lots of little things have made me happy this week.
x. like leftovers. my unfinished brunch on sunday that leads to a delicious breakfast on monday morning. i heat it in a skillet, mostly steaming it back to perfection, and enjoy with a fresh cup of coffee. bliss.
x. the mornings when i’m not out of the bed before the boys and they both come into my room and get under the covers with me and we cuddle and talk about our dreams and everything else and these boys have no idea how much i love them and how privileged i feel to get to be their mom every. single. day.
x. and caleb sweeping the kitchen floor with his headphones on. he’s singing along, LOUDLY thanks to noise-canceling headphones, to ‘don’t mine at night’ (which is a parody of a katy perry song i didn’t know existed) and i’m watching him from the family room. he’s oblivious to me, and i’m giggling. who knew minecraft-inspired music was a thing? he loves it, and i love listening to him love it.
x. remembering good things about the last couple years of being a teenager–like good music and great concerts. there’s a thing on facebook about several songs that are turning 20 this year. which means i was 16-ish when they came in 1997, and i remember that time of my life with mostly fondness. sure, there were parts of teenagery-ness that sucked, as any former teen can attest to. but i had excellent friends–many of whom are still more or less actively in my life, loads of innocence and idealism, and my whole life ahead of me. it was a sweet, precious time.
x. $4 movies on tuesdays, which leads to seeing wonderfulinspirationalamazing things like hidden figures. i cried so much, and it makes me so proud to be black, and a woman. we’ve shined in some desperately dark places, and continue to do so. i want taraji henson, janelle monae, and octavia spencer to all win oscars for all of the #blackgirlmagic all over that screen. the wildboys and i had watched ‘freedom riders’ earlier that day, and cruz was so excited to have some context as to what all was happening at exactly that moment in history. he was so proud to be, in his own words, “a black person” and to see the things we accomplished in the face of such hateful and asinine opposition. we rise and rise.
x. good friends and dick wolf and the fact that they’re helping me pay my bills. and yes, that sounds random and weird but the same dude who brought one of my all-time favorite tv shows to the screen–law and order, svu was my jam for many, many years–is currently responsible for the chicago media franchise which includes the shows chicago pd, chicago med, chicago fire, and chicago justice. and thanks to the aforementioned good friend (hey roz!!) and her love of the chicago shows–which i’ve actually never watched–i’ve worked on a few episodes of a couple of the shows as a background extra. and that’s introduced me to even more awesome and talented people who remind me that the sky is still the limit, actually, and i’m not done yet. i’ve hardly gotten started.
x. being able to use the internet for things you used to have to make phone calls for. gah. i hate phone calls to strangers because despite all of my enfp extroverted energy, i’m such an awkward doofus sometimes. like. for serious.
x. second chances. the ones people have given me. the ones i’m able to give others.
x. God’s gentle reminders that he still sees me, still knows me, and He’s still got it all under control.
(if some people in your life love minecraft, please go look up ‘don’t mine at night.’)