Alone

I love my family.  I love my husband, my children, my parents, and my siblings; and their spouses, children, siblings and parents. I love my friends.  My close friends, my long-lost friends, my homeschooling friends, my church friends, my texting friends, my e-mail friends, my facebook friends.  I love to spend time with all of them and am amazed that I have all these wonderful people in my life.  I'm so happy to have heard from so many of them on my birthday today.

But I also love to be alone.  I crave it.  Even more so since I started homeschooling.  I've sluffed Sunday School to come home and have one hour completely alone.  So tonight, after a long, crazy and wonderful day with my children, I found myself able to leave the house alone for two hours.  I went shopping.

I went to the mall, and went into any store that appealed to me on a whim.  I stayed as long as I liked, because I didn't have a toddler in a stroller screaming at me to move along.  I ate a bit of heaven at Godiva in the form of a dark chocolate caramel.  I felt a bit of heaven at Brookstone as I sat in a $400 foot and calf massager for 15 minutes and relaxed.  I saw a bit of heaven as I browsed through Janie and Jack, daydreaming about the kind of life and home I might have if I was able to dress my children in those exquisite designs.  And I smelled a bit of heaven as I spent an hour in Sephora, sampling products to my heart's content.  I tried hair products, body creams, nail polishes and fine fragrance.  I bought an incredibly indulgent $10 one ounce L'Occitane hand cream.  I had an absolutely lovely time.  Unfortunately, I tried so many products that I left the store smelling like I had just been involved in an accident involving a tropical fruit stand, an Indian spice cart and a winery.  Then, on the way home I picked up an $8 slice of pumpkin pecan cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory.

Now, since my husband has recently started working the swing shift and I am alone in the evenings, I will put my children to bed, put on my ridiculously loud pink polka dot flannel sexy pajamas, cuddle up in my bed with my treats and a chick flick, and submit to a sugar coma.  Happy birthday to me.

Ahhhhh.

What I Need

Sorry I never blog anymore and when I do it's nothing much worth reading.  But it was good for a few minutes of laughter for me this morning, so here goes.

I know, you've seen this one make the rounds.  Me too.  I even did this a few years before, but I can't find it now.  Anyway, it's still funny.  Google "(your name) needs" and see what you get.  I'll only put my favorites:

Mel needs the loo.

Shelley needs Cocoa and Cookies.  And Prozac.

Erick needs to be feared.

Melissa needs to board the blob ship that is hovering overhead.

Spencer needs to calm down and take a rest.

Shannen needs your numbers.

Noelle needs to say what she needs to say.

Ava needs more overpowered sniper rifles.

Ma

In 2 days my baby will be 17 months old.  She says and signs a lot of things.  But today I saw and heard the best one yet.  I went downstairs to get her up this morning.  I said "Hi, Ava!" And for the first time she put her finger to her chin and said "Ma!"

Thank you, baby.