Sometimes I wonder if because my writing focuses on the joy and beauty of the everyday if you think that I'm trying to make you believe that my life is perfect.

I assure you, it is not.

For example, today was hard. I'm sick, the husband is out of town, the three boys were busy, busy, busy...and I have a couple of things that need to get done for work. Oh, and we have weekend guests coming, and their sheets are in the washing machine right now, at 9 PM, when I really should be in bed trying to get over my spring flu or whatever it is I have.

Today kind of sucked.

But you know what? I really did try to find a bit of beauty in today. No, it wasn't on my face, or anywhere on my person, for that matter -- but I did manage to steal a couple of moments with each of my boys. Little hugs and whispered secrets that kept me going. This week's tulips are orange, my favorite color, and made me smile every time I saw them.

My cooking was awful, since I couldn't taste anything. I ate half a bag of mini marshmallows instead of my usual lunch salad -- but the other half went into the boy's marshmallow shooter, and it was fun to watch them pelt each other with marshmallows. My stomach isn't feeling so great, but I'm going to blame it on my germs.

Yes, life isn't perfect -- but it's much better when I stop and find moments to enjoy.