I'm Quirky

Welcome to the New Year!

January is my month of hibernation and I can finally indulge in it without guilt because we're empty nesters. In fact, I'm alone, by myself, while my husband is down in Iowa working on our old house. (I gave him a deadline of May 1st to get it up for sale or he'd be without a wife.) Anyway, in addition to hibernating I'm doing a "no-spend" challenge (by myself) to put aside $500 towards our son's headstone. 

As part of not spending I've gone to the library to satisfy my reading and book acquisition addiction. Among the non-fiction I found this one:

As I was reading it the other day, and laughing my head off because of the author's wit and sense of humor, the thought occurred to me that I am quirky. I enjoy weird tales, crazy YouTubers, and off-beat humor (not off-color). To prove that, here's a quote from Thomas Thwaites in the chapter on making plastic:

To start the chain reaction going you need an initiator of "free radicals"--these are single electrons that react with (or oxidize) just about everything (including the molecules in our cells, which is why those of us who want to live forever should eat plenty of antioxidant containing face cream). 

I laughed until I started coughing. It just hit my funny bone square on. I love anyone who can make me laugh!

Here is another quirky fellow human, Beau Miles from Australia. 

He has more, and longer, films on his channel. I don't even remember how I found him, but I've enjoyed everything he's put up.

And lastly, this morning when I looked in the mirror I knew it was time for some of my own quirky humor. I took a photo and sent a text to my husband saying, "Feeling particularly sexy this morning, can't wait for your return."

I look like I stuck my finger in the toaster!

There, now go make someone else smile today!

Nana's are the Best

Jellybean at five and a half weeks

His momma said this is the first smile captured in a photo--good job Nana! I got it while his parents were out for lunch and a movie. We had such fun together!

Wednesday's Wisdom

Parental Paydays

Rebecca, over at her blog called Renaissance, shared some delight pictures of her baby smiling.

I commented that it looked like a parental payday to me.

What is a parental payday? Well it's what TopDad and I call those infrequent moments when what a child says or does makes us feel that our efforts to raise that child have paid off, been worth it, been successful.

Most jobs offer money and other tangible benefits that come at usually regular intervals. Working as a parent can often seem like a thankless, benefit-less, exhausting effort. But then those little moments happen, like a baby smiling, or a teen doing a task without being asked, or a young adult expressing genuine gratitude, and it's a parental payday!

It reminds me to be a better child to my Heavenly Parent, smiling and being cheerful, doing things without being commanded (or nagged), and expressing real gratitude for the multitude of miracles and blessings I receive daily.