How I found the binkies

People are inspired in strange ways. I'm not talking about spiritual inspiration, but more like the way you feel after watching Rocky or The Biggest Loser. I get that kind of inspiration when I read any of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books. I know, it's weird. I also know that they're for children. I can't even lump them into the Adolescent Lit genre that I still justify reading "in case I go back to teaching, I'll know what's out there." Right. Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl, and Lemony Snickett just rock. That's why I read them.


So anyway, in the last week/week and a half, I've read: Little House in the Big Woods, On the Banks of Plum Creek, By the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, and then this morning I read These Happy Golden Years. Laugh if you must, but I can't hide how much I like these books. As a result of reading so much in such a short time, I keep finding myself thinking about how Ma and Pa and Laura would respond in my situation and what they would say about my work ethic and house cleaning habits.


And that brings us to how I have found two lost binkies in the last week. One came when I was doing an extra thorough sweeping (with a store-bought broom, nonetheless--no homemade hickory one for me) and found Harrison had hid one in a never-used trashcan that slides under his little table. My really exciting find came when I was doing a random vacuuming and organizing of my utility closet and found one amongst extra vacuum attachments. If I hadn't been reading Laura Ingalls, I don't think I would have found that till Harrison was well done with the bink.


So thank you, Laura. You are an amazing woman that led an amazing life. I got butterflies when I read about Almonzo proposing to you this morning. You deserve such a man.


Here's a pic of Harrison enjoying the newly-reacquired binkies (note the smokin' hot haircut):