Our Day of Abundance

One goal of mine has been to get the income from my websites up to a point where I wouldn’t ever feel “forced” to work. Well, I haven’t felt forced to work for the past ten days. TEN DAYS- that is a miracle for me, I find it way too easy to be glued to my computer.

In the absence of forced work, I have failed to harvest all my farmville trees and animals, though I have claimed lost calves, fertilized my friend’s farms and chicken coops and sent presents to all the children in my FarmVille neighborhood.

I found a few friends from high school and days beyond. I find it so strange that I see their name & face and feel so happy to have found them. It’s gratifying to see their photos, get a feel for their personality, lifestyle & career choices and then MOVE ON because I really don’t have much to say after 18ish years. I guess if we were together, chatting would be easier. It’s so nice to see them all, though. I always wonder if that one girl knew I had a nasty impression of her. She doesn’t appear to be bothered by it, if she does. Just to be safe, I’m not requesting friendship. Or maybe I should. What a complicated world this FaceBook is.

Speaking of FaceBook, I had the strangest experience. I’m sitting in the office at a church, working on their website and chatting with a lady who was doing paperwork. She mentioned a niece in Oregon that she just visited. A little bit later, she mentioned that the niece worked from home, writing online. THEN- she mentioned that the niece had 8 kids and I said “Jeez, I probably know her, it’s a small world, this online writing business.” The woman must have thought I was kidding, and later, she mentioned that her niece was a doula. The wheels started turning and I thought of a lady I first met online in <<>> Sure enough- this was the same lady. I don’t know why I thought this was a FaceBook story, except I went right to my FaceBook when I got home and sent her a note to say “Heyyy, I know your Aunt.”

Anyway, we had the most glorious day the other day. We were actually headed for the park when the girls unanimously decided that they wanted to go to the pound and walk a dog. We visited dogs and cats, then finally chose a friendly looking dog to walk. This dog was the absolute sweetest puppy EVER. he was so well behaved, he stayed right at my knee on the leash. i ran with him and when i stopped, he stopped. I don’t think I’ve ever held the leash of a dog that was so obedient. He was so sweet. We took him to the no-leash zone and he played fetch, he rolled over, he sat and it was just so sweet. If you live in Yakima & you’re looking for a dog, tell the Humane Society that you want Jordan. Then change his name. He’s more like a Buddy or a Mack or something.

Anyway, after the pound, I wanted a latte, so we drove through Mocha Tree. I got each of the kids a small cocoa. These are rare luxuries for a family our size. I didn’t stress about spills before they happened and, miraculously, there were NO SPILLS.

We planned to head to the park but it was pretty cold, so we went to the playplace in the mall instead. That’s like a playground, right? The older girls had some gift cards leftover from Christmas, so they shopped while The 4 younger ones and I hung out at the food court.

When the littler ones got sick of the food court, we all headed down to Claire’s because, well, because little girls are magnetically drawn to large amounts of glitter, feathers, beads, elastic and rhinestones. It’s probably hormones.

Then, we had to leave. Meagan had dance class, so we headed to the other end of town to drop her off. I had to check Goodwill, I have a list of random things I’m keeping my eyes open for, so I tend to visit during Wednesday night dance classes. They didn’t have what I was looking for, but of course, each child found something she wanted. Gabriella found an American Girl Doll for $4 (SCORE) and Grace found a big bag o’toys, with plenty of Polly Pockets and Barbie clothes. Madelyn found a bag with about 8 Barbies in it, male and female, about 40% dressed.

It might sound like a typical day out with daughters, but I’m telling you, we DO NOT SHOP as a general rule. This was so much fun. I don’t think I have EVER taken them to the espresso stand. Buying them each their own drink was just SO NOT NORMAL for us, but it was glorious. Life is so sweet.