1. Not choking on carrots. Am I alone in this? Or is the size and consistency of a chewed carrot exactly right for being inadvertently sucked into your lungs, then coughed back up into your nostril holes at the back of your throat? I love carrots, but I have to concentrate very hard every time I eat one, otherwise I will be blowing it out my nose for the next three weeks.
2. Not getting completely grossed out by the things kids do. The other day I was talking with a kiddo, when, as if in slow motion, he took his gum out of his mouth and stuck it behind his ear. I thought this was an urban legend, but no. It's real, and it's happening in our schools.
3. Doing work.
4. Following through when I tell my dogs they cannot jump up on the bed at 7:30 a.m. on a Saturday. Here's how that usually plays out:
Me: "Lily, no. You cannot come up. Go to your own bed."
Lily: Presses her adorable face on the edge of the bed, and beseeches me with her beautiful blue eyes.
Me: "Okay, let's cuddle." Followed shortly after by, "Ow! Stop stepping on my bones! Okay, lie down...seriously, lie down or get out of my life."
5. Ending a sentence with a preposition. When I do, it kind of feels like cussing in public.
6. That moment right after you turn off the shower and the warm relaxing part is over, but you still have all of the toweling, lotioning, hair-drying, make-upping, and dressing ahead of you. That depresses me every time.
7. The moment when I have to finally turn off my book on tape because I have made it to school, and I have been just sitting in the parking lot for 7 1/2 minutes, and anyone walking by will think I am crazy as I stare straight ahead. Of course I'm not crazy, I am listening to the ending of "It" by Stephen King, and it is intense.
8. Counting all the way to 10.
Of course, these are not "real" struggles (except for the carrots, that's real). I wrote these down because we all suffer in some way, and I hope those who are suffering a lot, or a little, will find some comfort in a little joke here and there. A small smile, a soft chuckle, or even a lightening in the chest area. If any of those things happen as a result of reading my blog, double yay.
