Day of glorious days! I’m sitting on our balcony right now with a view of the North Shore Mountains to my left. The sun is high, there’s not a cloud in the sky. Everything is blooming and the world smells new. My feet are bare and there is a fresh orange next to me. Brian is catching a cat nap after a late night reading and Anne is sleeping in a t-shirt and her diaper, thumb tucked securely in her triangle mouth. The baby is moving in flutters, reminding me more every day of his/her presence in our family.
I’ve just been reading for the past hour. We had an errand-full morning – Brian finished our taxes (and it looks like we’re getting a return which is always cause for celebration) while Anne and I puttered around to a few stores. This afternoon, we’re headed to the playground and the market, armed with bubbles. Bubbles are the best on sunny days.
Yesterday was my little sister’s birthday. She turned 27. (Happy birthday, sister and friend!) The whole family met at a restaurant for supper. Anne was as good as gold for two entire hours. We all ate and laughed and told stories and shared news. We had so much fun. Anne loves her family dearly. As long as we’re all around, she’s good. Plus, my mum had the foresight to bring in balloons for my sister which kept Anne busy for most of the meal.
Anne especially adores her “Gunkle”; it’s one of my joys to watch them together. Adam has such a sweet spot for Anne. They laugh at secret jokes and play tricks. He recently taught her to shrug her shoulders and turn her palms upward when she wants to say “I don’t know”. So if you ask her something and she’s not sure, she just shrugs her shoulders and turns her palms up. It’s hysterical. We came home in the twilight. Anne went to bed an hour past her bedtime while Brian worked on taxes and I did our budget/account balancing for another pay day.
“I don’t know!”
I came across an old quote I loved from “Anne of Avonlea” the other day that surmised my life lately.
“We make our own lives wherever they are. They are broad or narrow, according to what we put into them, not what we get out. Life is rich and full here…everywhere…if we can only learn how to open our whole hearts to its richness and fullness.”
Sometimes I can get so caught up in the heroics, wanting my life to “matter”. Really, it always matters.
