I had a crummy day.

Not quite sure how to come down from a day like today.
Correction: I'm already down.
So how do I pull myself back up?
It was definitely one of those days where I didn't live up to the blog name,
as is too-often the case.

It started without a shower.
Ended with tears and broken glass.
Add to that the prayer, "Please bless that Mom can get over her temper."
Yah, one of those days.
And lest you think I was screaming and throwing plates at my kids,
let me ease your mind, my friend--that's not what happened.
Broken glass came from one too-curious and regularly disobedient 1-year old
who likes to get into my casserole dish cabinet.
Yelling. . . well, that may have come from me.
Not at said baby.
No, mostly to the other four rambunctious disobeyers.
Tears? Those were mine too.
Some days I just don't feel like a great mom.
Todd has been out of the country all week.
I've been sick all week.
Not usually a great combination.
So I vent to cyberspace,
hoping for tension to deflate from the rocks that have formed on my back,
flow down my arms
and ooze out my fingertips as I write,
leaving me, hopefully, relaxed enough to be able to sleep tonight.
Because there has been very little of that going on this week.
And I need it oh so badly.

How about rather than list the muck,
I'll mention the rays of sunlight that made my day bearable.

One ray shone through the little girl named Jessica.
I helped her learn her 8s times tables.
She is new to Alli's class and is a bit behind the others.
I gave her a few pointers, hints
and in five minutes she had a more confident smile,
excitement to try them again
and again.
By the end, she gifted me with high fives.
Won't her teacher be surprised when she aces her 8s tomorrow?

Another came through a friend
who brought me a bowl of hot roasted butternut squash soup
for no reason at all
not even knowing about my day.
Or did she see it all over my face?
Or unkempt hair?
Or smell my unbathed body?
Regardless, it was delicious
and I was grateful.

Or in the Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies
I made today.
Mmmmm.

Or in the glowing emails from the moms of the playgroup kids I had at my house today.
Telling me how much their kids loved the Halloween party I had here.
Nice to know the frantic, thrown-together-last-minute activities
were a hit with those little munchkins.

Or in the moment when, reading a goodnight book to my Ty,
his body melts down next to mine,
snuggling in close
more interested in the colors on the pages than the words I was speaking,
or in the sound of mom's voice than the storyline.

Or in the simple lingering,
from a budding teenager (okay 11-year old who acts very much like one)
to be near me
after everyone has gone to bed,
for no reason whatsoever.
Though most times I anger
that she is past bedtime,
not keeping to our lights out rule,
tonight I felt perplexingly okay with her dawdling.

Or discovering "Facetime" on iPods,
how it connects instantly faces of lovers, companions
who are worlds apart.
Competing in the Worlds Silliest Face contest
every single time we chat in this way.
Yah, that made me laugh today.
And I'm amazed at how just seeing him
calms my soul.

So, whaddya say self?
Should we put away the ranting?
The thoughts of self-pity,
the "woe-is-me" attitude?
Because sunlight trumps clouds in my book anyday!

See, I feel better already.