i am not a spontaneous person

its true. you'd think that somebody that mouths off the way i do would be more spontaneous. nope, i need to know when things are going to happen. i need to know what we are doing and an approximate time of when we will do these things. Even when i am saying 'oooh no big deal, lets play it by ear.' part of me is cringing and saying "WHEN? WHERE? OMG MAKE A DECISION!!!!"
One of the many things that i love about izzy is that she has made life more spontaneous. She forces me to live in the moment. sometimes its not so great - like a diaper blowout in a store with no bathrooms, let alone a changing table. or when she finds the car keys and sets off the panic alarm on the car at 530am on a sunday. and it takes 5 minutes and two adults with working knowledge of said car to turn it off.

but then there are moments like this morning when we went out to the driveway to get the newspaper. I was planning on running out and coming right back in but izzy insisted on coming with me. This is when our newspaper pick-up turned into a barefoot and half naked jaunt around the block. For the record, izzy was the one who was half naked. I had the forethought to put my shorts on before i went outside. Izzy was sporting a long-sleeved onesie that was unsnapped at the crotch.

Even though i would have been content to get the paper, go back inside and flop down on the couch, that was not in izzy's non-plan. instead we picked pebbles out of our toes and walked along the wooden beams of a garden border. We stopped to talk to a few garden gnomes, frogs and raccoons. we even paused to appreciate a morning glory in full bloom.
That is our morning glory. Chances are that by the time the rest of the community wakes up, that flower will be soaking up its last moments in the sun before falling to the ground. Only izzy and I got to see and share that flower's moment of brilliance.

i am not a spontaneous person but thankfully my daughter is. Her inquisitive nature has given me the gift of a memory. The memory of a cool early fall morning, conversations with garden gnomes and a moment with nature that will never be duplicated. But mostly i will remember watching an unsnapped onesie flapping against a diapered butt and two short, chubby legs. The sounds of bare feet slapping the sidewalk and squeals of joy announcing the start of a sunday morning.

so much better than sitting on the couch and clipping coupons.