6 reasons I'm getting happier...not older

My very favorite thing to do in the entire world is to put my two boys to bed, cuddle with them, smooch their sweet sleeping faces, close the door ever so gently, and boogie down the hall to snuggle up next to the Mister on the couch in front of the TV.  My husband and I actually got a weekend together, just the two of us recently.  We had dinner, just us, in a dimly lit restaurant, I had LOTS of make up on, perfume, and heels.  He actually had one hand on the small of my back as we crossed the street.  He didn't know what else to do with it since we didn't have any children to corall.  I was so excited to be in public looking like a lady, with clean hair, foundation on my face, and my hubby's hand in mine instead of a sippy cup.  There was talk of going to a movie, maybe two, brunch the next morning...but ultimately we chose our most favorite thing: jammy pants and movies On Demand.  It was almost a wasted squirt of my Bobbi Brown BB Cream to go out to dinner at all.  By the end of the night I couldn't get into my jams and glasses fast enough.  It was cold outside, the streets were crowded, nobody saw me, the restaurant was too dim, and isn't that the point of getting all done up and going out? Being seen? We had to tip mediocre waiters, had to wade through crowds, get honked at while we waited for someone to pull out of a parking spot so we could snag it, and seeing other people with little babies when I am baby free just makes me think I want to have another baby...not a welcomed conversation while out on the first date in months with the Mister.  So, by the time we finally got home with our dessert and into comfy socks, I was in heaven.  For a minute I felt old, then I just felt happy, then a little sleepy, then asleep...by 10:30pm.  This night reminded me that I am no longer a 19 year old girl out on the town.  Also, that I am so glad I am no longer a 19 year old girl out on the town.

6 reasons I am getting happier...not older

1. Staying in on a Friday night, so much better than walking 8 blocks to the car all while fighting drunk college frat boys for a bit of sidewalk.  Nobody is screaming "drink the bong water" on my couch.

2. Avoiding busy public places.  If someone stands too close to me in line, I get annoyed.  Fast.  Do you really want to be standing that close to me?  Are you afraid someone is going to jump out of the shadows and cut in front of you?  It would make me so much happier to order a burrito at Chipotle and eat it at my own kitchen table without having to shout in my hubby's ear for him to hear me over the crowd.  Much happier.  

3. Making a budget is control, and control makes everyone happier. 

4. Jammy pants are a weekend staple...ok, and weekday, but we're talking about getting old, not lazy.  I would rather be in my reindeer flannels than my black skinnies anyday.  I think tight pants cut off circulation to the brain or something, isn't that right?  That has to affect happiness. 

5. My wardrobe is slowly becoming unicolored.  "Ooooh, I love this beautiful red Christmas sweater...but could I get it in black or grey??"

6. Wanting to sit down for a minute at a concert.  Wouldn't resting your legs make you happy?  I do not have the stamina anymore...or maybe I just don't love any band enough to want to stand in one spot bobbing to the music for 3 hours...like I used to think I did.   

These are all things that make me happy at almost age twenty ten.  I'm not old, I have just discovered what makes me happy.  When I start having breakfast at 5:30am and dinner at a buffet at 4pm, then I will accept that I am just old...because waking up before dawn and eating out of a trough can't really be what makes anyone happy. 




  

All You Need is Love...and a Little People Watching

When my first flight landed in Dallas from Kansas City I was finally able to exhale and shake the anxiety of a fiery crash.  The connecting flight to New Orleans was much more relaxing. Awakening even.  I sat in the wondow seat, without my kids, without my husband, next to a stranger.  I watched the cars, the buildings, the people as they shrunk beneath us into the earth.  The sky became so big up there, and the people so small.  I couldn't help but think of all the lives that were invisible from up in the sky.  Below us was so much history, love, hate, hard work, heartache, that was completely non existant from my seat.  A couple sat across from me who I quickly summed up (as I tend to do, it's my nagging interest in human behavior).  He leaned in, she leaned back, he faced her direction, she faced the window, he waited for her response after each sentence, she broke eye contact.  I just kept thinking, this is not the man for her and she knows it. They didn't wear wedding rings. I know this because I tend to spend way too much time studying the subjects of my analyzation, usually only to make brief awkward eye contact.  This time my luck held out and I was able to study them thoroughly before determining my conclusion, unlike my wait in the Kansas City airport.  I tried to catch a quick snapshot of a very unfortunate "package situation" sitting across from me. A poor gentleman with his legs spread and his pants pornographically snug.  I was being discreet, but I have a feeling he had been in this situation before.  He looked up, and we made eye contact through the camera lense of my phone.  I sloooooowly lowered the phone and did a quick sweep of the room with my eyes to throw him off.  I think he bought it. 

As I stared at this poor oblivious couple on the plane I began to think of my life, and how my whole world, my husband, my two boys, are completely invisible from the sky. But, the love I feel for them, the heartache of being separated from them, that is bigger than this endless blueness.  I wanted to corner that woman in the bathroom (like a creep) and say, "If it's not love that's keeping you with this goober, it's not big enough to make you miserable for another minute."  Love is what makes us big.  Bigger than any of the blue skys in the universe.