How Exciting!!!

In my opinion, excitement, is one of the best emotions in life. Being excited can make a person feel so ALIVE. All of your senses tingle, with a rush of adrenline, in response to the event that you are anticipating, and looking forward to with promise.

Today, I had yet another up close and personal view of my husbands "pre-golf trip excitement". My husband, a 41 year old man, bubbles over with excitement like an 8 year old boy, on the eve of a golf trip. His excitement is almost ritualistic. It starts building with a count down of the days until the golf trip. Then, it moves to an hour by hour count down. It is accentuated with phone calls, emails and texts to his friends, talking about their trip, making plans and doing research. His research includes hourly checks of weather.com to see what the hour by hour forecast looks like. Or, views of the destination golf course web site to make his game plan, right down to the club he might consider using on the hole. Usually, by the time the day arrives, just like today, there is some sort of overflow of this excitement that causes an issue. Just like an 8 year old that is "over stimuated" with excitement and has a melt down, my dear Lee usually "melts down" and that is evidenced by something he can't find, because his overstimulation causes him a state of temporary blindness. Today was no different. At 5:30 AM, he couldn't find his sunglasses, and I was awaken by every light in the house being turned on and off, and the sense of his energy turning from excitement to anxiety. At 6 AM, I got up and in exactly 3 minutes, found the glasses. At 6:30AM, he got in his car and drove away for three days. And just like every year, the energy expended getting Lee to the door for his trip, causes me to say HOORAY as he drives away. I miss him when he's gone, but really- all of this craziness for that 3 day trip??

As I pondered his excitement, I started to think about the excitement I find in life in general, but especially in my favorite things. Scrapbooking for example. As a consultant for Close To My Heart (CTMH), I experience quarterly excitement around the release of a new catalog. I expend energy communicating to my friends about it via email, blogs, bulletin boards and text messages. We anticipate the catalog by wondering and wishing for certain new products. When the catalogs arrive, we anticipate the call from a friend to discuss "well, what did you think?". I always sit down with the catalog, pretend that money is no object, and make a list of EVERYTHING I'd like to have! As I did this yesterday, I audibly "ooooeedddd" and "aaaahhhheeddd" about the thrilling contents (ie. chocolate colored buttons! oh-my!). My son Taylor thought this excitement was over the top, "really, Mom, do you have to make those noises!" Very similar to my response to Lee's excitement about golf!

As I put Lee's pre-golf excitement in the context of my scrapbooking excitement, it makes me smile. It's less irritiating as I admit I act the same way. And, really, that is something to not be irritated by, but to be thankful for. How fortunate and blessed are we, to have things as frivolous as golf and scrapbooking, to be excited about?!!

I'll end my blog today, with a photo of the family I'm so blessed to have. They make every day exciting for me. Our family motto has always been, "work hard; play harder". Here's hoping for my dear husband Lee, that the golf Gods look down upon him, and help him over come his excitement and help him find focus, so he will have success at his golf tournament. He will have fun, there is no doubt in my mind about that!

Bloggin' a bright idea,
Holly