Here comes the rains

It has been a really warm weekend here in Maine.  Not record breaking warm, but close.  The kind of warm that makes everyone rush to Walmart to buy window fans, air conditioners, blow-up pools for the kids and stand around appreciating central AC while mocking the regulars.  The kind of warm that makes you realize, "Hey, my ass crack can sweat.  Awesome."

In the midst of this blaze of heat, I seem to have finally come into my spring-cleaning, nesting mood.  My parents, whom shared my house for the past 11 centuries, moved out (and away - but that is a different story) this past February and the detritus of two families in a one family house has sat unearthed in the corners of my little home.  The urge to clean and purge did not hit until this previous week.  Perhaps it was an after affect of being terminated from my job (again, another post), or perhaps due to a recent change in medication levels (Crohn's + OCD + Depression). But whatever the reason, my internal timer, never punctual, dinged and I decided to deep clean the basement, the refrigerator lining, that corner in the weird spot in the front hall no one ever sees but me and every thing in between. In this heat? Really, self?

To add to this craziness the crumbsnatchers were at their all time high of end of school year / isitsummeryet / thank god, winter in Maine is over insanity.  Bouncing, trouncing, pouncing, flouncing, without the fun of T-I-double guh -err.

After the third night of not wanting to sleep next to the furnace that is the PR (permanent roommate), and much promise of cooling temps from the witch-doctors that foretell the mysticism that is the weather, it has begun to thunder.  The crumbsnatchers are in bed, almost asleep. The wind is crisply blowing through my open windows bringing the smell of fresh, green earth.  And the rain is washing away all the grumpiness that these two weeks have bestowed upon me.

Relishing in the pungant summer air, my mind is pulled away from the coulda, woulda, shoulda, that is my to-do-never-done list, and brought back to the sweeter moments.  PR telling me no matter what happened at work he would support me; financially, and emotionally.  My beautiful, loving daughter being ever so empathetic to my moods and changes of situation.  Re-starting my journal on a daily basis again, and keeping up with it.  The crumbsnatchers, after complaining about the TV being turned off, playing and laughing over a board game, together. Finishing my first watercolor painting.  Skyping with my parents and their dog.  Making a new pancake recipe, and having everyone in the house love it.

My gratitude could go on and on.  I know I often seem brash, sarcastic and judgmental.  This evening's optimal experience has made me realize my gratitude needs to exist on a regular, living basis and I need to show more of it to those I love.

Have a great evening.

- Em

Today's links:
The new pancake recipe:
http://merrywithchildren.com/2010/12/whats-cooking-wednesday-fluffy-pancakes/
optimal experience / flow:
http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Flow_theory
http://www.ppc.sas.upenn.edu/teachingflow.htm


P.S. - researchers have decoded prairie dog language, and they are talking about us. Curiouser, and curiouser.
http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/researcher-decodes-praire-dog-language-discovers-theyve-been-calling-people-fat.html