It has been established that there are a few things I do not like to do.
They must get done, so I do them.
I have to try very hard to find some redemptive value in these particular jobs.
Perhaps doing them for those I love is enough.

The first job on my list that I do not enjoy doing is ironing.
I find that even shirts that are no iron have to be ironed.
I tend to wait until I have quite a bit of shirts hanging in the laundry room.
When I see ten of my husband’s shirts, I know that it is time to get out the ironing board.

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It started to snow around dinner time.
Snow is to be expected in the second month of the year.
However, when the weather teases you with warm days, the snow is not always as welcome.
I was surprised that I felt that way about the impending snow because I love winter.

It was just that my mother’s heart was praying.
Everyone in my family was going to be away for various reasons.
Some of the travel was about two hours away.
Another required an airplane flight.

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I just went to the dentist for my six month cleaning and check-up.
I mentioned that something did not feel right in a back molar.
When I actually got to the dentist for my scheduled appointment, it felt better.
Isn’t that always the way it goes?

I do not usually have problems with my teeth.
I have had only a couple cavities in my life. which were years ago.
However, this annoying molar had an old filling in it.
It was actually my first cavity and my first filling.

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I love you, Mommy!
You’re the best Mommy in the world!
I want to hug you all day!
I love, love, love, love you!

I heard the words of praise coming from another aisle.
This little one was not shy about declaring her love for her Mommy.
Every sentence of praise was met with a response.
Every sentence of praise was answered.

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We braced ourselves for the Nor’easter that was to arrive.
The weather reports spoke of the amount of snow expected.
The weather reports showed the path of the storm.
There were actually two storms that were expected to meet.

It was the where and when of their meeting that would determine the storm’s severity.
My youngest daughter was home for her spring break.
My husband was away on business.
The rest of my family checked in with each other, before, during, and after the storm.

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It is always so much fun to receive a package.
I wish the UPS and the Fed Ex delivery people agreed as to where they should leave our packages.
Sometimes, they are outside our laundry room door.
Sometimes, they are left near one of our garages.

We have learned to check all the doors when we are expecting a package.
There is something about seeing a box outside with your name on it.
Usually, I am waiting for whatever is inside the box.
However, once in a while something will arrive that is unexpected.

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The phone rang as I was making dinner.
It was a call from the grocery store chain where I shop each week.
It was an automated call about a product recall.
I have gotten calls like this before but they never pertained to me.

However, this time I heard a name of a product I do use.
In fact it is a product I just started to use a few months ago.
It is a natural, aged Parmesan and Romano cheese that is sold in a jar.
My family was confused when they saw the jar instead of the cheese we usually used.

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Each year in spring we have a landscaper do our spring clean up.
The leaves are removed from the beds.
The plants are pruned.
Everything is prepared for the new growth.

There is something about newly mulched beds that is so pleasing to the eye.
It is almost like the feeling a woman gets when her house is really clean.
That really clean feeling a woman experiences for a few minutes.
A few minutes of satisfaction until the house gets lived in, as houses are meant to do.

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Whenever there are thunderstorm warnings, I fill the bathtub.
When we lose power in a storm, we not only lose electricity, we also have no water.
Having our own well and our own septic system, we can do nothing when we lose power.
I fill the bathtub so that we have access to water for the duration of the outage.

Whenever I fill the tub, we never lose power.
When the storm comes up too fast and I fail to fill the tub, we inevitably lose power.
My children will text me when a storm is in the forecast: Make sure you fill the tub!
It happened just the other night.

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I just came in from outside.
I was watering all of my plants.
I pulled a few weeds here and there.
I try to stay on top of things.

There is a sense of accomplishment as I look at the new growth.
I laugh because it is not my accomplishment.
God takes care of the growth.
I just maintain it with watering.

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