Speak, Oh Muse…

I often don’t know what I’m going to write about when I sit down at night. And it invariably ends up being night time when I write. Chasing two kids and trying to get life done and keep hubby happy and any number of other things, all during the day, just doesn’t foster the clarity of mind I need when I write. So usually around 11 pm or so, I head to the keyboard and clickity clack for about half an hour or more, hoping the Muse won’t neglect me on this night. But I usually don’t know what the Muse will be telling me until I actually sit down and start de-jellifying my head.

I think about things throughout the day, though, and wonder how I would write them up if I were to sit down at a keyboard just at that moment. I might have five or six majorish things happen in a day and say to myself about each one, “Well, that will make an interesting story tonight!” Sometimes, it’s not even that major a thing but will just be a funny turn of phrase Harrison uses or a look that Laura gives me. At the end of the day, as I’m sifting through all these things, I am sometimes surprised at what the Muse decides will be the story for the day.

I’ve been writing this day-to-day business now for over three months—the date came and went without me even noticing. One quarter of a year, documented for future reference. A slice of my life, as it were. I like that I didn’t even notice when it happened—it makes me feel like I’m not just counting days anymore but that I’m really getting into the nitty gritty of my days. Telling real stories instead of “Today [fill in the blank] happened. It was [fill in emotion].” I feel like I’m moving on past the Mad Libs version of my life story, so that’s pretty cool.

I also like that I’m noticing these things in my day-to-day life. I’m not sure if I noticed things as much before I started this. I’m sure I must have. I can’t imagine just walking through life like a zombie, never seeing the sweetness of a smile or smelling the crispness on the air. I just don’t remember doing it. Now, though, I think back and even if I don’t write about it, I feel like I experience things more solidly.

So what did I do today? I slept late. (Thank you honey! You’re the best!) I played with the kids and watched some TV with Harrison. (He’s not gotten to watch much TV since school started up, so I think a little bit of Saturday morning cartoons is just about perfect.) I worked on the booklet I’m making for Harrison’s Karate class. (They have this paragraph of related-but-not-specifically-related stuff they want him to learn for his yellow belt test but it’s boring as crap to read. I’m taking each sentence of the paragraph and giving him an image that goes with it, as well as some stuff to color. I think he’ll be able to remember the information better that way.) Cody, Amy and Cody’s mom came over for supper. (We ate low carb Cheeseburger Casserole, which was pretty awesome. Amy made cheesecake but I didn’t eat my whole piece since I was close to my limit for the day. Hope she didn’t mind me not eating it—it was pretty good. :) ) Bathed both kids, Harrison once and Laura twice. (Laura vomited what looked like an entire bottle on Robert when I tried giving her her antibiotics. Oh yeah, she’s got a UTI—again—so we’ll probably be going to Dallas again at some point to see her specialist again. RE: the vomit, though, I think I hit her gag reflex with the medicine dropper because she didn’t have any other kind of symptoms.) We all played Beatles Rock Band. It’s pretty cool.

Written out like that, my day looks kind of bland. That said, though, I feel that, overall, it’s been a good day. I spent time with my family, we had some friends over, and everyone is more or less healthy. It’s hard to complain about that.