Reflections

As I sit here beside myself I occassionally catch myself gazing into the mirror reflecting about stuff like this:

• If most kid's habits are similar to mine, why are toilets white?
• Why does the truly funny 10 year old humor always involve bodily functions?
• How do you know a person with no sense of humor is only joking?
• How come older and wiser don't always go together?
• Why do I gain 20 lbs. everytime I get a haircut?
• When a child poops in his pants, how do you know it was an "accident"?
• Where do Hawaiians go when they need a vacation?
• Why am I more facinated with history the older I get?
• Why do I feel like I have hair when I crank up my electric guitar?
• Why are "sit" and "stare" verbs? They're not actions words.
• Why is there a size 0?
• Why did the leaf springs on my truck break only on the driver's side?

I don't lose sleep over these things, but these questions do cause me considerable consternation.

All or Nothing

It's amazing how fast things can go from chaos to boring.  For the past 10 days or so we've had some of our married kids home with us between semesters. Drew and Ashley squeezed a honeymoon in there too. Travis and Lindsay were with us for almost 2 weeks.  I think I can speak for the entire family when I say that in a weird, twisted sort of way chaos can be calming.  I think it follows right along with the whole "comfort food" theory.  How can stuffing your face with high carb, high fat, high sodium delectibles such as buscuits and gravy make you feel better and in some strange, unexplainable way comfort you?  Or double cheeseburgers. Same thing.  BBQ short ribs. Peach cobbler...oh yeah. Sorry, I digress. Anyway, you know it may affect your overall health and possibly even shorten your life span but you eat it anyway. 

I'm convinced that somehow, similar to comfort food, chaos can take years off your life while at the same time giving you a strange feeling of well-being.  I think there are probably some drugs that can do that too.  From that time back in 1989 when we brought home 2 babies from the hospital our home life has never been serene.  And then they just kept coming. So peace and quiet are 2 things that we will have to eventually experience again so that we can fully comprehend what they are. 

Now that we are down to 2 at home and the noise level has come down a few decibels the feeling of normality has definitely changed.  As foreign as the quiet may be to me now, I'm willing to try to get used to it. It will be tough.  For now though I think I'll go home and crank my guitar and play a little Pink Floyd.