Let's Dish: Gifts from Readers, Organized Earrings, for the Love of Beatrix Potter, and a Thank You

I need more random on my blog. I feel the need to share an array of disconnected, rather irrelevant things but my tendency to write tidy, thematic posts precludes the miscellany bursting within. 

I'd like to mix things up a bit more. No need to always be so tidy and themey. 

So I may start doing a now-and-then post like this one called, "Let's Dish." What do you think?

Here goes. 

First off, I've decided that the best way to get what I want is to just write about it. Let me explain. 

Last week's Guilty Pleasures posted yielded a Montel Williams blender, compliments of my mother-in-law who read that my blender broke.  She and my father-in-law didn't really use their fancy Montel blender so now it is ours. God bless the informercial...and my father-in-law who loves to watch them. We had smoothies for breakfast this morning and they were magical. I'm still on a smoothie high.

My Year of Simplicity Home Goals post yielded an evening with a sweet friend who LOVES to organize. She helped me clean out my bathroom cabinets. Y'all it is embarrassing. We purged a full trash bag of extra make-up, hair product, tweezers, jewelry, and other items that reveal the extent of my vanity. {Thanks Amanda! Everyone needs a friend who helps rummage through toiletry excess, holds up the 4th pair of tweezers she's come across and ask, "So what's this guy's story?" } 

Look! All of my earrings down to one ice-cube tray. The quest for simplicity is sweeping through my jewelry stash. 

And December's Favorite Things post yielded a Say Yes to Carrots Body Butter, compliments of a precious reader. I'm still in shock. {Thank you Precious Reader. I cried. Oh yes I did. I cried hot tears over that Body Butter and most of all over the most beautiful note that accompanied it.}

So you know what all of this means, don't you? I have a Fairy Blogmother. She lives in my url's with her magic wand and lines up the universe in my favor. Who knew?

Next up, can we discuss Beatrix Potter? Cupcake is 4 and now that he's such a big boy I don't think I should call him Cupcake anymore. It's sort of emasculating even though he will always be my dessert-like baby and have swirly, icing hair. 

Anyway, he is loving Beatrix Potter stories right now {which he calls "My Harry Potter books"} and I have an abiding love for Beatrix Potter. I think she must have had a wicked sense of humor with the way she dressed tiny animals in stacked-heel clogs and tam-o-shanters. 

But let me tell you, if Beatrix Potter were alive today her books would be banned. And burned. Farmers are the bad guys. Oh they are downright evil and terrifying. Tiny bunnies roll up their own tobacco and enjoy a good smoke. Old Mr. Benjamin Bunny beats his son and nephew with a switch, and Peter's mother frequently leaves her babies at home unattended. All of these reasons are why I will forever love old children's literature over the new stuff. {Not because I'm a fan of beating bunnies with switches though.} 

I did, however, contemplate the use of some switchery on my own children Wednesday night. It was an evening of pure mayhem when Cupcake flooded the bathroom during his bath, the dinner I fixed was gross, Blondie lost Jetta outside in the dark twice, and my oven caught on fire due to the excessive butter that had oozed up out of the pan earlier in the day when I baked fattening cinnamon rolls. {Which I made out of 5-minute artisan bread dough...the rolls were worth the flames licking the ceiling and terrifying me.} 

I reminded myself that if these things had transpired at the end of a homeschooling day {like they used to}, I would be locked away somewhere. The everyday is no picnic folks. Though I'm enjoying a season of relative rest and ease, motherhood is not for the faint of heart.

And last but not least, thank you. Tuesday's post was a tough one to write and oh my goodness, the love that poured my way from the blogosphere and email-sphere....it overwhelmed my scared and vulnerable heart. Also, if you wrote a comment, I REPLIED! That's right, I published the post and noticed that Blogger has inserted some sort of reply feature in the comments section. Oh this thrilled me! 

But I need some feedback. When I reply do you get an email or do you have to check back and see that I replied? Do you love that I have to ask my readers how my own archaic, low-tech Blogger blog works? 

So thank you all for just being so kind and thoughtful and encouraging as I transition and struggle and share our story along the way. You're a gift to me.

Have a great weekend!