LOVE U

Tuesday night, I was the last person to bed. Before I went to bed, I had personally cleaned off the kitchen table and remember vividly doing so. I left only a couple of items inside a grocery bag for my next day at work. There were 2 checks that needed depositing at the bank, and two boxes of meal bars that I bring to work, all still inside the grocery bag from my purchase earlier and that was it.

The next morning, I was the last person to leave the house for work. When I came downstairs to the kitchen, I noticed quite a few things all over the table. I stood and questioned everything for a moment, wondering why, who, and when this all happened. I remember specifically cleaning this table off the night before. Now, I know there are quite a few kids eating breakfast at this table each morning, as well as backpacks and the like. However, they have been well-trained and know to put their dishes in the sink. Plus, they were all gone and off to school, and no backpacks were in site.

There were things on the table that just didn't make sense. There were a couple of pens, a coaster, and my plastic grocery bag EMPTY, with the items removed.

Obviously, in the morning, I don't have too much time for investigative work. Now, if it were the afternoon, I would be dusting for fingerprints, looking for shoe prints on the floor and any hair follicles to decipher the culprit. But not this morning, I was headed out the door. So, I quickly put everything away, repacked my bag for work and off I went.

That afternoon, my husband said "Did you remember the checks for the bank?" "Yes, I did", I replied. He said "Oh, good, did you also remember your meal bars for your desk at work?" I said "Yes, I did, I got everything this morning before I left." "Well," he said "did you notice anything strange about your things?" "No, why" I asked. Tom said "oh, well, I guess you didn't notice," with a long face he continued "I had spelled out the words 'LOVE U' on the table."

I thought for a moment, taking in what he just said, replaying the scene in my head, and BOOM! It hit me like a ton of bricks, my heart instantly sank. L What a great fool I was. How could I not have noticed!!!!

He used the two checks to make an "L". He used the coaster from the living room to make an "O". He used two pens from the kitchen junk drawer to make the "V" and my meal bars to make an "E". Finally, he rolled the grocery bag into the shape of a "U".

And I didn't even notice. All I saw was a huge mess on the table. Terrible, just terrible! But you know, this has been a HUGE lesson for me, a reminder to stop and smell the roses, so to speak. My eyes and mind are trained to worry about the messes, and keeping order. Instead of taking a step back, waiting for just a slight moment, I jumped into the mode of "who did this and why". This is a lesson I will hold dear to my heart.

I will work hard to take a step back, and provide myself with a longer reaction time. Perhaps that will save me the embarrassment next time and offer the praise and gratitude that is due, as it was for my husband in this situation.
So, I write this today, in hope that maybe you can learn from my mistake. Don't jump to conclusions, stop and smell the roses, and take deep breathes!

And Tom, I deeply LOVE U too!!!!!