Saturday, October 3, 2009

Fullness of Heart

Life just keeps brimming with happiness; I am supremely contented. I think part of the secret is keeping a "holiday attitude" in my heart everyday. That is, I have been trying to approach each day as though it is extra special---and it is, simply because we're alive and able to embrance life fully.

After a week of the sickies in our house, I finally felt the cobwebs clear from my head and body and was able to start putting my house back into order and cleanliness. I cleaned all the floors up and down and the bathrooms and tidied and worked on refreshing the kitchen. That felt good to accomplish.

We played outside a few times, read books, listened to our Music Together CD, danced, and played with the dollhouse and colored.

I was also able to use my leftover roast chicken and leftover pate brisee to make carmelized onion, apple, and roasted chicken tartlets with cheese. This is the second time I have made it, and I still like it, so I should write my recipe down. But then I would need to know precise measurements, and I just go by feel, smell, and taste. Maybe next time I will be more exact and write as I go.

Oh, and Katie helped me paste my pictures on my big poster board for my speech on Tuesday. She is really helpful with pasting, and now when I feel nervous on Tuesday all I will have to do is look at my poster and think of her helping in order to recenter myself. Actually, I wasn't nervous at all, and now I am getting quite twisted about in the stomach. But, all the more reason to do it: to meet the challenge of mind over matter. Ever since I delivered Katie, I have had a mantra that gets me through every difficult situation and that is this: if I could give birth to Katie naturally, I can do anything I set my mind to do. And that's really true---a natural labor is all about mind control and using the strength of your mind to transcend the pain. I should be able to give a little public speech now, shouldn't I?

I am going to feel so relieved and full of good adrenaline when I am finished... Eyes on the goal, Sarah. Eyes on the goal!