I’m a little slow when it comes to technology. Marketing types would never call me an “early adopter” by any stretch of the imagination. It’s not like I work by candle light or have completely banned all signs of the modern age from my life (I listen to my MP3 player, have a digital camera, and use my GPS system to get from place to place), I’m just not that great with all of the fancy gadgets or technology terms. In fact, when my web designer has technical questions, I try to stay out of it. I send him directly to the IT team. If the question goes through me, he might as well be talking with my 4-year-old son, because it will most certainly become lost in translation.

I must say, I come by it naturally.

I’ll never be one of those tall, elegant model types. For me, at 5’3”, it’s never going to happen. I’ll also never be the mysterious stranger or completely happy-go-lucky and carefree. And I have great rhythm when the music's on, but turn the music off, and I’m a total klutz. But, I am who I am.

I can become so caught up in my own thoughts that I don’t always look around me to see what obstacles are in my path. I have a friend that I’ve known since childhood. She knows how easily I can trip, fall, or run into things. Even now, when we’re talking and walking down the street together, she’ll say pole or curb, right in the middle of the sentence. I know to look up, move over, and we just keep going.

So, it’s kind of like that feeling you get after the big Thanksgiving Day meal. You’ve eaten so much that you have to undo the top button on your pants. And while the weather outside can be rather chilly, you’re inside the cozy, warm house, resting on the couch, trying to watch the big game on TV. But you keep dozing off. Yet, this feeling doesn’t only come at Thanksgiving, it happens most days. Ah, the sleepiness of it all!

It was a typical day at the ranch. We awoke before dawn so that we could get all of our chores done. Later that afternoon, while we were still finishing our backbreaking work, we could hear the sizzling sound of the Texas heat as the sweat beaded up on our brows. Off in the distance, a lone tumbleweed rolled by. As the day came to a close, my children, the good little Texans that they are, rode bareback as their stallions galloped off into the sunset. That night, as we ate our dinner by candlelight, we thought, “Boy howdy, we sure are roughing it.” Just another typical day at the ranch.

Or…maybe not so much.

A few evenings ago, I sat down on the couch after a long day of writing, going to the gym, paying the yard men, picking up the clothes from the dry cleaners, running around playing tag with the kids, ordering takeout -- oops! I mean... mowing the entire yard, doing a ton of laundry, fixing dinner… (shhhh! My husband might read this thing. Just go with me on this!)

So, anyway, I sat down on the couch after a loooong day and said, “I’m exhausted!”

My two-year-old daughter tilted her head to one side, stared at me in wonder, and finally replied,

“No. You’re Mommy.”

“I know how to rhyme,” my 4-year old son announced one afternoon.

“O.K. What rhymes with car?” I asked.

“Da-brar.”

“What rhymes with cat?”

“Da-brat.”

“What rhymes with dog?”

(If you’re paying attention, you should know the answer.)

“Da-brog. And I know what rhymes with monster truck: da-bronster truck.”

“Little dude, you are one smart da-broy.”

I have this tendency to run into things. And a few weeks ago, I whacked myself a good one. I waited until now to share it with you because I’ve been too embarrassed. But, here goes.

Oh, this was no sign post. (Been there!)

Not a small support beam. (Done that!)

Or even a big ol' pole (Yep, you guessed it!)

This was a huge pillar:

My kids and I have a ritual. Every morning, when we're in the car, we sing the song Beautiful Day. We only know four words out of the entire song, but we’re somehow able to stretch the singing of those four words into quite an event. There is no sight more precious to my eyes or sound sweeter to my ears than when I glance into the rearview mirror and see my preschoolers belting out at the top of their lungs,

“It’s a beautiful daaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! It’s a beautiful daaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!”

While my husband and kids were out of town over the weekend, my mom and dad helped me make new curtains for the living room. Look at these curtains. Aren’t they quirky and crazy?

I needed a pick-me-up and making those curtains was such a fun project. OK, so yeah, my dad may be a retired Special Agent. He may have great tales of high speed chases and espionage cases; of breaking organized crime rings and being on Secret Service detail to protect Presidential candidates. But, he is one of the kindest, most compassionate men you’ll ever meet. So, there he was, helping me iron my Crazy Curtains.

My four-year-old son is a big helper. He loves to help measure and cut and draw and stack. And the other day, he was helping my mom decorate her house for fall. His task was to move the pumpkins to their proper place. “Ya-ya,” he said (he calls my mom Ya-ya), “can I put the pumpkins out by those things?”

“What things, honey?”

“You know, those things. Those things that scare the corn.”

And here they are. Those things that scare the corn:

My husband travels quite a bit, and when I miss him, I sometimes write him silly poems. It's who I am. It's what I do. Here you go, honey. I hope this makes you smile.

I love my husband.
And he loves me.
I’m so glad he’s my sweetheart.
I’m as lucky as lucky can be.

I am so proud to say
I’m his precious darling wife.
And I want him to know
He’s the love of my life.

If he ever feels lonely,
I hope he comes to me.
So I can tell him I love him.
And...
Something that rhymes with me.