Hug Your Mom

Hooray for Fridays! I can't even begin to describe how much I look forward to Friday! I think it's mostly because every morning when I wake up and crawl out of bed at 6:15 (or maybe closer to 6:30) the only thing that gets me through is the thought that I am one day closer to the weekend. Have I mentioned how much I hate getting up in the morning?! Today was especially great because of a little message that popped into my email inbox at 3:40 from the CEO of the company I work for - "It's been a great week. Let's shut down the office at 4 - you all deserve to see the sun." Ah, sweet freedom!!

My homework widow status hasn't changed since Wednesday as my husband and two "study buddies" are currently in the kitchen studying organic chemistry concepts that I can't even pronounce, much less spell. But I've been promised a trip to Red Robin later tonight so I'm willing to be a patient widow. I'll do pretty much anything for freckled lemonade!

On a more serious note, I've been thinking a lot over the past 10 days about how much we take for granted in our lives. An acquaintance of mine - a friend of a friend - had the best night of his life last Wednesday as he made his major league baseball debut as the starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. After pitching six innings of scoreless baseball, 22-year-old Nick Adenhart was on the kind of emotional high that most of us can only dream about - his life's goal finally realized! Hours later, he and two other friends were dead, the victims of a drunk driver with a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit who ran a red light going 90 mph. A fourth passenger in the car Adenhart was in is still fighting for his life.

The shock of this story definitely served as a wake-up call to me and should to everyone who hears about it. Life truly is a precious gift, and none of us have any idea when it will be taken from us. NEVER miss a moment to let the people you love know it. It's way too easy to get caught up in all the doing that needs to be done in life and forget what's really important. Is it the dishes or a bedtime story? Is it the newest episode of American Idol or a family game? Is it the never-ending list of errands or a pause as you rush out the door to say I love you? I for one have resolved to never again say "My husband knows I love him; I don't need to tell him" or "I talked to my family a few days ago." So hug your Mom, because you never know when you may run out of chances.