absolutely falling apart.  I can find things in there that absolutely do not exist in other Bibles. 
• Maddie's laugh
• a hug from my Dad
• my flip flop slippers
• the smell of coffee
• my brother Adam's smile
• a campfire
• watching the movie "White Christmas"  any time of year
• talking to my sisters
• a giant hug from Marky
• my body pillow
• an "I love you, Mama" from Michael
• a sweet email from Patrick
• iced tea
• the sound of Al Michael's voice
• the theme song from M*A*S*H