Cozy Up To

For those of you who are new to my blog or for those of you who are long-time readers who may need a friendly reminder, I TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY HATE SPRING STORMS IN THE MIDWEST. Having said that (or yelled it as the case may be), I'm sure you won't be the least bit surprised when I tell you it's a stormy night in Kansas. And it was a stormy morning in Kansas, too ... I was about 5 minutes from the office this morning when the sky got really dark and raindrops the size of basketballs came gushing down. Okay, maybe the raindrops weren't quite as big as a basketball, but it was flat pouring. Even though I had an umbrella, I still got soaked on my quick run into the building. Once that round of storms moved through, it was a relatively nice day ... until tonight ... round two is underway as I type. Did I mention that I TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY HATE SPRING STORMS IN THE MIDWEST?

God love the people in my office who had to listen to me freak out all day, especially the new folks who haven't experienced springtime with me before. They really have no idea of just how much fun they're going to have on stormy days for the next few months ... really no idea. In my own defense, I do at least try to prep the newbies for my over-the-top springtime anxiety. The truth is, however, that I can describe until the cows come home just how terrified I become when severe weather threatens, and no one really believes me until they witness one of my storm meltdowns for themselves. Now there's an interesting thought that quite possibly deserves a post all to itself ... not believing what someone tells you until you're provided with tangible, visual evidence that validates their claim. Oh yeah, that thought definitely deserves its own post for sure ... absolutely, positively, beyond the shadow of any doubt deserves its own post.

I'm sure by now you're wondering what in the world the title for my post this evening has to do with it being a stormy day (or night as the case may be) in Kansas, so I'll tell you. Sometimes I have these random memories that pop into my head at the weirdest times, for no apparent reason other than I'm sure I have one of the weirdest brains in existence. As I was driving home this evening, I was scanning the clouds and wishing I had a radar screen in my car ... like in what realm of reality would that ever possibly be a good idea for me, right? One of the clouds reminded me of the bear on the packaging of Snuggle fabric softener which then reminded me of how when Matt was a little boy he loved to sit on the washing machine while I was doing laundry which then reminded me of what he would tell me when I would put the clothes in the machine. 

"Don't forget to put da cozy up to in, Mom."

Perhaps it was a line from Snuggle's TV commercial that sparked my little boy to begin calling the fabric softener "cozy up to," or perhaps it was an early venture down his now famous nickname for everything and everyone journey ... I really have no idea. I do know, however, that it was flipping, stinking cute when he said it. So flipping, stinking cute that I'm sitting here on my couch all these years later on a stormy night in Kansas thinking about my now all grown-up Dr. Mattie in his yellow footie pajamas telling me not to forget to put in the cozy up to. Yep, that's right ... I'm sitting on my couch thinking about fabric softener, soothing my frightened wiener dog and wishing the stupid storms would just stop already. Makes my freaking out at work today suddenly seem pretty normal in comparison, eh?