Love in the Afternoon

What is that quiet I am hearing right now? That blessed, blessed silence? That, my friends, is the sound of my child finally napping after two days of anguish, whining and general hair pulling.

I think I just felt my shoulders unclench just a little. I just realized they have been scrunched up near my ears for a couple days. Although, I am not sure why I am still here talking to y'all, when I should be in bed, but I'm just scared that if I take a nap, it will all be over too soon and we'll have to spend yet another whiny afternoon wishing it were dinner time already.

Oh, lordy. I am a terrible mother when there aren't any naps happening. I get all snappish, grumpy and pretty much turn into the bitch your mother warned you about. However, today? Today I will be all happy and cheerful for the rest of the afternoon, even if I spend the entire blissful period online instead of inbed.

So, in honor of it being Valentine's Day... (the most annoying holiday after Halloween. Don't you think pink and red clash and just tackify the whole saccharine affair? Plus, I hate hearts. I think it is because I picked out pink heart wallpaper in my room when I was 10, so now I associate hearts with the horror that was 6th grade. Ohmygod, did you know Katie doesn't wear a bra or shave her legs yet?)...I will copy Miss Zoot and give you a list of things I love (other than my husband, baby and family, who, of course, are at the top of the list):

• Naps
• Coffee with whole milk
• Lots and lots of coffee
• sharp cheddar cheese on cracked pepper and olive oil-flavored Triscuits
• the Internet
• Fresh, clean air (like, duh, does anyone NOT like that? Does anyone really say they love polluted air?)
• Fresh, clean air with the scent of pine trees in the Colorado Rockies. There, that's a little more descriptive.
• Soft pillow top beds with fluffy down comforters and high thread-count sheets and fluffy pillows
• Clean high thread-count sheets
• With lavender and vanilla linen spray from Bath and Body Works sprayed on them
• McDonald's Quarter Pounders with Cheese
• Coconut curry sauces, especially on macadamia nut crusted halibut
• brie cheese
• any cheese, really
• grilled cheese sandwiches
• Cheddar and Sour Cream Ruffles potato chips
• Books: currently reading, among other things, "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
• Reading books in bed
• Going to the movies and ordering a big tub of popcorn and blissing out for two hours
• Cross country skiing, although I haven't done it in over a year.
• Flossing my teeth
• Ann Taylor clothes, though I never buy any.
• Ice water before bed
• Music: currently interested in John's new John Legend CD
• Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas in Queso Verde Sauce
• Interesting photography
• The beach, the pool, the lake....the warm sun near a body of swimming water, you know.
• The way Becca giggles
• How Becca pats me on my chest and says, "Mama"
• The way that John always knows how to make me laugh
• That John proposed to me exactly ten years ago today
• That my kid is STILL napping! YEEEE HAW!