Joy Is. . . .Becoming me.

So, I think I might have mentioned that I'm in psychotherapy right now.  Even though I'm 43, I think it is only now that I'm able to start becoming who I actually am: a not-nerdy looking nerd.  Which has posed problems for me over the years.  I've never understood why I'm not a part of the cool kid club, but evidence clearly shows that I am not.  The cool kids are nice to me, but I'm not one of them.  I'm so sad that I've wasted my entire life trying to find my tribe there rather than with the nerdy girls like me.

My husband and I generally have different approaches to just about everything, but this morning I was pleased to find him gently getting a big, huge spider out of our house without killing it.  This made more happier than just about anything else.

I geek out about sunflowers.

And, in the afternoon when I was able to ignore dishes and laundry, I was able to enjoy reading my type of nerd books outside in my favorite super-old sweats.

With my doggie who always hangs with me whenever possible.

And, I love knowing the differences between various types of sunflowers

And, I love my new hat.  

I think I'm finally getting that just because I don't necessarily look like a nerd, I am and I can enjoy it rather than fight it.

Joy Is. . . .Spending time with your kid being a novice reptile nerd.

Our elementary school had a half-day today.  Which is really super-weird, but whatever.  It's Friday.  The girlie had a play date with her bff and the boy and I got to spend time geeking out on reptiles and insects.

After he came home and chilled watching Play House Disney for about ten minutes, we went to a new pet store, then had lunch at Applebee's (his choice), and finished up at our favorite pet store checking out the snakes, scorpions, frogs, fish, etc.

I really want a cute froggy tank, but I'm really pushing my marital luck what with our ball python, two beardies, yellow bellied slider baby, indoor fish, two cats, dog, and outdoor fish.  

But, seriously, look at this emperor scorpion:

Is he not INCREDIBLE?!?  So gorgeous.  So impressive.  And, we learned that, because of his size, his venom is not all that impressive since he can overpower his prey with his size and pincers.  By contrast, smaller scorpions have venom that is 10x in potency.  But still, FREAKING MAJESTIC!

See, Joy Is. . . . being a novice creepy animal fan.

Oh, and Joy also is coming home from said trip with little man and having three neighbor boys come over and ask if he can play outside, telling them that he can't since we are feeding our ball python a live mouse, and then having the boys come inside and geek out on our animals.  Cool mom points for a brief moment.

Joy Is. . . . Community (Saint Andrew Christian Church Camping Trip 2012)

Saturday, September 22, after my Equinox Yoga class, the kiddos and I packed up and hit the road for a quick, overnight camping trip with some people from our church (Saint Andrew Christian Church in Olathe, Kansas).  As I am sure I have previously mentioned, I love road trips with my kids.  Also, as I'm sure I've previously mentioned, I've had difficulty finding my tribe here on the Great Plains.  So, it was a double joy weekend: road trip with the kittens AND hanging with community.  

The drive to Smithville Lake was a quick hour.  Once we got there, the kids piled out of the car and ran to the playground to play with friends old and new.

Because I'm rather absent-minded, I totally forgot our camp chairs AND our dry goods (chips, hot dog buns, smore fixings).  But, because I'm really super absent-minded, I figured out the chair situation first.  As soon as I figured that out, I drove into town to buy three camp chairs.  It wasn't until later that I realized about the dry goods and I was not about to drive back into town again.  Thankfully, community stepped in and helped us fill out our meal a bit and the kids still were able to have smores.

As can be seen, we were treated to a gorgeous sunset.  That's another huge joy for me.

Then, it was time for bed.  And, it was cold.  As in in the 40s cold.  I bundled the kids up, we looked out our tent at the moon, and went to sleep.

Waking up, I discovered that we were blanketed in a very heavy layer of fog that made everything seem awfully surreal.  

 

Joy also is delight in nature and all her surprises.  I was surprised to see spider webbing all over the grass when I woke in the morning.  I've never seen anything such as that before.

As is her way, Lauren woke first and sat around the campfire in her Christmas jammies (and slippers).  Ever the girlie girl, she does not own warm camping jammies.

But, the boy was nice and snug in his Papa's green mummy bag that is older than me.

Joy truly is camping with my kiddos.

Joy is making a circle of trust and friends around my children.

And, Joy is watching one's children cooperatively help put the tent away without complaint and with assistance of new friends.

Joy Is. . .

The first asparagus of spring.

In case you both like asparagus and are not growing them in your back yard, you really should consider doing so. It is very easy, though requires several years before you have a steady, consistent production. They are low maintenance and are so much better than what you can buy in the stores. I won't even buy asparagus in the store anymore. I make myself wait until they grow in my garden. The anticipation is so delicious. As is the final product.

Joy Is. . .

When your almost eight-year-old daughter who has been terrified about riding a bicycle, takes off and can finally do it HERSELF!

Do you see what I see?!?

Or TOTAL JOY!

First of all, it was beautiful today. The quality of the light is changing toward springish.

I slept horribly (if at all), then got up, did the usual Friday Starbucks for the kids, walk Lauren to class, and then I dropped the buddy off so that I could go to the dentist and the chiropractor by myself. So, I took advantage of his being at school and went out for a LOVELY five mile run followed by six strides. Was great. Then, I picked him up, we went to lunch, and then hit the grocery store before driving home.

He wanted popcycles. Fine. So, we got popcycles and played outside:

When the school kids came home on the school bus, the weather was nice enough that we all decided to play in the street - moms and kids. We hadn't seen each other since our neighborhood cruise to the Bahamas.

But, the BEST (!!!!) was as I was going in, I spied this:

Remember back just a few days when I talked about anticipation? Well, this is what I was most craving. The first flower of the year. My heart skipped a few beats. She is on her way.

Spring.

Joy is. . .

Getting to 8:00 p.m. without caving to the relief that Afrin brings.

A cat so fat that she spills out of her kitty bed:

And, twinkling trees (they sound crinkly too):