Lovely little things, 21

Oh this week.

It was always going to be a wild one. Always going to be a little bit different. A bit more wild. A bit harder. A bit softer. I knew long before it started it would take me on a journey.

And it did.

And there were parts of it that were just lovely, pure and simple. And there were parts that were lovely in their darkness. And there were parts that were way beyond lovely, a thing for which I have no words, and yet I’ll try to write about it.

This week’s lovely little things.

achieved

The first thing that I did after last week’s ending, was cannonball into this week’s new beginning. Yes, within an hour of that ending, I sent my words to the Huffington Post. Again. I’ve done it before, but this time was different. This time I had worked at it. Really, really worked. I had opened my heart and the scary parts of my insecurities and I had asked for help. And then I had worked some more. Until I wanted to cry myself to sleep because it was that hard to work that piece. But I did it. And on Monday morning, somewhere between the post office and the grocery store and the still broken refrigerator and the bigness of that first Monday after that ending, I learned that it was up. And the rest of the day was a whirlwind that was so far beyond lovely that I have no words for it. Texts and emails and comments and so many people I’ve never met sharing my words. And my girl, when I told her about the big goal I had achieved, she smiled and quietly said, “Congratulations! Hug?” And there just aren’t words to describe the loveliness of that hug. Thank you to all of you who shared and congratulated and read and edited and encouraged. Goals are never achieved by one person alone.

that moment when I let go

The roller coaster that was this week wouldn’t be complete with out a down for the up of achieving a long-held goal. And so our refrigerator struggled to keep cool all weekend before spilling water all over our floor on Saturday night. And the completely unhelpful service people refused to move up our Wednesday appointment. I have big problems with injustice, big or small, and this felt like an injustice. Small, absolutely, but big to me as I emptied the contents of our refrigerator into the trash can. Fueled by anger, I composed several scathing letters in my head. I penned a couple of nasty haikus about broken refrigerators and melted ice pops and horrible customer service that I thought would do well on Facebook. But as I sat there, typing them into the status box and struggling to figure out how to tag the horrid company so they’d be sure to see it, I realized the ridiculousness of it all. Did I really want to share all of that negativity? No, I didn’t. And if I didn’t want to share it, why hold onto it at all? So I let it go. And although my anger levels would rise again throughout the week, I managed to let them go as quickly as they came. And my week was all the better for it.

the new park

Chasing shade, we tried a new park this week. We thought we were being crafty but the sun found us anyway. So we rested on a bench with a snack before retreating to the swings in, thankfully, the one corner of the park with a bit of shade. I pushed and they swung, lazily in the heat, enjoying the breeze. We watched the big kids stream out of their school and eavesdropped on their fifth grade things until they were ushered away. They were fine kids, typical, I imagine for their awkward pre-teen place. But listening to them talk and watching them roll their eyes I felt suddenly and immensely grateful for my two little people, exactly where they are at this moment.

dream bigger

A couple weeks ago, I ordered a new Sevenly shirt. I’ve got three now and so pretty much if you catch me on a t-shirt and jeans day, I’m wearing Sevenly. But this one, I knew I needed it. It arrived just in time. Because if there is any shirt to wear on your first official day of chasing your dream, it’s this one.

Thank you, Sevenly, for responding to my tweet and helping me out!

favorite words

My favorite words this week came from my girl. She is four and so, naturally, we talk about Elsa. A lot. And we pretend the ground is frozen. A lot. Until this week when we walked and my girl claimed that she had no frozen super power like Elsa.

“Oh no?” I asked her, “Then what super power do you have?”

“Love.” she replied.

Yes. Love.

And know what? You have that super power too.

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ICYMI

In case you missed it, I was over at The Happiest Home this week talking about celebrating the relationship between siblings. Enjoy!

Happy weekend!

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