Story Snippet: Warm Water.

A couple of years ago, I was insane (maybe literally) about swimming. I sometimes went to the pool twice a day. So when Dad and Michelle got some kind of boat subscription and invited us to along, my first question was, "Can we swim?"

Oliver loved the wind. He called, "Full steam ahead!" He wore a little life vest.

Dad had said that the lake felt like bathwater. It did! We all swam. I treaded water for an hour. I remember Michelle wore an adorable swimsuit--a red one-piece with a flutter of skirt. Josh video taped Dad dropping Oliver from the boat into the lake. Oliver went under and then popped right up and swam to Michelle. Then, he swam back to the boat and climbed in with no help.

I loved all the space to move my limbs. I felt strong and free. My body and I were on the same team. Everything calmed down in my head and heart.

Some Stuff That Simply Makes Me Happy.

• Cold water in a big bottle
• Videos of baby pygmy goats
• The movie Trainwreck
• The movie Orange County
• Bill Hader
• Leslie Jones
• Singing to the '90s station in the car with Bruce
• A package or letter in the mail
• Dancing with Mom and James
• Cherry Coke at night
• Pretty postage designs
• Josh's shaven chin
• Oliver's scooting his chair up to the table at school
• Finding out someone reads my blog
• Swimming in Lake Norman
• Treading deep water
• The way Mom wraps a gift for me
• Psychological thrillers
• A younger Robert Downey, Jr.
• Josh's presence
• Dancing with Oliver
• Our matching gray and green lamps, except the pink one on my nightstand
• Bible-safe gel highlighters
• Almond and dark chocolate coconut Greek yogurt
• The moments before a show begins

Some Happy Thoughts.

• My husband put a glow-in-the-dark solar system on our bedroom ceiling.
• Live-action Beauty and the Beast comes out next year!
• Oliver knows my name.
• My mom drew me a beautiful mermaid, and I look at the picture several times a day.
• Blue an violet mason jars exist.
• Bruce gave me a glitter library (it's labeled as such!).
• I have so many books to read.
• I can read and write. What worlds I can access because of that!
• Oliver is up to the 32nd percentile in weight. He doesn't seem so brittle anymore.
• My bedroom lamps have scalloped shades with beads.
• Our 10th wedding anniversary isn't far away.