Discoveries and birthday wishes...

I spent the better part of the evening doing laundry. Washing and drying and folding. And folding. And folding.
I discovered that there actually WAS a couch under all of the clean laundry in the living room. I also discovered that we do not have enough drawer or closet space for all of our clothes to be clean and folded at once. (This will be partially solved once the weather finally changes... it was 60 degrees in the afternoon a week ago, today it was in the mid 90's. Go figure).
I also discovered that I have enough underpants to not do laundry for about a month and a half and still remain true to my hygienic ideals.
I was able to weed out some of Bean's too-small clothes. I found four pairs of jeans that are at least two sizes too small. Crazy child. She's not supposed to be trying to squeeze into jeans that small for another couple of years!

It's my daddy's birthday. He's a young daddy - turning 50 today. He has been married to my mom since I was six and he has been the best dad in the world.
When I was eleven or twelve I had just begin to understand that my "real" dad was never going to be a big part of my life. My mom was out of town and it was just me and dad for a weekend. I was suddenly afraid of what would happen to me if my mom died. I knew that my other dad didn't want me and I had no idea where I would live if something happened to my mom. My dad sat me down and said that no matter what happened he would always want me. He said he would fight to keep me if it came to that.

That was a really important thing for me to know. He is a really important person for me to know. He has taught me to be patient and have a sense of humor. He has taught me to be strong and loyal and trustworthy. He has taught me to put myself first and respect myself, and also to not take myself too seriously. He also taught me how to stand up for what I think is right - even to him - in a respectful way. He taught me to work as hard as I can and to relax as much as I am able.
Most important of all, he taught me how a father is supposed to love his daughter, and I have seen how a husband is supposed to treat his wife.
I am so lucky that he is my family.