Chicken Soup with Rice

Do you remember the old Maurice Sendak book, Chicken Soup With Rice? It was my second favorite book growing up. My very favorite of favorite-ist books by Sendak is Pierre: A Cautionary Tale. You'll remember that he was the boy that said "I don't care" to the people in his life. Why was this my favorite book? I don't know, except that maybe watching an apathetic boy who had to be eaten by a lion to learn to love his life and care about others, appealed to me.  I love a good Redemption story.

Chicken Soup with Rice, is my second Sendak favorite. Its my favorite because it has three of my favorite things in it: poetry, seasons/months, and chicken soup. I especially love the poem for November:

In November's
gusty gale
I will flop
my flippy tail
and spout hot soup.
I'll be a whale!
Spouting once
spouting twice
spouting chicken soup
with rice.

Today, is a holiday at our house. The Mister, being a government employee, and also a veteran, is home today. I know I have said this once or twice before on the blog, but I enjoy having him at home.  Many times this weekend he has had me laughing so hard I thought I might not ever breathe again. He can be so funny. I am going to miss him all day tomorrow when he has to go back to work.

Today we took the kids to the park down the street from our house. We are having a cold front here. It was 72 degrees outside with a cool breeze. I sat on a quilt and read while the kids played soccer with their dad. Dressed in a tank top, running shorts, and tennis shoes, a gust of wind blew a cloud over the spot where I was sitting and, for half-a-second, I tried to decide if I was actually cold.

It's a lovely November day, a great day to watch my family play together and be grateful. I'm glad I don't have to be eaten by a lion to remember that I'm...

Happy once
happy twice
happy chicken soup
with rice.