Things that make me Happy
Happy hump day, everyone. I hope everyone out there reading this is having a great day today. Barring that, I hope you are at least enjoying a nice hot beverage of your choice.
I've been up to my eyeballs trying to change a domestic turkey into an ocellated turkey at work, with mixed results. Even though they're basically the same thing, one's much prettier than the other. In the midst of all that, being a father's become my real full time job. Since Kowgirl went back to work part time, I only get one day of the week to do household chores and the like. This means we never see anyone. Ever. I have friends who want to meet up for a beer after work, but I almost always have to get home so Kowgirl can make a class or be at work. Saturdays are right out as I watch Kowbaby all day while Kowgirl has managed to schedule her only regular office hours at that time. This means we both have Sunday with nothing booked months ahead of time. That translates into mowing the grass, doing laundry, weeding the garden, and all the million and one little chores we didn't have time to do during the other six days.
So to all the people we should be meeting and spending time buttressing up our friendship(s) ... all of us apologize profusely. It's not that we don't want to meet with you, we just don't have the time.
But something I do have the time to do this morning is make a list of five things about which I am quite happy as of this morning.
1) Family sit-down dinners - Since taking my new job, I've been getting home regularly BEFORE Kowbaby goes to bed. Since she tends to eat more if she sees us eating, we've been sitting down as a family to eat actual dinners on plates. She helps me set the table with color commentary and then we all talk about our day. Little rituals like that keep me grounded in our family and what it means to actually spend real time with your loved ones, as opposed to "quality time" squeezed in to a hectic day.
2) Wrestling with my daughter and our dog - No commentary really necessary on this one. They are a mighty tag team not to be trifled with. Their only weakness are tickles and butt scratches. It's up to you to figure out which is which.
3) Semi-transparent white dresses - One of my guilty pleasures are the fashionable peasant dresses women pull out of their closets when the weather turns warm. The flimsy fabric is fairly transparent creating the suggestion of their body moving under a draping of fabric rubbing against their flesh. It's very sensual and visual simultaneously and has come to mean "summer in the city" to me. Like swallows returning to Capistrano, the return of semi-transparent summer dresses is a signal for the warm days ahead.
4) Losing a pants size - After three months of working out and eating right, I can fit into my wardrobe of dress slacks again. Only one more size to go and I'll have met my goal. Little victories like this make me feel empowered in ways larger ones can't. This was not a group effort. All gains made are the direct result of my willpower and work ethic. It's all mine and I can enjoy it as such.
5) Taking a long bath at night - I've begun taking my bath at night rather than first thing in the morning. After I've put Kowbaby down for the night, I run myself a soothing bath and just soak. You ladies have been hogging this pleasure for a while now. I am now curious about these things you call "bath oils" and whether or not I have finally crossed the threshold into metro-sexual.
I've been up to my eyeballs trying to change a domestic turkey into an ocellated turkey at work, with mixed results. Even though they're basically the same thing, one's much prettier than the other. In the midst of all that, being a father's become my real full time job. Since Kowgirl went back to work part time, I only get one day of the week to do household chores and the like. This means we never see anyone. Ever. I have friends who want to meet up for a beer after work, but I almost always have to get home so Kowgirl can make a class or be at work. Saturdays are right out as I watch Kowbaby all day while Kowgirl has managed to schedule her only regular office hours at that time. This means we both have Sunday with nothing booked months ahead of time. That translates into mowing the grass, doing laundry, weeding the garden, and all the million and one little chores we didn't have time to do during the other six days.
So to all the people we should be meeting and spending time buttressing up our friendship(s) ... all of us apologize profusely. It's not that we don't want to meet with you, we just don't have the time.
But something I do have the time to do this morning is make a list of five things about which I am quite happy as of this morning.
1) Family sit-down dinners - Since taking my new job, I've been getting home regularly BEFORE Kowbaby goes to bed. Since she tends to eat more if she sees us eating, we've been sitting down as a family to eat actual dinners on plates. She helps me set the table with color commentary and then we all talk about our day. Little rituals like that keep me grounded in our family and what it means to actually spend real time with your loved ones, as opposed to "quality time" squeezed in to a hectic day.
2) Wrestling with my daughter and our dog - No commentary really necessary on this one. They are a mighty tag team not to be trifled with. Their only weakness are tickles and butt scratches. It's up to you to figure out which is which.
3) Semi-transparent white dresses - One of my guilty pleasures are the fashionable peasant dresses women pull out of their closets when the weather turns warm. The flimsy fabric is fairly transparent creating the suggestion of their body moving under a draping of fabric rubbing against their flesh. It's very sensual and visual simultaneously and has come to mean "summer in the city" to me. Like swallows returning to Capistrano, the return of semi-transparent summer dresses is a signal for the warm days ahead.
4) Losing a pants size - After three months of working out and eating right, I can fit into my wardrobe of dress slacks again. Only one more size to go and I'll have met my goal. Little victories like this make me feel empowered in ways larger ones can't. This was not a group effort. All gains made are the direct result of my willpower and work ethic. It's all mine and I can enjoy it as such.
5) Taking a long bath at night - I've begun taking my bath at night rather than first thing in the morning. After I've put Kowbaby down for the night, I run myself a soothing bath and just soak. You ladies have been hogging this pleasure for a while now. I am now curious about these things you call "bath oils" and whether or not I have finally crossed the threshold into metro-sexual.