Just Ducky

It is raining. I love that I have an incredible knack for stating the obvious.

It's also a good day for DUCKS! Maybe this isn't so obvious. For as long as I can remember, my mom used a few key phrases in specific situations. When she would burst in to our rooms in the morning before school she'd energetically fling up the blinds and chirp (in a VERY high-pitched mom voice) "Rise and shine! Bright Eyes, bushy tail!". Not only did this make you curl tighter in to the cocoon of your perrenna (Ukrainian for a Grandma-made, down-filled duvet) but it made it very obvious that my mom was evil - in a cute chipper way. She knew it drove us absolutely insane, but through the years I think she kept up her morning ritual for that exact reason. She probably turned on heel, had a good mom-giggle, and continued on with her morning satisfied that her children would be so annoyed and grouchy that they couldn't possibly sleep in any longer!!!! AGGGHHH!

So on rainy and grey days, much like the current conditions, my mom would also use one of her favorite lines - "It's a good day for ducks". I wasn't exactly sure why she said this, but I noticed that after she said it, she always took a good deep breath and smiled. When I left home to go to school, I was incredibly homesick and wondering why I had chosen to rip myself away from my family. See, my Dad was in the Air Force and then worked for the Feds, so we moved around a lot. Family was all that was constant for me and home was wherever they were. How could I have left the only stable and secure thing I had known? It didn't help that that fall was particularly rainy and gloomy. But, every morning I would get up to grey skies and pouring rain, I would think "It's a good day for ducks" have a little giggle, take the same deep breath my mom used to and smile. Without even knowing it, she turned the grey rainy blah days in to something that made me smile. Ah, gotta love Mom.

Speaking of Mom and family of the sorts, Mikey and I are off to Regina tonight to start our vacation! It won't be nearly long enough I know, but I am super stoked to see my parents, my brother and his wife, my fur-niece Chloe (the Golden Lab) and my fur-brother Murphy (the beagle). The Pug is going with us, so there will be dogs galore! Rrrrruuufff!

Hope everyone is enjoying the day as much as the ducks!

Play in the rain and GO QUACKERS!