``Au Naturel``

It`s so funny the things you pick up to hold on to when you`re going through a rough spot.


For some reason these past 2 weeks have been crazy.
I`ve found myself at ropes end on one too many occasions.
Everything hit the fan night before last and I seriously wondered how I was to make it through the next day.
I hid under my covers that night...hoping and wishing and determined to make tomorrow a better day- for everyone:(


I woke up and told myself I would snatch up all the things I could.
No matter how small and seemingly insignificant, by George! I was going to grab èm!
And so...(they say small things amuse the small mind....but I truly was desperate)...here are moments I grabbed.....


The irony of this shot:

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My 8 year old (accidentally) blowing me a kiss in public.
I had dropped him off at his music class. Flying out of the van with his saxophone and music books, he hastily said Goodbye and then flew me a kiss...to which he quickly scanned the area to make sure none of the other kids around had noticed. He then jerked his hand the other way- I think to make it look like he had been merely swatting a fly.
I knew.
I caught it....smiled....felt smug that he had done it....and put it in my Memory Bank.

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The Moon still up for the day.

If the Moon could be up during the day....there was no reason I should go back to bed, (even though I was tempted!)

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These captures my son brought in to me.
We had been eating breakfast and I was just about to get up and put more food into plates for everyone- when someone jumped up and ran to the window.
Of course that could only mean one of 3 things:
-A fire
-Someone didn`t like the meal and was escaping the next round of scrambled eggs
-A visitor.


Visitor it was.
My 11 year old son grabbed his camera...shouting at me that he`d be right back, and the next thing we knew- saw him tiptoeing across the yard to sneak up on this guy:

We never saw my 11 year old after that for almost an hour and a half. He followed the Owl on his trek around the yard...through trees and bushes and down the driveway.

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Running my 10km in the morning without stopping once.

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When I saw the sun and bright leaves out my window-

I made myself stop all the ""necessary business" of the afternoon.

I went out and threw myself down under a group of trees.

 I watched the crazy wind pluck all the yellow from the limbs and fly them up into this blue:

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And.....

finding the fact that one of my kids fell to the ground - dramatically holding his hand over his mouth and nose-yelling out that something ""SMELLED AWFUL!

WHAT WAS THAT SMELL!"........

....... funny when I figured out why.

Trying to ""spice up the day" I had sprayed on some perfume I found in a drawer.

I NEVER wear perfume.

My kids never smell it.

They're used to me being ""Au Naturel"" I guess.

To him it was the most awful smell ever.

I was kind of glad....I had been sneezing all morning and couldn't figure out why.

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Sometimes (a lot!), I find myself wishing my circumstances would change.

"THEN!"" I think....""Then I would be happy!"

I don't know.

Happiness comes in simple.

Finding the every-day things beyond our circumstances.

The everyday Natural things that we often overlook because we're in some sort of funk.

(Of course...don't tell me any of this when I'm in the middle of one!:)

It's just nice that I came out of the entire thing...

(knowing I didn't need perfume to make my day any better:)