Silver Linings

I would not consider myself a naturally positive person.  It's something I work at for if I'm left to my own devices, I tend to only see the negative in every situation.  God has a way, however, of putting things in my path that force me to smile and be grateful when I otherwise would not.  Here are a few practical examples from the past month:

1.  The negative:  Last month I found rats in our shed.  Not only were there rats, but they were nesting in our infant carseat that I had washed, packaged and put away in the shed to await the arrival of Clancy.

The positive:

After cleaning it up, it sat in the hallway where my kids entertained themselves for a morning.  What's not to love about a 3 1/2 year old shoved with all her animals into something designed for someone 1/4 of her size?

Also, the rats are dead. Joe put out some poison and we happily found 3 decomposing rats a few weeks later in the shed. I love happy endings.

2.  In the process of moving our computer to the sunroom a few weeks ago, it broke.  Joe unplugged it, carried it across the house and when he plugged it back in, it didn't work.  Not good.

The positives:  1. We had an old laptop called dino we were able to use in the interim.  2.  We got to see the inside of the computer.  3.  Joe got to fiddle around inside a computer, which I think he secretly loves.  4.  With $50,  a new power supply, and a few hours of his time, he fixed it!  5.  Now you get to read my blog posts and see the inside of our computer while I type on it.  The wonders of technology.

3.  The negative:  I had an impacted wisdom tooth removed (as seen in yesterday's video) a few weeks ago.  It was followed by large amounts of pain and swelling, sleepless nights, and long days at home with small children.  All of this was accompanied by some tears.

The positive:  Milkshakes.  And my family enjoyed a quieter than usual momma.  Also, by the end of the week, I was eating pork tenderloin and enjoying the company of these folks:

Mike & Jeanne Corbin are the parents to one of my dearest friends, Sara.  They stopped in for a visit one recent Sunday afternoon while they were in the DC area.

We enjoyed their company so much and pork tenderloin never tasted so good.  I don't know if it was the Corbins or the week long hiatus from food. 

Also, no matter how hard your week's been, I can't help but smile when I see pictures of these four,

even when they're being uncooperative.