Today's Heart Beats

After yesterday, I was ready to figure out how to settle the emotions and be a little less wonky. Many memories and emotions run through my head and heart, and that's going to go on for quite a while. Today was full of a lot of warm-fuzzy kinds of memories. They made my heart happy helping the broken pieces feel not so sharp.

For the last few years as my Dad has been managing his degenerative disease, I have become quiet adept at choosing to see all of the good in front of me without discounting or otherwise denying reality. Hence (yeah, I just said hence), in the case of my friend, I acknowledge the broken heart pieces, but I work around them to celebrate and honor her. The same is true with my Dad: I am totally in the face of his disease acknowledging it for everything it is and does, but, to be honest, it is rather easy to look past it to see my Dad for everything he's ever been to me and who he still currently is. And, especially after yesterday, there was hardly a person I wanted to see more today than him.

Before going over, I made Chex party mix which was a big holiday tradition in our home growing up, and Dad was always the one to make it. Both of my parents were amazing in the culinary department, so I always assumed the Chex party mix was a complicated concoction. (The kitchen always mystified me. Because I never really cared about the process just the product. Except when we had lima beans. Or beets. I did not care at all about those products. But, I digress.) It was quite a moment when I got out on my own and realized this mix was so crazy-simple which is another way of saying right up my alley! Anyway, today's November morning handed us frost, temperatures in the teens and the perfect atmosphere all the way around to make a batch to share with him during our visit today!

Elly was all kinds of ready to help do things like eat any cereal her messy mommy dropped:

"I love you for your imperfections, mommy. Your
imperfections make my tummy sing!"

And, of course, there's Lizzy wanting to be all up in everyone's biz:

She doesn't necessarily want any, she just
wants to boss me around. And, by the way,
that's probably the only clean spot on our
stove. I wish I knew how it got that way
so I could replicate it.

This time of year most definitely brings on kitchen traditions, doesn't it? Every year when I pull the party mix out of the oven, I'm taken back to that kitchen with the vinyl floor made to look like bricks standing behind my Dad in his khakis and red and black flannel shirt as he stirs and dumps the mix onto paper bags to cool (paper bags required back then to absorb extra butter issues; there was no skimping on ingredients in my childhood home! My mix doesn't taste quite like his. Um, wonder why?! Although mine's totally delish.).

And, yes, he enjoyed what I took him today. Very much. And, every part of being together was just comfortable and good. It always is. I can't ask for much more than that.

I also got some awesome news today! Guess who I get to see soon: MY VIRTUAL RUNNING PARTNER EXTRAORDINAIRE MARY KATE!! Stay tuned ...

And, tomorrow? It's time to run ...