Favorite Things

Cameron is on-call tonight. For an ob/gyn physician, that means in-house (at the hospital) all night. It is always a long day knowing Cameron is not going to be coming home. The kids are disappointed and dinner feels different (although bedtime is earlier! ;) )

In order to cheer myself up, I thought I would make a list of a few of my favorite things!

Here are 10 things that are guaranteed to boost my spirits.

1) A cup of tea. I love tea. I used to just do tea bags, but my friend, Christi, got me hooked on good loose leaf tea, freshly brewed. There is nothing like it to lift your mood! Cameron got me some loose leaf tea and a nice strainer for mother's day. Then, some friends who work with Cameron threw me a "mommy shower" and showered me with gifts, among them lots of loose leaf tea, a mug with a strainer, and a great tea pot in which to steep tea. When I sit down to do school with my kids, you will most likely find a cup of hot tea next to me. It makes me look forward to this time with my kids. I usually have another cup during rest time and sometimes one more on those long afternoons that I am counting the hours until Cameron comes home. My girls now love to have their own tea parties--it is so much fun! Tea makes me feel good! My favorite? Black tea with a tablespoon of sugar and a splash of milk! :)

2) A good book. I love to read and always have. What I don't like to read? Science-fiction and fantasy. Call me a realist, but anything unbelievable makes me cringe. I could not get through "One Hundred Years' of Solitude" because of that--no matter how good everyone says the book is!

3)A good deal. There is such a sense of accomplishment I feel when I find a good deal. I love thrift stores, used book stores and garage sales. Most likely, if you see something in my house you like, I will tell you what a good deal I got on it! Why pay full price when you can get a deal? I think I drive Cameron a little nuts with this one. When I do have to pay regular price for something I tend to think it is outrageous and Cameron has to remind me that it is "normal" to pay certain prices for things.

4) A clean house. Although I have a slew of kids, I will not succumb to letting my standards of neatness go. It would just drive me nuts. It does now when I see clutter left out. I think I am unwittingly turning all of my kids into slobs though in rebellion to me! Yes, they may be neat now, but wait until they are on their own! They will have disorganized closets just to spite me, I know it!

5) Good music, particularly good praise music. I don't listen to anything non-Christian because of my past and where it takes my mind. However, I do tend to like heavier music. Back in the day, I went to a lot of concerts, most of them alternative music. I have been in mosh pits and "rode the crowd" and I still enjoy music that is "edgy-er". I also can't stand any song that is intended to pull my heart strings. It is just too much cheese for me. So . . . at our wedding, Cameron and I danced to an instrumental song and I don't remember what I danced to with my dad. No matter how much my mom pushed, I just couldn't do "Butterfly Kisses". (sorry, just not me). I do remember that we danced to a lot of Beck! Right now, I really like Need to Breathe, Matt Kearney, Jennifer Knapp, etc.

6) Reading to my kids. This is my favorite part of homeschool. My kids love it and I love a good book. If I don't like the book, I can't read it to my kids. I have to look forward to reading it or it just doesn't work. I can't stand any book with talking animals (for older kids, that is--chapter books). Remember, I don't like the "unbelievability" factor? So . . . "Charlotte's Web", "Ralph S. Mouse", "The Trumpet of the Swan" all out. It's just me. I'm weird.

7) Salads. I love me a good salad. I have always loved salads. Even when I was a kid, I ordered a salad every time we went out to eat. Every time. Not kidding. Five years old, eating a salad at Burger Chef. Does anyone else remember Burger Chef? My grandma used to take me out to eat and I would choose Burger Chef over any fast food restaurant because they had salads. I could eat a salad every day and never get tired of it. In fact, when Katria was in the hospital with meningitis, I got free meals because I was nursing. I ate a chef salad for lunch and dinner, EVERYDAY for a month. No joke.

8) A good work out. I like to exercise. I used to run a lot. I ran in high school on the track team. I was a sprinter. In college, I ran for enjoyment. I ran even when I had a couple of kids. I threw them in the double jogger and off we went. Now, it is next to impossible. So, I do workout tapes with weights. Yes, they are totally cheesy, but the workout isn't. I am talking squats, lunges, pushups, all with weights. Weights on your shoulders, in your hands, strapped to your ankles. I like to "feel the burn" and I am the weirdo who thinks it is great if I am sore the next day after a workout. Not now, I'm not working out. But, I did this until I was 34 weeks pregnant. However, I don't like pilates and such. Too slow. And although I used to enjoy Tae Bo, I think it makes my head hurt or something. All that jumping around and kicking and such. Too much.

9) Being a woman. It's not that I have ever disliked being feminine, but at one time I didn't embrace all that being a woman was meant to be. I used to not ever want to get married or have kids. I wanted to have a career and compete in a "man's world". I just don't feel that need anymore. I see the strength in being a woman, being who God intended me to be, doing what God intended me to do: The highest calling for a woman--being a wife and mother. I used to think "equality" meant doing the same thing as a man, just as good. But, equality is also doing a completely different job than a man and having it be valued just as highly. That is what I would love women to see. We are NOT stuck at home, raising kids, waiting, waiting, waiting until they are grown so we can do "our thing". NO! What we do is SO important, so much value. I have learned to love what my body was created to do: bear and nurse children. It is amazing and I hope I never de-value or complain about it again!

10) Having good, long, uninterrupted talks with my husband. We have so much to say to each other. Even after 10 years of marriage you can't shut us up. I never want to be one of those middle-aged couples who sits at the booth in the restaurant in silence, or drives on the highway in silence. It depresses me. There is so much to talk about, so much to say! Cameron and I can't find enough time to share with each other what is on our minds. I hope we stay this way!

So . . . those are a few of my favorite things. These things cheer me up and characterize who I am. I am sure I could think of dozens more if I let myself. These are just the first 10 that came to mind! :)


In Christ, Laura