Little Miss Sunshine

Okay, I thought of something else I am really thankful for: Adelay's health. I was just hanging out with my sister-in-law and her son today, and boy, it seems like that kid has been sick all winter. He seems fine now, but every now and then he'll break out this barking, hacking cough from deep in his lungs that makes you cringe in sympathy. And then there's another friend of ours, whose little boy is just a month or so younger than Addy, and he has had a grand total of eight ear infections since he's been born. He's also spiked some very high fevers recently and had to be rushed to the hospital, and now they've found out he has RSV and has to have breathing treatments every six hours. Addy's minor encounters with colds and flu seem just that, minor, in comparison. On the whole she has been amazingly healthy, and I am so grateful for that.
In a related child-care note, I am also grateful to have both sets of parents around, ready and willing to babysit. It is so nice not to have to pay a sitter, to say nothing of just the fact of having one, which I realize is lucky enough in itself.
I am also happy that I have had a modicum of energy the past few days, and at last summoned the will to tackle the enormous laundry pile and the dust and dog hair build-up in the living rooms. It makes me feel so much better to have it done. I just really can't stand mess, I have to be honest. It's not the usual mom problem, that the mess makes me feel guilty, but I really don't want to do it. It's that it makes me insane to be in clutter and mess, and I really do want to clean it, but sometimes there are only so many things I can accomplish in a day.
I just haven't yet received that magical ability, which seems to be brought about by having small children, to look past the dishes and the toys and the magnetic alphabet letters and everybody's ten thousand coats strewn all over the kitchen. I can overlook it for a while, but it's always there, in the back of my mind, and I am longing to tackle it the way some people long to get to the gym or hit the mall for a little stress relief. Cleaning relieves me. I am a freak, I know. (Please realize that as I type this, however, our bathroom sink is so disgusting as to make me want to vomit every time I look at it, but I am here blogging instead. I do still have my priorities straight!)
And finally, I am thankful that.... The sun is shining! At freaking last! It is no coincidence I am in a better frame of mind today. I intentionally do not mention the state in which we live, but let me just say that it is basically a gray, gloomy swamp during the winter, a fact which is emphasized by our low backyard which has been pock-marked with muddy puddles since late October. But today the clouds have broken, and so has my mood.