A beautiful day

I started this post last night, but went to bed early instead of posting it. Tonight I thought about sending it to the file of drafts-I'll-never-open-again, but then I re-read it. And I needed to hear it so much, after the day that was today and the putting Little Bear to bed by myself and him getting out of bed 57 times... it's so easy to forget how good things can be when you're having a frustrating time. Nothing earthshattering happened yesterday, but I want to make sure that I remember it, how happy and content I was at the end of the day.


Today was such a good day! Mondays can be hard, with Matt going back to work and Little Bear and I adjusting back to me being the only parent at home and him checking to see if all of Daddy's rules are still in force even though Daddy isn't here... but today was wonderful.

We didn't go grocery shopping in the morning, so I got to start out the at-home part of my day with energy and the ability to get things done instead of the usual Monday dragging myself and the groceries in the door, throwing perishables in the fridge, and falling into a chair with my feet up for a half hour before I can function again.

My failed batch of homemade yogurt worked perfectly as buttermilk in the best, richest, most wonderful blueberry muffins I've ever made. So amazing! I was planning to just make my buttermilk cinnamon bread in muffin form, but when I asked Little Bear to help me make muffins he got all excited about blueberries; omit the cinnamon sugar, add blueberries and nutmeg... perfection.

A new friend came over for much of the middle of the day, and it was so good spending time talking with her and getting to know her! We had a lot in common, and both enjoyed ourselves. And Little Bear liked her and was eager to talk and interact with her right away, which is really unusual for him with new people.

Little Bear took a very short nap... I know that "no more naps" is the rule, and I need to stick to it, because otherwise bedtime is so difficult, but it's hard when he so clearly wants a nap in the middle of the day, laying down and informing me that he's taking a nap now... It's so cute when he climbs into my lap, gives me a hug, and 30 seconds later starts snoring.

Matt and I worked out the week's menu over chat mid-afternoon, so I got a grocery list hammered out in time to run to the store before picking him up. The timing worked out perfectly: I pulled into a parking spot outside his building just as the (fake) bells were chiming 5:00 on campus, and he was finished with the day's work and ready to come home right on time.

So many "little things" to be thankful for today!