Kids are home sick from day camp today, so I’ll do a rampage of appreciation…

Because camp is only four weeks. And they don’t go to school. So this is the only time all year which was carved out to be truly mine, and I’d been soooo looking forward to it, and I’m feeling a bit victimy about their sniffles and sore throats…. (Seth was home yesterday too).

Those first three days of camp were pure heaven. And I’m glad I didn’t work myself to the bone doing projects. I did some regular things, laundry, light cleaning, but also read Courtney Sheinmel’s latest, All the Things You Are, which is awesome! The narrator is a girl whose mother gets arrested and sent to prison for a white collar crime and she’s left to live with her step-dad. It is riveting! And there is brief mention of a trouble maker in the book named Michelle, after me. And another one named Carrie, after Carrie! Carrie and Michelle are in cahoots. Love it! I would love this book even if I didn’t know the author and even if my name weren’t in it.

I appreciate my kids aren’t seriously ill. My daughter is doing phenomenally well. I appreciate the home we live in. The good organic food in our fridge and cupboards. Running water. My computer. A library within walking distance and more books than I could ever read. Music. Good coffee. The fact that suddenly, I have no running I must do today. I appreciate the vast amount of support I have received for my writing since I started, from readers and other writers. The kindness of so many people. The green green green back yard, a result of plenty of hard rain. The home repairs we are having done this summer. My friends. So many wonderful friends have blessed my life. They are so much fun.

I love how stinkin’ cute my kids are, even though they are home and not at camp. I love how polite they are. How considerate they are. How loving they are. I know we will snuggle today and read Harry Potter (we’re on book four) and it will be lovely.

I love being healthy. I love feeling good. I love being okay with where I am and eager for more. I love allowing myself to feel angry and resentful for a bit and letting it blow through, rather than denying my feelings and letting them fester.

I love my kind sweet husband, who looks extra handsome in black and/or white (he’s a winter). I love his salt and pepper beard. I love his shaved head (I could never go back to hair). Seriously, the guys I notice out these days? Not that I’m looking but I’m not dead, ….the ones who catch my eye? Shaved heads.

I love knowing to do this exercise when I’m feeling sorry for myself. I love knowing how transformative it can be.

I love knowing “cable” and Tivo will be a big help today. The kids are obsessed with a new show called The Amazing World of Gumball, and who am I to deny them, what with their sore, sore, throats? Perhaps a Gumball marathon is in order. It’s like the Cartoon Network made the show just for me.

I love that my coffee is ready. And I’m going to go drink it and I’m going to have a good day, because there are so many things I can focus on to appreciate.

I love knowing I have a choice about how I feel.

I love knowing things have a way of working out.

I love.