Refreshing

When it comes to the mall and my itty bitty kiddy's........we can not pass a drinking fountain without a play drink.

The water fountain is fascinating. If you press this button, a long stream of water will shoot out and hit you square in the forehead, then you'll get a little in your mouth.

The stream of water is unpredictable and I truly think that this is the sole reason why my kids are drawn to it.

The splash in the face is always a bit shocking, a little exciting, and the button has to be tested 15 to 20 times before we can move on.

The same goes for the elevator button, but that would require a whole new journal entry worth of explaining......

Today, much like a stream of water spouting out from a drinking fountain, we had a rather unpredictable and refreshing day.

The day started however, with an unpredictable moment that was not so fascinating and definitely not refreshing. A near miss with another car on this rainy and dark morning, left me with a stopped heart and tears in my eyes. It was one of those moments that you hope and wish to never experience and I just had to thank God that it was a miss.

This experience left me rattled and I had to decide then and there that I was not going to let it put a damper on my day and I was just going to have to look at the whole experience as a constant reminder that you always have to be on guard. My sole responsibility in life is to protect my children and moments like these just leave me with the most shattered feelings of "what if?".

So I regained my composure and vowed that something fascinating and refreshing was going to come out of today so that my memories would not instantly go back to this morning's unwanted unpredictable moment.

And something refreshing did happen. Something unpredictable that was very wanted. My daughter and I were at the mall with a list of little errands to run. We had already been to one water fountain and were walking past a little coffee shop when I spotted an old college roommate of mine having coffee with her sister and her two kids. I walked up before they noticed and said, "Well hello there ladies" and was instantly greeting with the warmest welcome and smiles of complete surprise. We sat and chatted for a bit and it was just so refreshing. Refreshing in the sense that in an instant, I found myself reunited with two good girlfriends whom I have known for most of my life. We didn't plan it, we didn't expect it, it just happened. And that is what I mean by refreshing. Feeling that instant bond and connection with people that I truly didn't expect to see today.

This is when life is unpredictable in a good way. When you wake up in the morning with your list of things to do and something else happens, your course is altered and all of a sudden, something fascinating and refreshing has happened that came right out of the blue. It was really nice to sit down today and catch up and pretty much just throw my to-do list out the window. Because really, are a couple of errands more important than a few minutes catching up with friends who mean the world to me? No, they are not and there is always tomorrow for the predictable things. It's always important to leave a little bit of time for those wanted unpredictable moments.

So, we hit a couple more fountains on our way out of the mall and I just couldn't pass this one up without snapping a few pictures. My daughter would push on the bar and I would go for my "stream capture". If it wasn't for the fact that we needed to hustle out and to pick up my son from preschool, we probably could have stayed at that fountain all day. We were both having a ball with the fountain. People would walk by and smile and one gal even asked if I was taking pictures for a photography class. I had a few moments to describe blipfoto to her and lately, it seems like I am finding all sorts of time to talk about blipfoto with people.

As we were walking out of the mall, we felt refreshed.....I say "we" because at the time, my daughter was literally FEELING refreshed with droplets of water all over her hair. Yes, she does love the fountain.

So my theory is this, life comes at us fast with all of the millions of things that we have to do, the many different directions that we are pulled and the multiple of people that we continue to try so hard to please. When unpredictable things happen, sometimes they are not welcomed like my event from this morning but what are you going to do about it? Sit around and ho hum for the rest of the day or push on and find that something that is going to leave you feeling refreshed.

Tonight, I feel refreshed......extremely tired from the pace of life lately......

But refreshed.

And thankful!