Time to STOP & Smell the Roses! {Day 17}

My friend Sherri over at The Tightwad Chick wrote a great post this week on "Smelling the Roses" (you can link to it here). I absolutely LOVE Sherri - not only because is she my favorite hot-headed Italian, but she happens to be my next door neighbor, who constantly cracks me up and makes me smile! She is a hard working lady, who does absolutely EVERYTHING for her kids, and I am constantly in awe at how she fits it all in. She is constantly running from swim practice, to football practice, from work, to grocery shopping. From here to there. I don't know how she does it.

Her post this week was about how fast the summer is going - and how she hasn't taken the time to STOP and smell the roses. She goes on to list a bunch of things she plans on doing to STOP . . . they each tug at my heart strings. Well done, Sher!!!

SO, I'm joining Sherri on the "Stop and Smell the Roses" theme. . . and making my own list. Here are my plans for the remainder of summer, and for smelling the roses . . . This post actually is quite fitting with Leslie from {Words of Me Project} and her 31 Days. Write. Create. Be. challenge. I fell off the wagon of these creative challenges a little while PG was out of town . . . but I'm stepping back on board and taking off once again. Click here to link to Leslie's recent post today {Day 17} where she talks about recognizing the things you VALUE in life.

Now, to my roses . . .

• I vow to stop doing whatever it is I am doing when Ella says, "Momma, Momma, Momma!" and look her in the eyes as she tells me exactly what it is that she wants to tell me.
• I vow to stop doing whatever it is I am doing when Katie says, "Mommy, will you play with me?" and go and play with her. She will only be asking me this for a short time before playing with Mom will be lame.   
• I vow to not worry about the little things that quickly pile up . . . the dusting, the vacumming, the laundry. They will get done whenever I get to them. It's ok to STOP.  
• I vow to make time for the friendships that matter. To make the phones calls or send the notes to those people who mean so much to me, and letting them know that I care about them.
• I vow to sit next to my husband and hold his hand when he asks me to. Those little things above can wait. When we are old and gray, we may not have eachothers hands to hold. I'm going to hold his more now.  
• I vow to take time for myself to READ. I miss it. I need it.
• (This one, I'm borrowing from Sherri) I vow to take a deep breath and look around at what I have and not what I don't have.

So there you have it. My little list of things to remember as I STOP and smell the roses. And a special thanks to Sherri, for giving me this idea . . . it's a great one!

Do you want to join me? Feel free to leave a comment below with your "roses". I'd love to know!