I feel amazingly happy and full of wonder at the beauty of my life- even at 9:40 on a night when my husband is just getting home from a trip. In gazing at the events of the day, there are many things which came together to create harmony for me: the effectiveness of cold medicine and Robitussin (though very nasty going down!) in helping me cope with getting out of bed- coughing up a lung and feeling horrible; staying home this morning despite the impulse to do otherwise, and finding the strength to get busy preparing for the afternoon play date; making pumpkin muffins and bread with Ben; reading the Boxcar Children and playing tic-tac-toe with Liam, finding my glasses before I went berserk looking for them; Georgina playing with the boys just before noon and Donna taking Liam to kindergarten; watching Kasey pull bags of clothes and a baby bathtub out of her van for us to have for Seth; seeing Ben's glee at Ella's presence; talking to Jean Stout, our neighbor, about my pregnancy and her mothering experience, the gorgeous weather for playing outside with Ben and his 4 friends from preschool; chatting with Kasey, Lila, and Sam's step-mom Christina; laughing at our kids sledding down our muddy hill in the backyard; getting complements on my house; the smell of my new yankee candle; telling Lila how much I enjoy our new friendship; seeing Liam's bird that he made in school; watching Lily go off for a hike with the Brownie troop and be excited about it; talking with Stacey and Jennifer on the playground- while watching the boys hunt for acorn tops- with fervor; getting tender phone calls and an email from my husband today, while he was away on business; giving Laurie Sapp the loaf of pumpkin bread I reserved for her- in gratitude for her helping me get Lily to orchestra rehearsals these past two weeks; talking to Sharon Lehr, who is so cheerful, and having her tell me that Kate thinks I am the best mom in the whole world (ha); eating cereal/chips & salsa with kool-aid for dinner, and being okay with that; playing memory with Liam- twice; helping Lily start her own blog and see how passionate she was about writing on it; having my mom call and check on me AND remind me that American Idol was on; watching American Idol with the kids on the kitchen floor; the cool thunderstorm; tom's safe return.

Wow. I am so lucky. And that is probably not even all the greatness of today. I think being surrounded by positive people, whose company I thoroughly choose and enjoy, and being in a house that is seemingly in order, makes a HUGE difference to my day. I must meditate on this and plan to include both of those things in my daily routine.