It started with a kiss

This is a landmark year for my husband and me. In October, we will celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. But even before that - in just a couple of days, on July 1 - we will mark the 25-year anniversary of our very first kiss. We consider that the beginning of it all.

Take a minute to look back: July 1, 1988. That was a long time ago. He was 18 and I was several months older at 19. Just kids, really. The local radio stations had Def Leppard's Pour Some Sugar on Me (ah, sweet poetry) on constant rotation, though Cheap Trick's The Flame was the number-one song that week. Big was in theaters; Coming to America was just released.

That summer, young folks were wearing acid-washed jeans. Mullets were at their peak (they have peaked, by the way ... so um, if you or someone you love still has one, please remove it). Girls had curly perms, big bangs and bad Sun In highlights.

And I had met a boy.

By late June, we had become good friends. He was painfully shy and I ... wasn't. So on that particular summer night, the first of July, when I'd had a hard time reading him or understanding his intentions, I just flatly asked him more out of curiosity than anything, "Are you going to kiss me tonight?"

"Maybe," he said.

Spoiler alert: He did.

We were opposites personality-wise, and we really didn't have a lot in common. But I made him laugh and he made me feel peaceful. We started dating and, well, a quarter of a century later, here we are: still balancing, complementing ... yes, completing ... one another.

We don't really "celebrate" this anniversary anymore. We'll just kind of take note on Monday, "Oh yeah. That's right." We'll smile about it and move on with our days. In October, we will celebrate our wedding anniversary in some way, even if it's just dinner out together.

Still, it's worth pausing to remember that the little things - a kiss, for example - can have the biggest impact.

And change everything.

A case of the Mondays

“Let me ask you something. When you come in on Monday and you're not feeling real well, does anyone ever say to you, ‘Sounds like someone has a case of the Mondays?’” – Peter Gibbons, Office Space (1999)

I felt okay enough today health-wise, but I did have a case of the Mondays. Just kind of ... meh ... about the whole thing. 

Look, I love my job - seriously I'm not just saying that in case my boss is reading this - so it's not a matter of the back-to-work thing. And I had a smashing weekend: hung out with my fam, got a pedi, drank wine and watched a chick flick with a girlfriend Saturday night, narrowly avoided my dog being sprayed by skunk that was passing through the neighborhood, romantic brunch date with my hubs yesterday - all good things to leave me in a good mood today.

But it just didn't take.

I've been a little down in the dumps all day. Not worried, like I was last week. No, it's just that a couple of friends have heavy hearts and I feel for them. I don't like what I wore today. My hair was flat. My lunch was bland. It was cloudy.

And so on. And so on.

So in order to avoid being a total whiny baby, and since I drank all the wine Saturday night and it would be wrong (it would, right?) to drink more tonight, I thought I would take a look around me and work on improving my mood.  

Here's what I came up:

Yes, they are Crocs and they are dorky. But they are so comfy, it's like my feet are being kissed by little cherubs with every step.

I live very close to three horse farms and every now and then, the owners ride the horses through my neighborhood. That's just cool.

I continue to have a sense of humor about the fact there are cats' asses on the surface where I feed my family.

My yard is big enough for an aspiring golfer or two to practice their golf swing.

  

The view from my front door this afternoon.

This is what greets me by the front door (including the weeds I've yet to pull).

Cherry tomatoes on their way.

Got all four of these in the mail today and am going to curl up on my back porch and dig in.

My husband gave this bouquet to me yesterday on our brunch date. Yes, he really is that wonderful.

Gosh, I feel better already.

What wipes away your Monday blahs?

 

Wednesday worries

"Worry is a misuse of imagination." - Dan Zadra

My mind has been racing lately. I've had trouble sleeping; it's like my pillow is made of rocks. Aches are creeping up, pulling at my shoulders, ratcheting my neck, pain searing into the back of my skull. My attention flits and darts like a cat chasing a red laser dot on the wall (which is awesome to watch for entertainment, but hard for a girl to get through the day productively). Focus is difficult.

I try to be positive. I try to be upbeat. I try to show gratitude. 

But sometimes ... not often ... but sometimes ... I worry.

It's all the usual stuff: finances, family, friends, the house, the car, sickness, world peace, projects, the future, the past ... blah, blah, blah. 

Intellectually I know it is useless to worry. I also think it's selfish to worry and I often tell those I love who are worried to stop writhing, wallowing in self-consumption and worthless conjecture. Worry darkens our minds, chasing the light away.

I tell my loved ones to turn their worries over to God.

And I mean it.

Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all. - 2 Thessalonians 3:16 

So why am I so lousy at taking my own advice?

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... I got nothin' ...

But I will choose to take my own advice and turn over these troubles -real and imagined - to a higher power.  

I will stop fretting. 

I will instead do something productive and proactive these next few days to add a little light to a world that feels like it is closing in sometimes. I will say a prayer for someone in duress who has been on my mind. I will show my appreciation to someone who has been a help to me. I will give a heartfelt compliment to someone who could use a kind word. I will remind my son that he is awesome. I will kiss my hubs on the lips, even if I am in a hurry to get out the door in the morning. As I pass by, I will stop to scratch a cat - or a dog - behind the ear. I will let someone go in front of me in line at the McDonald's drive through.

Actually, I do these sorts of things all the time without giving them much thought. I'm really a great person. Seriously, I rock.

But now I will make a concerted effort to do these little kindnesses with a purpose. Doing so will hopefully add a little brightness to someone's day. 

And in short time, the darkness of my worries will fade into the light.

"Blessed is the influence of one true, loving human soul on another" - George Eliot