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Monday, November 30, 2009

Celebrating Monday

4 lbs. of coffee
Indeterminate bags of flour
3 dozen eggs
14 dozen potato rolls
An entire tub of shortening
11 people for post-Thanksgiving pizza
9 smiling faces packed around my table for birthday lunch

The statistics are as endless as the excess they reflect. I have been reveling in food, family, and fun for a week, and am anything but ready for my Forced Re-entry into the Real World this morning.

So I spent a lot of time last night trying to come up with things I like about Ordinary Days. I resisted the fibers of my being bent on loudly insisting that there’s nothing notable in the normal; that Routine and Usual are just way stations enroute to Better Things.

I pressed myself in my search for reasons to celebrate the standard because I know that life, in all its richness and fullness, plays out on the stage of the everyday and the commonplace.

So I’m heading off to school this morning remembering that there’s life in the scraps and crayons that will roll across my classroom floor. It’s in the books that I want to read, the music I’ll listen to on my commute, the leftovers in my lunch. It’s in the average stories of common experiences we’ll share around the dinner table tonight. It’s in the miles I need to run, the rides I must give, the emails I will answer. And the messy rooms I call home? They are simply teeming with life.

Ordinary may be the heart and soul of the Real World, but it is also the backbone of everything we hold dear. So today I may be up at dawn, bereft of pie, and teaching class, but that doesn't mean I'm not celebrating.

In Other News:
I will post the giveaway winner this evening. With so many busy with things besides blogging, I wanted to give readers a final chance to leave a comment for a chance to win an apple corer/peelerin time for holiday baking!

13 comments:

Unknown said...

Always a pleasure to read you my friend! Come by and pick up a little something I have for you.

Dawn said...

oh... i was dreading this morning. up early for my walk/run. back to routine. back to work. but with 1 1/2 od those tasks completed, i am at least moving forward! and your words have given my morning an extra litle boost. thanks!

Tracie said...

I'm celebrating because my kids are going to school. Woot woot! And I don't go back to work till tomorrow!

Lee said...

I couldn't sleep last night in anticipation of my kids going back to school...I am happy dancing!!

Julie Kwiatkowski Schuler said...

When the ordinary gets me down, I add a ritual, like having tea and cake, at a certain time, and I only do it for a while, so I can always come back to it when I need it.

Mama-Face said...

Ordinary is very unappreciated. But it makes all the rest so much sweeter.

Gosh, I love what you write. :)

Mixed Reflections said...

Stories about ordinary moments in life are the best because we can all connect to them. Thanks for your lovely written word.

Unknown said...

I'm okay with the ordinary. very very okay .

Kathleen said...

Hope your transition to Real Life has been smooth today! AND hope you had a wonderful birthday!!

Bernie said...

Fabulous post as always! I wasn't ready to go back to the real world today. :o) I loved getting your message on my blog. I always smile when I see a comment from you.

Have a good night.

Bernie

Raoulysgirl said...

Today was bittersweet for me. My oldest (and my sister's kids next door...who spend a LOT of time on THIS side of the street!) went back to school...

But it was laundry day.

One kind of cancels out the other.

Holly Lefevre said...

How do you make everything sound so lovely? I find I have to sit back and just watch the simple joy my kids find in the everyday things to really show me what needs to be celebrated and cherished.

Holly

Life Laugh Latte said...

I love how you put words down. I totally agree with you that it is the everyday things that are the real backbone of our lives. Beautifully put. Holly

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