Monday Blessings

As the mother of three (soon-to-be-four) children, it should be obvious that I feel blessed.  Overwhelmed, of course.  Stressed out?  Occassionally.  Angry?  Sometimes.  But almost always, I do feel blessed, and for obvious reasons.  I have a great husband, great kids, great family, great job.  I did all of the things people plan on doing when they are little and plotting out their lives.  I'm blessed.  But do you know what?  All of those things aside, I'm blessed for other, much smaller, reasons.  (You are, too.)

Here are a few examples:

1.) I have a great sense of smell.  Inherited from my grandmother, I can smell the dust on the window sill.  While that helps in terms of ridding of said dust, I also have a heightened sense of smell when it comes to the most mundane things:  oranges, grass, grapefruits, the neighbor's laundry, etc.  And it's wonderful.  I have a not-so-secret love affair with smells.

2.) I'm a good faker. When I'm nervous or intimidated, I'm good at faking confidence.  Fake it until you make it?  That's me. 

3.) I'm a good public speaker. See above for a partial explanation.  Also, I owe gratitude to my beloved college advisor, who would give me presentation reviews such as "You were born for a stage!" and "Best I've ever seen!" went to my head.  He was super-energetic and encouraging and definitely over-the-top, but it worked.  I left college thinking I rocked every presentation I ever made (almost certainly not the case), even though I faked my way through half of them.

4.) My husband makes me laugh. Though these are supposed to be less-obvious reasons I have to be thankful, I'm going to count this one.  Adam's great, of course.  But what makes him the most great is that, even when I'm in an absolutely foul mood, he can make me laugh.  Hard.  And break my mood in seconds.  And is there anything better than laughing hysterically, especially with someone you love?  I don't think so, either.

5.) I have a horrible short-term memory.  Doesn't sound so great, does it?  I have a great long-term memory, remembering all kinds of dates and small details of occassions.  But, sometimes, I forget complete conversations and, occassionally, plans that were made a couple of days in advance.  Not infrequently, I have to fake remembering something while desperately searching through my mental files for something to trigger my terrible memory.  However, how quickly I forget that someone has offended me or that I made a complete ass of myself last week.  I forget...and I move on.   I lose the compulsion to dwell.  Much later, I may remember, but it's already well in the past and no longer an issue.  And my perspective on things may be skewed, but perception is reality, right?  And my perception is very selective...in my own favor.

Blessings are funny, popping up a little here and a little there, reminding us in big ways and in small that this life is really quite great, even the little parts.  I'm blessed for having you, too--anyone who reads this and cares about our little family.  (Unless you are reading and judging, in which case, move along.  There is nothing to see here.)