J: you’re something else, you know that?
A: thank you…
J: you’re welcome though I can’t imagine I’m the first man to tell you that.
A: no, but you ARE the first one to mean it as a compliment.

I ❤ oriental lilies

Called to get Mom’s list but she was already asleep so my Dad, Jesse, filled in for her 🙂

Dad's List:
1. I ❤ Kittye
2. I ❤ Ted
3. I ❤ Emma
4. I ❤ Amy
5. I ❤ the Holy Mother
6. I ❤ our new roof
7. I ❤ the new interior paint job Ted did
8. I ❤ that we got the garage enclosed
9. I ❤ that our cars have lasted a very long time
10. I ❤ Dr. Lakin because he's top notch

Amy's List:

1. I ❤ nail sticker kits and mismatched paint jobs

2. I ❤ Ted
3. I ❤ Emma
4. I ❤ SNL
5. I ❤ the clouds and lightening on my drive to John's.
6. I ❤ the Stetson salad from Cowboy Ciao
7. I ❤ cinnamon cookies and cinnamon ice cream
8. I ❤ the Ransom Acts of Kindness I made tonight

9. I ❤ Desdemona
10. I ❤ my sense of humor

Mama’s List (INPO):
1. I ❤ making this list because it gives me an excuse to talk to Amy everyday
2. I ❤ naps
3. I ❤ the good weather we had again today after the storm
4. I ❤ how consistent I am…realized the paint sample I picked recently is virtually the same as the one I picked up a few months ago
5. I ❤ that I recovered my Japanese panels from the east porch and have them on display now
6. I ❤ dum-dums and they don't affect my kidneys
7. I ❤ that I finally heard from Maricopa and learned the ecoli I had a few weeks ago was not the scary bad kind
8. I ❤ people in government who work really hard at their jobs
9. I ❤ the mass done by Franciscan friars on EWTN and my rosary
10. I ❤ that everyone in NC is safe and nobody lost their life

Amy’s List:
1. I ❤ Liam and his excitement over fireworks

2. I ❤ sleeping late and getting up early
3. I ❤ omelets, blubbery pancakes, and networking

4. I ❤ pool party invites and sparklers for the 4th


5. I ❤ how much healthier Corbin already looks since his antibiotic shot
6. I ❤ how excited Gracie and Couscous were for dinner
7. I ❤ NSLF magnets

8. I ❤ religious discussions with my mama
9. I ❤ little boys holding hands and their parents who joke that this photo will be on display at their wedding

10. I ❤ all the stuff I'm learning in Emotional Intelligence

Mama’s List:
1. I ❤ that Corbin is treatable
2. I ❤ that the floral arrangement I put together in Nanny's fishbowl is prettier and was easier than I thought it would be
3. I ❤ that the electrician was nice, on time, and fixed almost all the problems we have
4. I ❤ that Dad cleared out a bunch of stuff in the living room
5. I ❤ that we got rain because god knows we need it!
6. I ❤ the new ceiling fan ted put up; it looks great
7. I ❤ that Emma's headache cleared up before becoming a migraine
8. I ❤ that Milo's behavior is already improving
9. I ❤ that Milo had a good appetite and is doing well on meds and Jake is doing better and not clawing his eyes
10. I ❤ that I found my lost flower pot

Amy's List:
1. I ❤ morning swims as the sun starts to break through the trees as it rises
2. I ❤ boxes full of bulldog puppies but mostly I ❤ puppy breath

3. I ❤ my new blue ice cream scoop
4. I ❤ all the ideas for new poems/books that are coming to me lately
5. I ❤ how sweet Gracie was to Corbin this morning at the vet

6. I ❤ that I have enough in savings to cover whatever it is that is wrong with my senior pets
7. I ❤ that I broke a PR today
8. I ❤ leftover pasta
9. I ❤ that Corbin only had a UTI and not kidney disease
10. I ❤ Motown on Pandora

Mama’s list (INPO):

1. I ❤ that Jake and Milo's medical issues are manageable by medicine instead of surgery and neither are life-threatening
2. I ❤ the new muzzle we got for Milo
3. I ❤ that the flower store I thought had closed is still open for business and I got to spend an hour looking at and petting flowers today
4. I ❤ other old people with medical problems who can relate to my woes
5. I ❤ that I was invited to dinner with John at Flemings because it's nice to have something to look forward to
6. I ❤ that Sandy and Betty can squeeze me in for hair and nail appointments on Tuesday
7. I ❤ that the employees could not be nicer about the returns I had to make today at Pier 1
8. I ❤ that one Tawanda is home safe because we thought she got out today
9. I ❤ that when we ran errands today, there was no traffic at all. It was like we owned the road
10. I ❤ that I was inspired today with a new idea to redo the front porch with tile

Amy's List:

1. I ❤ waking up at 4:45 in the morning on my own without my alarm clock
2. I ❤ how pink the sky was as I topped over the mountain today
3. I ❤ the short walk I had with Gracie and Couscous this morning. A cat came out of nowhere hissing and Couscous freaked out but Gracie was unfazed. I realized that as Gracie gets older fewer things bother her and she is more tolerant of others. I think it's a lesson worth learning.
4. I ❤ love magnets

5. I ❤ the new Drinking With My Bitches banner that I made today

6. I ❤ that I beat my record from yesterday at the pool
7. I ❤ TLC
8. I ❤ that Erin and I got to spend countless hours today talking about life, work, and relationships
9. I ❤ homemade meatballs and leftovers
10. I ❤ that Mama was waiting for me to call and had her list ready

My dad overheard my mama and me talking and he said the bathrooms in the McDonald's on Scottsdale and Shea are really nice and he is grateful for them, so I told him I'd make a note of that as well 🙂

Given it is the beginning of a new fiscal year, I’ve decided to start it off right by keeping better track of my blessings here on this blog.  That way when this time rolls around in 2015, I’ll be able to point to the books and prove just how rich my life is.

Today also happens to be my Mama’s 65th birthday so I’ve dragged her along for this month’s social experiment. Every day in July we are going to call each other and share ten reasons we love our lives.  I will transcribe them here.

Mama’s list (INPO):

1. I ❤ Claudia
2. I ❤ Jesse
3. I ❤ Ted
4. I ❤ Amy
5. I ❤ Emma
6. I ❤ Jake
7. I ❤ Milo
8. I ❤ Bono
9. I ❤ Remy
10. I ❤ Tawanda

Amy's List:

1. I ❤ Gracie and Couscous for getting along so well
2. I ❤ disco naps
3. I ❤ goggles and skin caps and bathing suits hanging in the tub after a swim
4. I ❤ the stock pile of reading I have on the brain
5. I ❤ telecommuting
6. I ❤ the banner I made Brandi using scrap book paper and my laminating machine

7. I ❤ my laminating machine
8. I ❤ the new Pandora Salt n Pepa station coupled with the fact that I splurged the $5 finally…no more annoying commercials
9. I ❤ the idea for a new children's book I thought of while saving a bee in the pool
10. I ❤ the fun I've been having with some new photography and art apps.

10. I ❤ the conversation I had this morning with a nice older gentleman in the trailhead parking lot. I got to tell him all about how great the mountains are because you can easily do anything between a short half mile hike to an all day adventure…just depends how much time you got!
9. I ❤ that Damian saw a new tool coming out for the Paper app and immediately thought of me.
8. I ❤ Kathy for being as excited as I was about the outcome of a court case we'd been monitoring.
7. I ❤ invitations to meet smart, funny and caring women who are looking to make a difference. In the last month and a half I've met Enia, Tamika, and Debra who are all about a decade apart in age. Even though they sought me out for information, I feel as though I learned a lot from each of them.
6. I ❤ that I got to host Chris and his conlaw class from Summit Law School today followed by a Q and A with the panel. I was so happy listening to the judges talk about how crucial it is to success to be a decent human first, followed by a good lawyer.
5. I ❤ I earned all three stickers today! I hiked, swam, did my ab workout and didn't smoke a cig. Go me.
4. I ❤ that when I got up at the gym I noticed my wet butt had made the shape of a heart <3.

3. I ❤ the Brian Williams Baby Got Back video they did on the Jimmy Fallon show.
2. I ❤ Jimmy Fallon.
1. I ❤ that at the exact moment I'm sitting down to a semi-fancy lunch at Kincaid's I get a text with a photo of my brother's Wet N Wild ID card.