Ice-cream Cures the “Blues”

I have failed to keep couple of my promises; one was not to complain and the other was not to pay too much attention to the news. Both are very hard habits to break. It’s kind of funny how I had an easier time with quitting cigarettes than I did with complaining and reading the papers.

Speaking of cigarettes, it’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly 10 months since I had the last smoke. Mind you, there’re times that I miss it dearly… but just like everything else, once it’s dead there’s no turning back.

So today, as I was riding the bus home, I just stared out the window and watched life pass by on the outside. Isn’t it funny how fast we can leave life behind when we’re not paying attention to our surroundings? Next time, pay attention to that pedestrian that walks by your car or bus while you’re sitting there behind a red light. Notice how she simply walks by you? Moments later, as you begin to drive away, try to locate her in your rear-view mirror. Do you see her? Now, try to pay attention to other drivers and passersby as you drive… notice how fast you’re passing them or vice-versa? Yup, each passing second is one that is irreplaceable so make sure you’re doing something with it… whatever that is.

Speaking of fast, Brayden is graduating from his half crawl and half roll (let’s call it CROWLL) and is beginning to terrorize us by hanging onto stuff while pulling himself up to his knees (his cute attempt at standing up). I don’t understand his mad fascination with his cuddly foot-ball (soccer ball), which is both cute and disturbing as he spends more time talking to his ball than with his parents. It kind of reminds me of Wilson in Tom Hanks’ Cast Away.

As for Isabella, she showed a serious sign of growing up the other day… you see, she’s been receiving a daily allowance of $1.00. Last Sunday, I had the “blues”. So instead of bugging my family (which I do anyways) I just stepped outside on the front porch and let the sun warm my face. About 10 minutes into my “self-treatment”, Isabella stepped out onto the porch, all dressed up, and took my hand and said “let’s go for a walk dad, I’m buying you ice-cream with my allowance”. Suddenly, Isabella was no longer a toddler; she was a young girl that saw her dad needing some cheering up and took action. Sun or no sun, my day was suddenly so much brighter.

Next time, I’ll buy you an ice-cream if you’re feeling “blue”.

Thanks for reading,

Armin

PS. Brayden and Karm joined us for the ice-cream and poor Isabella ended up spending $14.97 of her allowance on three super-scoop ice-creams in waffle cones. It’ll take her another 2 weeks to recuperate the money from us J