Is there anything beautiful about one of these?
Nope.
Not one bit. It's not at all beautiful. Actually it's one of those things that kind of suck.
Does it define my day? It could, couldn't it. I could let it. I could dwell on the fact that this parking fine is going to cost a lot and that sucks. Or the fact we don't have the money to spare, and that sucks. And I could spend time wishing we'd gotten back to the car in time, and I could wish I'd never got the fine in the first place. I could totally carry all that "suck" inside.
But instead, I think I'll do a tally:
All the Beautiful things in my (and my husband's) day today, vs the Not-At-All Beautiful Things.
If, at the end of my tally, there are more Not-At-All Beautiful Things than Beautiful Things, then I reserve the right to have a little complain. Perhaps I'll have a good foot stomp. I might even throw something!
Ready? Let's see how we go:
Beautiful thing
Spending the day today with my boy in Sydney. The whole day!
My husband getting to spend the day with our girl. The whole day!
Beautiful thing
Finding these little critters in a book store in Newtown. Kind of wild, huh?
Beautiful thing
Seeing my sister at Ikea :)
Browsing for bookcases in Ikea (and seeing so many many other funky things my head started to spin)
Getting out of Ikea alive.
Beautiful thing
A girl and her dad soaking up sun at the beach, trying to get enough Vitamins C and D to flush out her nasty cold. A girl and her dad drawing on the sand, drinking orange juice at the beachside cafe and taking lots and lots of photos of each other.
Beautiful thing
Eating delicious food! Vietnamese rice paper rolls for us in Newtown. Home-made nachos for a girl and her dad at home.
Beautiful thing
A book store and a boy
A view from a beach cafe.
Beautiful thing
Unbelievable hot chocolate thingy at Max Brenner, in Newtown. You dropped dark chocolate chips into soy milk, which was sitting over a flame. All of it heated and melted until you had your very own mini-hot chocolate thingy, which you then sipped through a straw in your spoon. In your spoon.
I tell you, it was crazy divine. The concoction was called a suckathon, or a suckalot, or a sippasomething. I can't remember the name! But I do know that it was insanely. Crazy. Divine.
 |
| ah! It's called Suckakao. |
Beautiful thing
Listening to my boy talk and talk and talk and talk and talk and talk and talk and talk and talk. Realising at the end of the day that we'd spent more time laughing than being silent.
My girl at bedtime, saying as I cuddled her: "I love Daddy." Knowing that those words barely capture just how much my little girl loves her dad.
Now,
A Not-At-All Beautiful Thing
Men's pants. Legging pants. Pantlings?
I know.
I know. The mind boggles.
Anyway.
That's it. That's my whole list.
Let's add up, shall we?
Beautiful Things: Many. Heaps.
Lots and lots! And lots. And lots.
Not At All Beautiful Things: 2
That means there's nothing to complain about here. It means there'll be zero foot stomping and nothing will be thrown.
(Which is kind of a beautiful thing in itself, don't you think? :) )
I think perhaps pantlings should weigh on the beautiful things side...only because they are hilarious and laughing is beautiful. :-D
ReplyDeleteOh, Joanne, that is true. Wow. See? EXACTLY. List of beautiful things: officially up by another point. :)
DeleteI LOVE the pantlings! I would have been laughing my head off! I also love your idea of tallying. I'm sure most days the beautiful things do outweigh the not beautiful things. :) You all have the sort of days that we love to have too. Simple, relational, laughter, beauty. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteWonderful post Helena, will remind myself to do a tally next time I am having a sucky day! We have been having too many frantic, rush to school mornings, usually culminating in me having a rant on our drive there. My Vaila came up with a brilliant plan which was instead to use the ten minute drive to tell them a story. It was lovely to use my morning head space to pluck a few threads of ideas before the journey. The kids all loved the story and it just made the whole rush/journey thing a positive experience. It is so good to look for the beauty. xx
ReplyDeleteAhhh! Our lives are in parallel! Hubby brought home a parking fine and then we got a speeding fine in the mail the same day (him, not me this time). That's two lots of sucky in the same day.
ReplyDeleteI am soooo doing the chocolate sippathon thing next time I'm in Sydney! I might pass on those pantlings though...