Priceless

Today's Everyday Magic posting isn't about weird coincidences that happened over Memorial Day weekend - although there were several. It's about true everyday magic - enjoying the little moments of life with your children. Alex got invited to guest play with a soccer team at a tournament that lasted all weekend. Just he and I went. Even though I spent my birthday and entire Memorial Day weekend on the soccer fields, I really enjoyed the time I spent with my son. I got to experience first had how pleasant he is to be with, how funny he can be and how kind and mature he's turning out to be. I enjoyed watching him play well and make new friends. I enjoyed the compliments about him from other parents. Throughout the weekend the dollar signs of what we were spending kept popping into my head but I wouldn't have traded this weekend for anything.

• Two nights in a hotel - $200
• Food - $100
• Gas - $4 a gallon
• Wonderful weekend with my son watching him grow up - Priceless.

3:11 AM

For the past three nights - or I guess I should say mornings - I have been waking up and lying awake for at least an hour. Very frustrating! So, what is the magic in this you may ask? Well, the weird thing is that two of the three mornings I have woken and looked at the clock to see that it's 3:11 AM! The third day it was 3:41 AM - exactly 30 minutes later. I wonder what will happen tonight . . . ??? Should I play the Pick Three lottery and bet on 311?

Second Generation

Whenever I run into people today that I knew in grade school, high school, or college I think that's pretty "magical." But what really "blows my mind" is when their children and my children end up together. Some situations are planned. For example, last fall Amy, April, and I went to the Capital reunion and left the kids at the hotel to hang out. I couldn't help but think, "who would've thought 20+ years ago that our kids would be hanging out someday!" Those situations are cool but not so unexpected. Other circumstances are really random and very unexpected! For example Saturday at Alex's soccer tournament in Troy his team played a team from Medina. I recognized two of the Moms on the sideline - we went to high school together. One Mom - Linda - was in my church youth group, too. Who would've thought 30 years ago that someday our 14 year-0ld sons (as old as we were then) would be facing each other on a soccer field!

Words Words

I don't have any really special magic to report today but one thing that seems to be happening a lot lately is that I will be reading something or typing and at the same time I read or type the word I hear it -- like someone says it or I hear it on the TV or radio. This seems to happen daily at work as I'm typing. Another variation is that I'll be talking about something and see something related. Like the other day we were walking through the parking lot at the mall and for some reason I was talking about penguins. Right at that moment I walked by a car with a Pittsburgh Penguins license plate holder!

Same Car, Different City

I love "coincidences" like this. We were driving to Dayton for Mac's game. On 270 in Columbus we had to slow suddenly to let a car in that was cutting in front of us. As we "cursed out" the driver for cutting us off, I noticed a soccer sticker in the window for a Hilliard team and some other sports sticker. It was a Nissan Quest and we commented on what a strange design of car it is. Later that day, as we were leaving the park outside of Dayton to drive downtown to visit the University of Dayton we got behind the same car on I-35. Now, the fact that they were in Dayton wasn't surprising since they had a soccer sticker on the car and State Cup semi-finals were going on in the same park. But, the fact that we got behind them again on a different highway in a different city 3 hours later and not even heading back to Columbus was everyday magic!

RK

Today's magic - Having lunch with RK at work. RK was one of my best friends in high school. We went to high school together, were in the same church youth group, and went to the same college. He even went to my senior prom with me. We haven't stayed in close touch through the years but amazingly he lives a few miles from me in Columbus -2 hours from our home town. Our kids go to the same school and have played soccer together. He just got a job with Chase and works in my building. To me, it's an amazing coincidence that 30 years later we would end up in the same town and our kids go to the same school even though there are 4 middle schools here and 3 high schools. It's not like we've tried to live in the same place or work for the same company. Who would've thought that 28 years ago when we were going through all the drama and craziness of high school that someday our kids would go to the same school and know each other!

P.S Found a penny today!

What is Everyday Magic

One of the things I miss most from my childhood is that sense of magic you had every day. You know - when you believed that elves lived in the roots of trees in mushroom houses, that Santa really flew around the world and came down your chimney, and that little tiny rock bands were inside your car's radio playing tunes. At least that's what was magic to me. Then, you grow up and the magic is gone. There's hardly any reason to use your imagination at all and if you do, people look at you pretty strangely. I decided that one way to bring back a sense of the magic of childhood in life is to look for "magic" every day. What I mean by "magic" at this time in my life (4th decade!) are those things that cause a laugh, sense of wonder, a sense of "coincidence" or serendipity. Just something that makes you look at the world in a different way. One thing I consider everyday magic is finding pennies. I've decided they are my "magic" symbols- a message to me from childhood - look for the magic, it's here in little special ways if you just look for it. So the purpose of this blog is to help me be aware of everyday magic and record what I find.