Finding A Waterfall

   I've written a bunch of rants lately, and so I wanted to share something else with you all. I mean, we all have a lot to rant about, I'm sure, but life is more than the things that get us fired up and pissed off. So I want to share a story about a customer who had taken the time to remember that life is about being spontaneous and adventurous and making memories with family.
   I had this woman come through my line, and to my knowledge, I had never seen her before, but she was just bouncing with excitement with the most ginormous grin on her face. This was sometime last week, I think, on a Saturday, and it was one of those hot days that we recently had. Her order was a bunch of picnic-type foods, and she says, "I bet you can guess what we are doing today?"
  "Going on a picnic?" I asked, playing along because while I am not really the most talkative person, her happiness was infectious.
   Her grin got even bigger and she told me, "I don't usually get Saturdays off, so this is the first Saturday I've had off in years, I think. I asked for it special, and my boss was like, really?!, but I wanted it, and I decided I was going to take advantage of having a Saturday off. So when I woke up this morning, I asked my kids, East or West."
   "Why East or West," I asked.
    She laughed, "That's what my kids asked too! But today, I am going to find me a waterfall. And I am going to sit by it and have lunch."
   I have no idea whether or not she found her waterfall, but there are plenty in Washington, so I am sure that she found one. I don't usually remember very many customers (I literally check out hundreds of people a day), unless they are mean (meanness is just more memorable, sadly) or they have come through my line so many times that they are starting to feel like friends rather than just people I see at the check-out, but  I remembered this woman, because she was so happy and so excited, and I remember thinking that what she was doing that Saturday was going to end up being a really neat family memory for her kids: the day mom decided to go chase waterfalls. She was one of the good ones that stuck with me, even after the day was over. I hope that she found her waterfall.

Snoqualmie Falls, one of Washington's waterfalls, within driving distance

The Little Things In Life

   Today, I had a really awesome day. The day didn't start so awesome, because when I walked outside today to take my daughter to the bus stop, before the dawn even thought of showing it's ass-crack, I was so cold that I could literally feel the snot trying to freeze inside my nose. Not the best feeling.
    After seeing the kiddo safely on the bus, I came back to my warm, warm apartment and blessed the person who invented heat. This lead to a warm, cozy nap before my mom came over. She doesn't have cable, so I DVR all the shows that we like to watch together and we schedule a day of TV watching about once a week, so long as our work schedules allow. We watch Sleepy Hollow, S.H.I.E.L.D., Once Upon A Time In Wonderland, Helix, Elementary, and a bunch of others, and usually I cook dinner and she brings dessert. Fun times, but today Mom treated us to Roundtable Pizza. Awesomeness.
   To add to this, after my daughter got home from school, and after she had eaten her yummy pizza dinner and her homemade brownie dessert (she didn't have homework, yay!!!) we went over to my sister's apartment and began planning for our summer 2015 vacation (planned so far in advance so that we all have time to save up money), while the kids wrestled and made a racket.
   Then after we had been at her apartment for well over four hours, my mom and I went back to my apartment and binge-watched S.H.I.E.L.D. This was a great day. And what brought this day together and made this day so great were small things. The enjoyment of a large gourmet veggie pizza. The relish of a good TV show that all the family can enjoy together. The excitement of planning a family vacation. The family time. These are the little things that you think of when life gets to stressful to handle. These are the little lights in the dark tunnel that guide you through. The little things that you do with your family are the things that get you through when things get rough. A stressful day at work can be recovered from just by planning a fun day with the family.
   There isn't a huge point to this post. I am not gonna rail about education, equal rights, customers with bad attitudes, child haters, or the multitudes of things that can completely wreck our day. I am just reminding you that in between those times when you are dealing with the bullshit, there are little things that make everything worthwhile. We lose sight of the little things sometimes. After all, enjoying a TV show with your mom, spending an evening with your sister, eating pizza with your daughter, these are not huge deals. They are such small things; yet these things are the cement that hold us together. We don't need to go to grandiose measures in order to make life worthwhile. The things that make life worthwhile are the small, everyday things that we often take for granted. So be happy, and enjoy the simple things as they come.