{This Day}

{Dear Eisley}

Today was a good day.

We all got out of bed at 9, and took daddy to work.

Came home, you watched your program whilst I finished some paper crowns. When I was ready we drove off to Cherry Creek Mall where I sold them to a lovely boutique I've been working with. $10 a pop.

You charmed the shop owners. They call you 'Sugar'.

They said you were welcome anytime... I wondered if they'd say that after seeing one of your famous almost-two tantrums?

But my main reason for being there {selling the crowns was a lovely bonus} was to deliver a garland to their employee {her son's name, for his first birthday}, who is one of the sweetest people I've ever met and she made me feel like a million bucks by hugging me three times and flooding my ears with flattery and encouragement. She made me feel embarrassed, in the embellished, Sally Fields sort of way.

We left, picked up daddy, grabbed lunch with him. Used a rockin' coupon. {I love coupons.}

And then it was naptime, and daddy left with the car to go back to work. Good day for him as well, about $3k in sales. I feel it's safe to say we are officially over the "slow season" with his work. Which is good because at one point this month we had $13 left in our bank. {When I had told my family that his commission this month was enough to pay bills and nothing more, I meant it.}

But the Good Lord keeps putting finances in our hands {even though, so many times, we have mucked it up in the past}. I've been called for paying studies twice this month, and that very day we realized we had $13 left, the retailer called and demanded more crafts. Are these things luck? Coincidence? I think not. I know they're not!

During naptime I crafted even more, this time for the market, which I'm already having nightmares about... Then I spent two hours cleaning, dragging myself away from Twitter because I knew that later I'd be mad at myself if I didn't. In all honesty, I mostly like cleaning... don't tell your daddy that.

So daddy came home to a mostly clean house, and you woke up. Then suddenly, the best bread in the world was in the oven {a 3 ingredient, 5 minute recipe that tastes delish}, Pioneer Woman's baked beans cooking on the stove, and kabobs on the grill.

For once it's our house that is making the rest of the neighbor's mouths water {usually it's us}.

We have our beers to drink and you have your $1 glow sticks from Michael's, running around the yard in the dark, cool almost-summer night.

And then I look at you and you're so beautiful and cute and perfect....

and this whole day,

this life,

this charmed,

undeserved life,

but mostly you -

it all makes me think

in a overly corny, Hallmark card type way...

This is the life.

These things can change in an instant, though, I'm old enough to know that. So I'm savoring this beauty that is life while I can. But...


... perhaps someday, just like Laura Bush, I will watch you walk down the aisle...

looking lovely like my only cousin did last week at her wedding...

and again I will think -

"This is the life."

once again.

?

{Love, Mom - aka 'The Sentimentalist'}