When the dog bites, when the bee stings

You know how I'm supposed to be writing this script for the show I'm in? Let me update you on my progress:

I checked out the Sound of Music soundtrack from the library.

You might be wondering how this constitutes "progress." Well, let me tell you:

Hell if I know.

But it's a fun soundtrack.

It's a fun show. Except for the Nazi part.

Anyway, I ask you, is there any little girl who sees that wedding scene and doesn't imagine her own wedding with that 10-foot train and floor-length veil? I don't care if you're the biggest tomboy, anti-bride who never thought about her wedding in her life, you see that scene and you want, need to picture yourself walking down the aisle with that dramatic music. For reference:



Alas, I didn't go all Maria VonTrapp with my wedding veil. Mine was a normal, waist-length kind of thing. The really long ones were like hundreds of dollars, and that seemed like a waste, given that you only use it once.

(Although I've actually used my wedding veil a few times.)

Anyway, as you may have gathered from the title, this post is about the song "My Favorite Things."

When the dog bites, When the bee stings, When I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things, And then I don't feel so bad.

I don't actually own a dog, so dog bites aren't such a threat for me. And it's winter, so all the bees are frozen, not that I'd be outdoors long enough to get stung anyway. But I do feel sad sometimes. So I thought, in light of that, I would write a post about my favorite things, and then I won't feel so bad.

I do like roses, but not so much raindrops on them. I don't grow roses, because I would kill them, which means my roses are usually indoors in vases, and therefore not covered in raindrops. Here's a picture of some roses I took at the Chicago Flower and Garden Show in March:

I just love the lavender ones. I like the color lavender. And the smell of lavender plants.

Of course, I like cats a lot. The song says "whiskers on kittens," but I think Leia's whiskers are much more spectacular than any tiny kitten's. See, she's really fat, so she has long whiskers to help her feel her way through all those narrow alleys she's always scampering around in. Wouldn't it suck if people had whiskers that got longer as they got fatter? That would be totally degrading.

Leia does not photograph well. And the essence of her lovability is in the way she interacts with people. So I made this little movie of her:



Also she smells like my new Brown Sugar & Fig lotion because I was petting her after I put it on my hands. I love it when my kitties smell like my lotions. Growing up I had this cat named Cookie. She always smelled like my lotions, until I went away to college and my brother reported that Cookie had started to stink. My mom emailed and said, "I think it's because we are used to her smelling like your lotions, and now she just smells like a cat."

Another one of my favorite things is water. I think maybe swimming is the only thing that I can do to possibly even come close to controlling my moods. (Well, I mean that and taking pharmaceutical products.) I like how water sounds. And looks. And feels. I like how when I swim, I feel like I'm dominating that water.

I also like how today at the pool some lady was asking me for tips on swimming. And she said I was a good swimmer. She told me she was a marathon runner and now she was just starting to swim for exercise. She said swimming was waaayy harder than running, and even though I know it's the total opposite for me, I did get a little ego boost from feeling like I was actually good at something.

I like how swimming is so quiet. Aside from the bubbles and gurgles, there isn't any other noise. That is why I also like reading. I admit that my love of reading has increased tremendously since becoming a mother. Some days there is so much noise, and there is nothing better than having an hour to lie in my bed and read quietly at the end of the day. Oh wait, reading on the beach is better, but reading in bed is an activity that can be done year-round.

When I'm swimming I like how I feel happy with what my body can do. I usually hate my body, but when I swim I am like, check it out, I am totally keeping myself afloat and propelling myself through the water. It's the same way I feel about my mind when I write. Sometimes I am like, shut up, you stupid mind, stop all your crazy painful thoughts. But I know that when I write, my mind can do something good for once.

On that note, I should maybe get to writing that script. But just know, unlike yesterday, today I am a fighter. I was swimming today and I thought, I would swim to Mars if that's what it takes to get me better. Or, you know, I would swim the equivalent of the distance to Mars. In actuality I swam 2,200 yards, which is 1.25 miles, which isn't even as long as the distance between the pool and my house. But you know, I'm fighting.

And then I don't feel so bad.