If You’re Worried

I wrote this late last night and then fell asleep before hitting “Publish.”

I’m feeling a little like Bing (Crosby of course) (It just NOW hit me that my neighbors might be direct descendants of the Great Bing -Crosby, not Chandler – but given that they’re all athletes and Bing was… Bing… I’m betting the relation is distant).

Growing up, I was in the habit of saying my personal prayers before bed.  Once I hit 22 and I had one into-everything kid and was pregnant with another, I sort of got in the habit of dropping nearly dead the minute my daughter shut her eyes.  I got out of the habit of personal nighttime prayers.  Thanks to the Personal Progress Program, I got BACK in that habit!  Hooray!

Something I love most about nighttime is the way I start mentally listing things I’m grateful for so I won’t forget them in my prayers.  Without even realizing it, I’m improving my bedtime mood (which is usually pret-tee sour).  Anyway, as I wandered through the house and put away this and shoved aside that, I realized that tonight’s Mental Grateful List is note worthy.  I think any and all gratitude lists are note worthy, but hear me out about today.  I liked my list so much I played with the idea of posting it on facebook.  It was rather short.

“Tonight,” the post would say, “I’m grateful that dinner’s plates were disposable, the markers on the couch were washable, and the kids are asleep.”

Then I remembered that I was also grateful for my nice, warm bed.

THEN I heard the rain thrashing against all of my windows, and I thought of my flannel pajamas waiting for me in my bedroom.  Then I thought about the cookies and milk I could have before drifting off.

Soon, my mind was a-whirl with things I’m just really grateful for today.  I want to share them all with you because I think you’ll appreciate them.  Ready?

#1) Paper plates.
#2) Washable markers.
#3) Sleeping children.
#4) BEDS.
#5) Homemade flannel PJ’s.
#6) Rain. Where I come from, rain is a good thing.
#7) Homemade cookies and milk before bed.
#8)My husband.
#9) And his job.
#10) The fact that my husband was able to come home a little early today.
#11) The fact that on account of his coming home early today, he was able to investigate the SMELL that’s been coming from beneath the loveseat.
#12) The fact that my husband will do whatever he can to keep me from seeing a dead mouse.
#13) The fact that my husband got RID of the dead mouse.
#14) The fact that the smell is gone!
#15) The fact that my husband played slave today because Wednesdays are my busy days.
#16) The fact that I only ate one cookie with my milk, a true accomplishment for me.
#17) A tiny, tucked away space on the Internets where I can write, write, write. Write, write. Write.

And so I say, as my dear friend Bing Crosby would sing: If you’re worried and you can’t sleep, just count your blessings instead of sheep, and you’ll drift off to sleep counting your blessings.

Hopefully your list of blessings has nothing to do with dead mice.
Amen.