Since Owen’s medical emergency a couple of weeks ago, he’s been moody and short-tempered.  It’s to be expected.  If he doesn’t have anything to do, he wants me to entertain him.  He just wants to be with me, period, and that’s okay. 

Yesterday while I was in the middle of laundry, he asked me to help him think of something to do.   I suggested reading, watching a movie or riding his skateboard to which he would always ask the same thing: will you do it with me, too? 

I wasn’t about to ride a skateboard and he’s too old to have me read to him and we couldn’t find a movie to agree on.  Then, when I went to get something out of the hall closet, I saw the PlayDoh.  He hasn’t played with that in a couple of years.  I suggested it and he jumped on the idea. 

I sat outside at the patio table with him while he mixed colors and created different things and he began to relax.  He was quiet for awhile as played with his new found items.  I sat across from him and played with my camera, taking pictures of whatever caught my fancy.

“When I have something to do, I don’t think about what happened”, he said casually, mashing PlayDoh between his hands. 

He created while I took pictures.  His therapy is creating.  Mine is photography.  We’ve got a good thing going, him and I.  If that’s what it takes, then that’s what we’ll do.  Besides, it’s not very often he wants to hangout  with me anymore, so I’ll take what I can get and that’s a good thing…for both of us.

 Even during the hardest of times, I can still manage to find the good in things.  It’s just what I do.  Last week was rough, but life is good, people.  So on that note, here’s some things that really make me happy right now…

1.  CHOC.  Seriously? This hospital is the BOMB. 

2. This doctor who was all over my son and his issues in a heartbeat.  Her picture does not do her justice.  Seriously? When she walked into that hospital room, it looked like she belonged on General Hospital: the perfect little black dress, black high heeled pumps and pearls with the perfectly starched white coat!

3.  Holidays are comin’, people!  For those of you that use photoshop, check out this easy-to-make little photo calendar.  What a perfect, easy gift to make!

4.  On that note, this darling little photo booklet you can make is the bomb! 

5.  Yes, I made one and you can see it here.  Click on it to see it and use the arrows at the bottom of it to go through it.

6.  Better Homes and Garden has little photo swatchbooks you can make, too.  Totally cute and fun!

7.  I’m lovin’ this banner!   It couldn’t be easier: just scrapbook paper (mostly cardstock), cut freehand, and strung on twine, then hung on the wall with thumbtacks! Totally low-tech and cute!

8. I’ve said it before: I love words, especially those that inspire.  Need a little inspiration? Then Compendium Inc. is the place for you.  There’s literally something for everybody.

9.  Need more inspiration?  GivesMeHope.com is a website where people can add their thoughts on what gives them hope.  You can’t help but feel good after reading some of their stories. 

10.  And finally, with all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful, people and continue to strive to be happy.

What makes you happy? Do share…

Tomorrow will be one week since that horrific day of having  my son almost die in my arms and dealing with the effects of swine flu on my son’s fragile, asthma-ridden lungs.  I can’t get it out of my head when awake or even when I’m asleep.  Little details that I had forgotten about or just didn’t notice at the time keep coming to me,  like how one of the paramedics standing in my living room I use to work with; how one of the firefighter’s knew me by sight because his son attends the same school as my son;  and how my son kept saying over and over again to me as I jammed his epipen into his thigh, I had a good life! I had a good life!

The trauma of that day has effected us greatly, so much so that on Friday the whole family is seeing a therapist to try and come to terms with this.  My 9 yr. old hasn’t wanted to talk about what had happened to him and gets upset anytime he hears us speak of it.  But last night as I tucked him into bed he brought it up.

“Mama, does God test people?”, he asked softly.

“I suppose he does. Why?”, I asked.

“I think what happened to me and to you and Austin and papa was one big test”,  he said very seriously.  “And I think we passed”

Oh.My.God, I thought to myself, You are 9 years old!  Where does this insight come from?!?

 Since this has happened to him, I’ve had many people who know him use different words to describe him: special; an old soul; deep and different-in a good way to name a few.  After hearing him say that, I couldn’t agree more.

I wanted to burst into tears and run from the room, but instead I just hugged him tightly.  Then, like the little man he is, he comforted me.

“Don’t be sad Mama.  The sun always comes up and tomorrow is a new day”, he said brightly. “Everything is going to be A-okay!”. 

What a boy.  What a heart.  What a gift.   And he’s right.

Tomorrow is a new day.

You can see more of Best Shot Monday here.

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Faith(noun):  A confidence or trust in a person or thing; faith in another’s ability; a belief that is not based on proof.

I had been locked in an isolation hospital room with my son for what seemed like forever.  Time always moves so slowly when in a hospital and all sense of time and days of weeks are off.  It’s like being suspended in another world and I needed a break.  I didn’t want to leave the room for fear I would miss a doctor or the patient advocate that had been assigned to us or the nurse coming in to educate us about swine flu (or any severe flu, for that matter)and it’s effect on kids with severe and chronic lung disease/asthma but my husband had been looking at me long and hard and made a command decision.

“Go for a walk, take a break, anything.  Just get out of here”, he insisted. “We’ll be fine.  Take your camera and go find something to take a picture of.  You’ll feel better”. 

I started to protest but he shoved my camera in my hands and gently but firmly guided me out of the room and shut the door behind me.  I panicked a little not wanting to leave.  I’m a mom.  If someone came in while I was gone, would my husband be able to remember every last detail like I would?  I said a little prayer as I walked away: Please give me the faith to trust others with my son.  Please, just give me faith, period.

I took the elevator down and found a gift shop right around the corner. I decided to kill time in there for a bit before heading back to the room.  I wasn’t about to get any further away from the 4th floor than I had to be and I certainly wasn’t going to look for things to photograph inside of a hospital, for goodness sake!  I wandered in and found a magazine to take back with me and grabbed a candy bar for a much needed energy fix.  I wandered around looking at the one million stuffed animals, toys and coloring books and started to turn around to leave but something in the corner of the store caught my eye.  I made my way back and what I saw stopped me in my tracks.  I had found my faith, right there in that gift shop, and in a big way. 

Sitting on a shelf was a necklace holder which held gorgeous necklaces by none other than Kelly Rae Roberts.  We have a mutual friend, Tracey Clark, which is how I learned about Kelly about a year ago.   She is a blogger and artist and I’ve loved her work since I first learned about her. I bought her book, Taking Flight, when it came out a year ago and I read her blog everyday.  Obviously, I am a definite fan of Kelly Rae Roberts.

I moved in for a closer look and when my eyes landed on the first necklace I saw, I couldn’t help but smile.  My little prayer had been heard and sitting right there in front of me was the answer to my prayer: Faith.  It couldn’t get more obvious than that, right?  I remembered my camera and quickly took my shots.  I walked out of that gift shop with my faith in tact, both figuratively and literally.  I purchased the necklace (how could I not?!) and headed back up to the 4th floor knowing that everything was going to be  okay…because now, I had faith.

(Thanks to you, Kelly, for your beautiful art and words of inspiration.  It was meant to be. You rock, girlfriend!)

I love words.  I’ve been known to sit down and just read a dictionary.  When you think about it, words really are amazing.  A word can be powerful.  Put a powerful word in a sentence and it can make or break a person.  I love words that make me feel good and I love seeing them in print and I love to share. 

If you know me at all, you already know my propensity to write ‘happy’ or ‘feel good’ words here.  I want everyone to enjoy them as much as I do so today I’m going to share some of my inspiration with you in hopes that maybe you’ll feel moved to share, too. 

HopeRevo.com is an awesome site and the idea behind it is brilliant.  Make up little cards of hope with words or quotes or sayings that feel good and then share them.  And if you’re feeling really brave, photograph what you’ve done with those little cards and post them in the Hope Revo Flickr group.  Take a look and you’ll find some of my photos there, too. 

Kind over Matter is another beautiful site that focuses only on words of kindness and doing kind things.  If you don’t feel like making your own little cards, they have a freebie page where you can choose from different, free downloadable cards for you to print out and share.  They also have a Flickr group for you to post photos of your ‘card drops’ and yes, I have photos there, too…in case you were wondering…!

Don’t feel like making your own?  You can purchase some great little cards, too.  I already talked about my new ‘i love you’ cards that I purchased last week.  Heidi Geldhauser, founder and creator of these cards, will even print them in different languages for you!  All you have to do is ask. 

Another great source is Cleansing Thoughts.com.  A cool thing about these? They’re for your shower! 

The little kit includes 5 colorful affirmation cards (multiple affirmations on each card), removable wall attachment and step-by-step instructions-all tucked in a silky sheer drawstring bag. Rotate these water-resistant inspirational cards as often as you choose!  You can also leave them in a little dish or tuck them somewhere for someone to find.  And yes, I bought them, use them and love them!

Over at Etsy is The Love Shop, a shop of beautiful, hand-made prints of feel-good words.  They’re gorgeous and I want them! 

I love the idea behind all of these.  With the way our world is today it seems more and more people are in need of something kind and good.  If I can make someone smile, even just for a moment, then that’s a good thing.  Even better?  My kids have jumped on the band wagon with me, from  leaving Starbuck’s cards for unsuspecting people  in honor of my brother to writing words of encouragment on the sidewalk at an elementary school. 

Feeling inspired? I hope so!  If you decide to make or purchase any little notes or cards and share them, tell me!  If you photograph what you do, share that with me, too.  And more importantly, feel good and enjoy it.  You deserve it!

I was pleasantly surprised as I grabbed my mail on my way out the door to go to lunch with my hubby today and found a pretty, pink padded envelope amongst all the junk mail and bills.  I quickly opened it to find my “i love you” cards that I had ordered just last week.  Oh, they are just so lovely and the perfect little ‘love bombs’!

As soon as we sat down at our table at the restaurant, I immediately grabbed a card and stuck it in the number holder on our table.  And of course I had my camera with me (it goes everywhere, thank you very much).  I took a few other cards and left them randomly throughout the restaurant.  I didn’t take pictures of those because the restaurant was crowded and busy and I didn’t want to draw attention to what I was doing.  I did see someone find one though, and that was awesome.  She picked it up and walked away with it.  It just tickled the heck out of me!

Who knows…maybe you’ll be my next ‘love bomb’ victim..!

I know that I need my friends, everyone of them.

I know that I need my family, no matter how we get along.

I know that love is everywhere, even when I can’t see or feel it.

I know that even though I’m imperfect, I can still be spectacular.

I know that photography feeds my soul.

I know that making someone smile or laugh is an awesome feeling.

I know that I can find beauty in everything and everyone, even when others cannot.

I know that words can hurt or heal; I choose to heal.

I know we all bring our own medicine to this world and I bring love and an open heart.

I know that even though I don’t have the nicest house or the nicest clothes, I’m just as special as everyone else.

I know that even though laughter is the best medicine, so is a good cry.

I know that everyone who crosses my path, from the homeless man on the street to the clerk at the store, is meant to be.

I know that I am loved.

I know I live my life with compassion.

I know that even though I may get hurt, I will always keep my heart open.

I know that I have so much more to learn in this life.

I know that no matter what, I am enough.

The inspiration for this list came from Christina and her gorgeous blog, Eye Candy, a Blog About Pretty Things.  I discovered her blog in the magazine Artful Blogging.  

Today there will be no SOOC Saturday.  My beautiful friend Melody, the person behind SOOC Saturday, has a hurting soul today and my heart is breaking for her.  I wish I lived closer to her so I could just hug her, but I don’t.  What I can do is honor the mother in her, the love in her, the heart in her. 

Should you feel inclined, stop by and leave words of support or just read her post and then say a little prayer for her, a ‘love bomb’ if you will.  I wish I could do more but for now, I’m sending her the love.  We each bring our own medicine to the world.  Today, I’m giving medicine of my heart and my love and my support to Melody.  It’s the least I can do for my beautiful friend.

1)  I Love You Cards.  They tickle me….so I bought them.  They’re only $5 and a perfect little love bomb.

2)  The Artful Blogging magazine, published only 4 times a year.  I found it at the bookstore today.  It’s gorgeous to look at and read and even better, I discovered a Q&A article about  Shutter Sisters with my gal pal Tracey Clark.  How cool is that?!

3)  The Beckoning of Lovely, One Year Later.

4)  Laughing at my husband while he tried to balance this guy on the tip of my straw at breakfast this morning. 

5)  Mac & Melody, a mother/son photographic collaboration.  This is quite an amazing feat for Mac. (You can read more about Mac here.  Scroll down the page a bit to read about this amazing 11 yr. old).

6)  Coming soon: Fashionable and functionable camera bags for girls with nice cameras.  Yay!

7)  The song I Had A Dream which I listen to on my iPod when I go to bed….the perfect song for going off into dreamland.

8.) Beantown Baker, a baking blog that I have recently discovered…love it!

9)  Operation: Baking Gals, something right up my alley for sure!

10)  This quote:  Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. -Plato

It’s good to be back after a two week absence due to the flu.  Your turn…what things make you happy? Do share.