I've lost my pants, but I don't care. I need a cookie. How on earth do I open this thing?

We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.
~Frederick Keonig


The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise grows it under his feet. ~James Openheim


The weather is warm. The grass is green. Our trees are budding, and actually, the tulips are coming up early.* We spotted two cardinals on our morning walk. Those birds really should move out West because they are spectacular. The park is filled with our friends. We're racing our ride-ons up and down the driveway in the afternoons.


For many of us, our happiness is in the future, never reached, always coming. Today, for me, it's here, right now. I work at this constantly. I am forever keeping myself here and trying to soak up as much of all this childhood, this loud and messy whirl of life, as I can while it lasts. The days are long, the years are short indeed.




_________________________________________________________________________
*This is big news in Ottawa, what with the upcoming Tulip Fest in May. Oh, Ottawa. Only in you, capital city where nothing bad ever seems to happen, would tulips blooming be front-page news. I am getting pretty skeptical of the lack of crime here. When we first moved here, I was all, "What? No stabbings in the Monday newspaper?" Where I'm from, it's not a weekend without a few stabbings. And lots of broken windows up and down the main avenues. Nothing says, "It's the weekend," like property damage, apparently. Actually, the weekend is really about red meat and beer. And maybe a little rye. What? I am from Alberta, after all. The stabbings and property damage are just consequences. Here, it's all lost kittens and, well, not much of anything. My disbelief is suspended, I guess, for now, but those cops directing traffic at Costco, surely, SURELY, they must have some crime to fight sometime somewhere. Right??

"Mama! I've been out collecting bugs! Wanna see?"


How can I refuse an offer like that?


First, we open the door to our handy bug collecting device.


Next, we get out our trusty magnifying glass.


Then we marvel in the squishy, creepy-crawly wonderfulness of spring.



I am very interested in the worm, the centipede, and the two beetle-ish guys Finn has collected. Really, I am. I'm loving them.



And the little boy. He's pretty marvelous too.

Rosemary's b-day was great, and thanks for all for the well-wishes and gifts. She had a wonderful day and loved it all, except for the part where I took her away from the new sand table so that she could eat some cake. Man, she really likes that table.

(And, by the way, we are only temporarily insane. The sand and water table was in the living room only for her b-day because it was cold. Now it's outside where sand can be flung without causing my head to explode. Also, for anyone considering this product, it's more mud-pie table than sand and water. but whatever.)