I stayed up until 12:30 last night with my mother-in-law.

On purpose.

And that’s not even a late night for us…we’ve been up as late as 1:30 am before. I have what you’d call an abnormal relationship with my mother-in-law. Meaning…I adore her. I know most people have the awkward, tense, get-this-over-with kind of relationship, but y’all — I hit the jackpot in in-laws. I really did. So we stay up gabbing at least once on any visit to The Big City. Usually it’s the first night, and then we’re running on empty the next day and vowing not to do that again.

Yet, here I am. Up at 11:02 and not close to ready for bed.

So I write.

Thankfuls for this week:

1. Disney Pixar’s Brave. Anytime we even mention the movie Brave, Paxton says, “No Mommy, it’s ‘Disney Pixar’s Brave’.” Which is a sad, sad commentary on the amount of Disney Junior in his life. Regardless, I took Jaana and her cousin to see it tonight, and it was such a sweet movie. Very much a mother-daughter film…so much so that Jaana said, “It should have come out on Mother’s Day.” Which is really a very astute marketing observation that I think Disney Pixar overlooked. And so much so that during it, Jaana cuddled close to me and said, “I’ll never get mad at you like that.” And I replied, “And I’ll never make you marry someone you don’t love.” Because that is very, very true.

2. Pools. And having gone swimming three times in the past four days. (Don’t hate me because I’m tan.) And Paxton will now “paddle, kick, paddle, kick” instead of latching onto me like a lemur. And the cousins have just finished the pool at their new house and how awesome is it to have your own pool? I’ll be back A LOT this summer.

3. Air-Conditioning. Because y’all, it was 98-degrees in The Big City. And I always think of Ma Ingalls cooking over a hot stove and how did she do that without some central AC? Lord have mercy, I was born in the right millennia.

4. Publix. We don’t have a Publix where I live, and I miss it immensely. So in the past 24 hours I’ve eaten my weight in Savory Tarragon Chicken Salad and drank about 50 litres of Mango Iced Tea. Strange occurrence today though…as I was placing my order for a pound of chicken tenders in the deli (they are the most amazing chicken tenders), a woman approached and said, “Now there looks like someone who could use a rose.” ??? And she gave me a single red rose. ??? And the lady serving me the chicken tenders had one too, as well as a lady working produce. ??? So there’s that.

5. Target. I went there today and bought things. It was good.

6. Greg. He preached a mighty fine sermon on Sunday while our Senior Pastor was away. MIGHTY FINE. I’m always love hearing him preach, I really do. It’s like he amazes me with the ease in which he can do it. He’s such a natural. It’s truly a gift. (And if you want to watch it, you can view it here. It’s called “Epic Encounter” from June 24.)

5. Survey Results. I posted a poll on Monday and had such great response and feedback to it. Thanks to everyone who took a few minutes to participate. It really, really helped a lot and will be great information as I write my book. (And it’s not too late to take the survey if you want to click here and do it.)

6. Advil PM. I had the most killer headache in my entire life this week. All day. To point where nothing was helping it go away, and when I crawled (literally) into bed that night, I curled up in a fetal position and wanted to cry and vomit it was so bad. I’m telling the truth when I say I had thoughts about my head bursting in the night and coming to in heaven and what would go through Greg’s mind finding me that way? Morbid, I know. But right before I literally crawled into bed, I took a few Advil PM. And when I woke up the next morning, wouldn’t ya know? The headache was gone. And then I figured God wasn’t ready for me to depart quite then. So it’s all good.

7. Organix Macadamia Oil Shampoo and Conditioner. I’ve been using Jaana’s conditioner for weeks since I’ve been too cheap to buy anything else. And it’s not that hers is bad. It just has cartoon-type characters on it. And I’m pushing 40. So I went to a drug store and bought big girl shampoo and conditioner. And while I’ve only used it once, I have to admit my hair looks extra hydrated and shiny and healthy. Score! And aloooooooooha.

8. Soapboxes. This is my Official Facebook Soapbox: 1) Political ramblings are a waste of time and energy. I’m certain no one will change an opinion or vote differently based on a status update. (However, simplifying or explaining something without snarky commentary is okay.) 2) Teens liking photos with captions that say, “I just want to know you’re thinking of me” from pages called “He Doesn’t Text and I Don’t Know Why” makes me sad. 3) Profanity is not only unclassy, it’s uncreative.

It’s my blog and I’ll preach if I want to.

7. Moves Like Jagger. Paxton will sing this and even get all the up-and-down “ooo ooo ooo’s” just like Adam. He just won’t do it on video, so I can’t exploit share it.

8. Fourth of July. I’m excited about celebrating our country’s independence. I just don’t have any specific plans or traditions. Or Old Navy t-shirts. Or really anything red, white and blue. But it’ll be fun, that you can count on.

9. Flexibility. I’m so grateful to be in a position where I can take the kids away for a day or two on a whim. Or swim with them at the pool for a few hours a few days a week. Or take a nap somedays, hello?? It’s been a long time a-comin’ for me to have this kind of don’t-have-to-be-married-to-my-phone-or-computer summer, and I’m lapping it up like a shake from Chick-Fil-A with whipped cream and a cherry. Or something like that, I just don’t know.

10. You. I’m so grateful to my faithful readers who provide such great feedback and encouragement. Y’all are pretty awesome, and even though I haven’t met some of you in person, I like to call you friends. And I’m pretty proud to say the three of you have grown to about ten. So well done, my friends, well done.