we cannot get this day back.

Too often I let days slip by, blurring into one another like white lines passing me by on the highway. This year, I am working so hard to do less of this. To be an active participant in my life. To enjoy moments, take opportunities when they come, and accept my current circumstances for what they are.

Some days I succeed with this new motto, and yesterday was one of them. I am pouring my heart out to you today, because joy is spilling out of it. Sometimes I feel guilty when I feel so happy. Because I know that there are people out there who are suffering. Just yesterday I read a blog about woman whose husband had just left her. But I am deciding today, that I will not feel guilty for my happiness. It is mine.

Yesterday, I spontaneously rearranged my schedule to take the day off and accompany Casey on a work trip to Livingston, NY. He was going to have to go alone on a trip that was 5.5 hours each way, and I decided that I could rearrange my day to keep him company. We hit the road early and left a brewing snow storm to head to NY where it was 60 degrees and sunny! We sang LOUDLY most of the way, talked, and laughed.

While  Casey worked (he is so cute wearing his hard hat!) I explored the very small town, took a tour at a local “Ice Factor” …where they really just make ice, and got my haircut (where I met a quirky young woman whose mother-in-law apparently took her shirt off the first time they met. What is the proper response to a story like that? Mine was “oh. wow.”) I have a new appreciation for my mother-in-law! (Thanks, Charlene!)

We had dinner on the way home at Cracker Barrel, and then spent the rest of the drive listening to Bon Jovi, Wilson Phillips, Michael Jackson, and Billy Joel.

The point of this story? Yesterday it felt good to be alive. My heart was happy spending a simple day road trip with my husband. Dreaming of our future, jumping out at random scenic view areas on the highway to take pictures, laughing about our life, and discussing the mother-in-law of my newest hairdresser.