Love to Love

Here are some things that I love, and I'm totally happy about that. I'll follow this up with some things that I love, but I'm not really proud of. And maybe some things I hate, but wish I liked, and maybe even some things I like to hate.

I Love to Love:

1. Taking walks. In the summer, I love to walk in the morning when the sun is just coming over the hills and the moon is still up. In the winter I love to snowshoe, which is just like walking but better on the thighs. And squeakier.

2. Eating. I have a talent for cooking, and that implies that God wants me to enjoy food. And I do. Enjoy it, I mean.

3. Reading to my kids. I know that they can all read on their own, but I love to read out loud to them, especially on dark winter nights after dinner when it feels like bedtime at 7:30. And I love when they ask for me to "do the voices" especially.

4. Showtunes. I'm not even embarrassed about this (any more). I think there are few pleasures more pleasant and pleasurable than belting out a good (and aren't they all good?) Broadway number at the top of my lungs. Husband and kids may disagree, but they're gentle about it.

5. Reading good books (just for me). I inhale books I enjoy, reading fast and long and eager. Then I read them again, to see what I missed the first time around. Usually not much, because I've trained myself to soak it all in, even in warp speed.

6. Having a good laugh. I love to laugh hard enough to show teeth. Hard enough to feel a little stomach-sick about it. Hard enough to damage the makeup.

7. Carrots. Real ones, not those "baby cut" monstrosities. I like my carrots long and sweet and peeled and sliced in rounds. Mmmm.

8. Holding newborns. Mine or someone else's. I love that smell, that mixture of wipes and umbilical-care alcohol and warm skin. I love bald heads and curled toes and eyes searching for the angels in the corners.

9. Watching kids learn to read. I can't really take credit for my kids learning to read, because I don't think I've really taught them(Kid 1 learned in Kindergarten, Kid 2 learned from Sesame Street, Kid 3 just sort of started reading one day, and Kid 4 - SuperWhy and Word World - Yay PBS!), but I love to watch them master it. I love to see how the world opens up to them once they understand language.

10. Making Husband laugh. He's become something of a serious guy (but always pleasant, just not giddy, you know?), and it thrills me to get a chuckle out of him. Especially in manuscript form: When he's reading over my shoulder and laughs at something I've written, the Day is Made.

11. Waking up early. I love to get up before the kids at school time and have accomplished something before they get up - exercise, shower, writing, whatever. I love to have some minutes or even hours alone to create or fulfil or examine, and since it's a rare night that I see eleven, mornings are my time.

12. Swimming in the ocean. It doesn't happen much, but I adore it. The taste of salt and the buoyancy and the rocking floatiness. Um, Hawaii, preferably.

13. Being Pregnant. I'm not. And I don't plan to be. But it's the thing I love most where I'm required to vomit a lot.

14. Listening to the rain. Best sleep ever comes during a drenching downpour.

15. Snuggles. I asked Kid 4 if he'd still sit on my lap and hug me when he's bigger than I am. He said yes. I wrote it down so he can't deny it later.

What do you love to love?