Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. .. These are a few of my favorite things. . .

I can’t really buy you any of these things, but they are some of my favorite things.

Random smell – Clean cotton. Especially blankets. There is s certain smell that my blankets have and I could just sniff it all the time. Paul thinks I am crazy.

Condiment – Paul thinks this is really gross. . . I LOVE warm mayonnaise. Especially on leftover turkey sandwiches at Thanksgiving. But I’ll warm up ham sandwiches or hamburgers to get the mayo to warm up. I also like it when my peanut butter melts on my toast. This isn’t as weird as the mayo.

Music to listen to while cleaning house or kicking back on a Saturday– Anything Robert Earl Keen. My brother-in-law made us several Robert Earl Keen cds and I just love every song on it. I really enjoy his stories before and during songs. And the fact that he doesn’t have that great of a voice, but his songs are still fun and timeless. I think my favorite REK song is “The Front Porch Song.”

Random words – rigmarole, shenanigans, kismet, rendezvous, “Chaos and Mayhem”

Children’s book/poem – “Casey at the Bat.” I did a school competition in 6th grade and we used this poem. I have had it memorized ever since. I found a great copy for Patrick with great vintage-esque pictures. He loves to read it. The other day he was playing baseball and told me was “The Might Casey.” And “Snuggle Puppy,” of course. This was the first book I started reading to Patrick and I have since gotten a cd of Sandra Boynton songs. I love listening to Patrick sing “OOOO snuggle puppy of mine, everything about you is especially fine. . .”

$20 purchase – a blow-up pool for the backyard. Paul, Patrick and I have spent countless hours and had more fun just kicking back in our $20 blow-up pool. It’s nothing fancy, but it provides for some quality family time out in the sun. It was definitely the best summertime investment we’ve made. And we listen to REK. And drink beer. (I guess I could buy y’all one of these pools, but it’s more about the memories made in the pool than the pool itself.)