I Love

Well, since I am averaging a post every 2 or 3 days, with more time passing between them, I can do more song title posts, right :)? This one is. And if you watch it, you can laugh your butt off. I know I did ;). Especially the U2 part ;). Too funny.

So, let me tell you what I have loved (and haven't) over the past couple of days....

I've loved:
1. Having 2 jobs for which to apply. Yay!

I haven't loved:
1. That one of those is an hour away (the full-time one) and that the other is only part-time (although only 15 to 20 minutes away)

I've loved:
2. Knowing it will be okay and that the right job will come along eventually.

I haven't loved:
2. Eventually. It's another word for patience. Ugh. Not a fan of that P word. It should only have 4 letters in it. Someone dropped the ball on that one ;).

I've loved:
3. The time I have to spend with my family
and
4. my family!

There isn't an "I don't love" about this one. I baby-sat for Christina all day today, and I took Desiree over to Brad and Tarylyn's at around 2 so she could play with Samuel and Benjamin, and Saria when she got home from school. Plus I was able to hang out with Brad and Tarylyn and visit and laugh. Oh how I love my family! Oh how I love to swap stories. Oh how I love to hear Samuel and Desiree have intensley serious conversations with each other about chalk and the chalkboard. How I love the way the kids come up to me and sit with me and lay on me while I visit with B&T. How I love how, as I dozed at Christina's before going to B&T's, Desiree would come over to me and say, "Aunt Hila?" And I'd say, "Yes sweetie?" And she'd say, "I love you." How I love that these sweet spirits are a part of my life. How I love opportunities to be closer to Brad and Tarylyn and Christina. How I love being able to help them, and to be a part of my niece's and nephew's lives. How I love being Aunt Hila. Speaking of Aunt Hilas... How I love my Aunt Hila. How I love calling her and hearing a story I was told to call and ask about. How I love laughing with her. How I love sharing stories with her. And her daughters. How I love that I talked to Elka last night on the phone and she and I laughed our butts off (hey, Elka, they say laughter is a great calorie-burner ;) -- you can thank me later ;)) for about an hour. With dates to do it again in the future. Oh man that was a great conversation. How I love knowing that the family reunion is going to be one of the most interesting and fun experiences of my life. And probably funniest too :). And how I love being here and being able to spend time with my grandfather at this time. For those of you who don't know, my grandfather is basically in congestive heart failure. He is one of the sweetest and most selfless men I have ever known. And I am thankful I am here at this time to help with him and be here with him.

I've loved:
5. Catching up with Juliebean yesterday!

Nothing I don't love about this either :). It's great to catch up with her. I miss you Julie! I also miss all my other friends. I love to get my blog comments and my emails. I have felt like such a slacker friend lately, as I really don't spend much time on the computer doing email or blogging. Mostly I'm upstairs spending time with my mom and grandparents, and then spending my nights working on applications, resumes, etc.

And to end with a couple of chuckles, courtesy of four of the most adorable kids I know... So Saturday, my mom, Christina, Desiree, and I went over to Brad and Tarylyn's. All the kids were having a great time. Saria started complaining that she was hungry, and was told to wait until dinner, which would be ready shortly. She kept complaining about it and saying, "I can't wait! I'm starving!", so I said, "Well, I guess you're dead then." So she thought it was funny and dropped to the floor. Desiree ran over to her and laid down and hugged her. Then Benjamin came and sat on her back. So Desiree tried to also sit on her back, but she was too close to her neck, so we told Desiree to get off. So Saria gets up on hands and knees and walks Benjamin around, who thinks it's hilarious. So Samuel says, "Desiree, you can ride me!" So he comes over and puts his head to the floor for her to get on. But his butt is straight up in the air! It was hilarious! Tarylyn says, "Samuel, you have to put your butt down." Well, Desiree didn't care, she got on with him like that. So then Samuel gets up on his hands and starts going. And next thing you know, Samuel says to Desiree, "You have to help me!" Realize that Samuel is eight months older than Desiree, and right now, Desiree is slightly taller than he is. So then she started running with her feet while he ran on his hands and knees. They were zooming everywhere like that. Man I wish I had some video. It was hilarious! Christina got a couple of pictures, but she never could get the front of Sam and Desiree, they were too fast.

Also funny: Samuel is a serious kid sometimes. Very factual about what he tells you. So the other day Brad took him to the bathroom at the zoo (this was before I was here). On the way there, Brad told Samuel he was going to throw him to the wolves. Samuel looked at his daddy and said (very seriously), "No, you can't." And then when they were in the bathroom, Samuel saw some mayflies on the wall. He pointed them out to Brad and said, "There's some spiders, Dad. I don't like them." Brad said, "No, Sam, those aren't spiders, they are mayflies." So then Samuel said, "What do they eat?" And Brad said, "They eat mosquitoes." Samuel lifted his eyes up to Brad and very seriously said, "Do they eat kids?" Hahahaha... That Samuel is a mess. Can you tell I love my nieces and nephews?