Three Good Things

Three Good Things for Thanksgiving weekend:

1. My house smells like Noble Fir.
2. My house sounds like Christmas music.
3. My house looks dirty since I was too busy to clean it.

Three Good Things for the day:

1. It started out grey and rainy, but ended up clear and crisp.
2. I was pulled over for running a yellow light, but the policeman just gave me a warning.
3. Before noon, I had to deal with yogurt in Sammy’s hair, 4 (count ‘em, 4!) poopy potty accidents, pee purposely dumped out of the potty on to the carpet, the paper towels used to clean the pee put into the toilet, and an hour-long adventure in getting a 3-year-old to put on her pants which destroyed the entire morning.  But Sammy and I had a great afternoon getting tons of stuff done and having a fun time doing it.  And she successfully pooped in the potty 3 times.

Three Good Things for the day:

1. One of the local radio stations has started playing Christmas music and I’m totally ready to hear it.  This year we’re staying home for Christmas for the first time since Sammy was born, and I can’t begin to describe how happy I am about that.
2. I drank my first hot chocolate of the season.
3. Sammy is off from school for the rest of the week and I’m actually quite happy about having the extra time with her.  As much as she loves school, and as much as I need the time for myself, I miss her.

Three Good Things for the day:

1. Really great visit from Chicago friend.  Lots of talk about art and technology.
2. Peter Lehmann Shiraz.
3. Sammy figured out how to play the demo songs on the new piano within 5 minutes, and went into a spinning frenzy. 

Three Good Things for the weekend:

1. Saturday was Stay-at-Home-and-Catch-Up day, and I did.
2. Sunday was Visit-Friends-for-Lunch day, and we did.
3. This weekend our local music store was having Unload-that-Excess-Inventory-Sale, and they did, on us.

Three Good Things for the day:

1. Sammy has a boyfriend!  Well, ok, not really.  But I mentioned this boy before – he’s the one who beamed when I remembered his name the other day.  Well, today at the school playground I said hello to him again, and he said, “No. That’s not my name.  My name is Izo.”  I said, “Izzo?”  And he said, “No. Eeeeeeezo.”  I happened to see his mother and asked if that was his nickname, since it does sound a bit like his real name (which I’ll withhold).  She had never heard of this, so I suppose he had just made it up.  Sammy got really excited and we all chased each other around yelling, “Izo, Izo.”  Sammy was giddy and giggly and didn’t want to leave.  Then when my back was turned, apparently Mr. Izo pushed her because when I turned around she was on the ground crying.  He said it was an accident but his mother said she saw it and it didn’t look like it.  They made up and we left, but in the car, all Sammy could talk about was Izo.  This all seems like classic 3-year-old flirtation to me, especially the pushing.   The whole thing reminds me of her first run-in with the species we call boys.
2. I am really enjoying this fall weather.  I think this might be the longest real autumn I’ve ever experienced.  Los Angeles and New Orleans don’t have a real autumn at all.  Chicago and mid-Michigan have very nice fall weather that lasts about 2 weeks.  Virginia has been beautiful both years that I’ve been here.
3. In the past few weeks, I’ve come up with two more story ideas.  I’m not sure if they will work or not, but they are good possibilities.  One of them is a kind of unique short story that would have to be completed quickly, so I’m going to do a little thinking on it alongside my work on the original story (which is coming along).  Wow, I went from a desert to an oasis of ideas.

Three Good Things for the day:

1. I am now regularly getting the response, I LOVE YOU TOO, MOMMY.
2. Sammy wrote the letters “t” “o” and “c” and sounded it out…t…t…tah..TOBY!  (Then I helped her to sound out “toc” which is of course pronounced like “talk.”  Everything is phonetic right now; spelling doesn’t matter.)  The girl really is learning to write as she learns to read, and it’s happening quite naturally.  She’s not doing any writing at school and I’m not pushing it.  This is all her on her own initiative.
3. The grocery delivery Peopleguy came today and Sammy actually kept her clothes on the whole time.

Three Good Things for the day:

1. We had a roofer come to investigate a small leak, and as he was looking around in our attic, Sammy and I watched from below.  Her excited monologue lasted several minutes and went something like this:  ATTIC!  ATTIC!  YEA, ATTIC!  IT’S DARK UP THERE.  ME GO UP THERE?  TOO DARK FOR ME.  HE CLIMBED LADDER, MOMMY?  I CLIMB LADDER, MOMMY?  I MIGHT FALL AND BONK MY HEAD AND CRY–BOO HOO HOO. WHAT HE DOING UP THERE, MOMMY? WHAT DOES ATTIC MEAN, MOMMY? HE TURN ON LIGHT, MOMMY?  MONSTERS UP THERE. YES, MONSTERS UP THERE.  IT’S DARK.  WHAT’S HIS NAME?  HI!  HI!  WHAT YOU DOING UP THERE?  YOU ROOFER.  YOU COMING DOWN?  YOU CLIMB DOWN?  NO CLIMB ON BOTTOM, CLIMB WITH FEET.  CAREFUL. CAREFUL. 
2. We got really good financial news today. 
3. I got a lot of Little Things done today, which makes time for work on bigger things.

Three Good Things for the day:

1. My daughter thinks the “th” sound is hilarious.
2. I used my new Droid phone to record thoughts as I walked the dog. 
3. Those were some damn good thoughts.

I’m going to have to dig deep for Three Good Things today:

1. It was warm and sunny again today. 
2. I got some time to myself tonight, which I always desperately need after a weekend of visitors.
3. My cat is sitting next to me on my desk, purring.  It’s one of my favorite sounds.

They’re always there, those Three Good Things, if you look for them.

This is one of those times when listing Three Good Things (the parts) doesn’t nearly express the goodness of the weekend (the whole).  Adam’s parents were here for the weekend, and seeing them with Sammy is one of the great joys of parenthood.  We spent most of our time together shopping and just hanging out, and here are the only concrete events I can come up with:

1. We decided that the Yamaha YDP140 is the piano for us.
2. I bought a brown coat which makes me look forward to cooler weather.
3. My husband finally bought some new clothes.  He looks mighty nice in a dark blue suit.

Three Good Things for the day:

1. I got a Droid!  It’s Verizon’s version of the iPhone and it’s pretty cool.  Maybe it will help me become so much more productive that I’ll have more time for blogging.  
2. Sammy’s new favorite song is Take Me Out to the Ballgame.  It’s a lot more fun to sing than Baa Baa Black Sheep. 
3. I had a lot of bad luck today.  It took me four trips to the Verizon store to get the darn phone, and it wasn’t their incompetence or anything but bad luck.  My blog was down this morning.  I almost ran out of gas.  Things just didn’t work.  And yet, I was in a good mood all day and everything worked out fine in the end.  Who the heck am I, anyway?

Three Good Things for the day:

1. Talked to my parents over Skype using the new webcam (thanks KEPI!) and convinced them to buy one of their own so we can have more video calls with Sammy.
2. Convinced Adam to go with the Verizon Droid and give up on the iPhone.  We’re finally getting smart phones!
3. Christmas is coming fast and I’m doing serious research on digital pianos.  I keep getting tempted by the acoustics – I know that I’ll want one eventually – but the idea of playing with headphones and not having to tune the piano is just too seductive.  I’m sticking with digital – for now.

Three Good Things for the day:

1. I love my new work of fiction writing.  No other work has ever made me bang my desk repeatedly and yell out to the empty room:  “Yes!  F*&@ yes, that’s it!  I got it!” 
2. Sammy and I went to Adam’s work and visited a while then watched him teach a class.  We stayed for about 15 minutes and then Sammy said she wanted to go home because daddy was TOO LOUD.
3. The morning DJ one-upped himself today and played Rush’s The Spirit of Radio.  There really is no better song to hear in the car first thing in the morning:

Begin the day with a friendly voice
A companion unobtrusive
Plays that song that’s so elusive
And the magic music makes your morning mood.
Off on your way, hit the open road
There is magic at your fingers
For the spirit ever lingers -
Undemanding contact in your happy solitude

Three Good Things for the day:

1. I caught Journey’s “Lovin’ Touchin’ Squeezin’” on the radio in the car, where I could sing it as loud as I wanted and ham it up as much as I wanted, without worrying about offending anybody.
2. Sammy went through some kind of sudden change overnight.  It’s impossible to describe, but both Adam and I can see that she is speaking more grammatically, expressing new thoughts, and is just generally smarter than she was yesterday.
3. I got Sammy’s school photo today and it is one of the best pictures of her, ever!