I’m not sure that these blogs tell you what time they are written, but I’ll give you a little clue.  It is 4 hours past my bedtime and I’m not even the teensiest bit ready for bed.   I wish I had someone else to blame tonight, but in this case the finger points clearly in my direction.  I inadvertently drank some caffeine at 10pm this evening, and we all know what that means.

I am awake.  And when I’m lying in bed and I’m wide awake like this I tend to think too much.   Much too much.  I begin to think of all the things I regret in my life.  Small things, big things, long term, short term.  And then I start to beat myself up over the insignificant minutia of the past day or the past week.  Silly things like a stupid remark I made today at the book store or crazy things like not cleaning the coffee pot yet.

My personal expectations are probably too high.  I do realize this.  But isn’t that what drives most of us to success?  Isn’t this the type of angst that propels successful people to bigger and better lives, pursuits, dreams?

Perhaps not.  Perhaps I’ve got this whole thing wrong.  Perhaps the truly “successful” people of this world are those that sleep well at night.   Those that don’t worry about every drawer left open or every sentence left hanging.  Perhaps to let go of your faults and wake up to a new day without regret is all the success we truly need.

But how to begin.  How to turn over a new leaf at this late stage of the game.  Some would say I should turn over my worries to God.  Tell Him my problems and trust Him to figure out what’s worth all the trouble and what’s not.

I’ve been reading a book that was given to me titled Too Busy Not to Pray.  And I’ll be honest, the beginning didn’t draw me in.  But the next time I picked it up I skipped to the middle and opened to a page at random.  The author was talking about the motives behind prayer.  He said, it’s important to look at what we’re asking of God before we ask it.  Is what you’re asking for appropriate?  Is it the right time?  Is it not self-serving?

Sometimes yes and sometimes no.  I find myself most commonly asking God for blanket reassurances of safety.  I just want my family and I to be happy and healthy and safe.  But every now and again I will catch my inner consciousness asking for ridiculous or what you’d call “low ticket items” as well.

And He just doesn’t have the time for that.  I know it and He knows it.  But I know He has forgiven me for my weaknesses, and will ignore my trifles at His will.

Because most assuredly, He sleeps well at night.

Zoo tomorrow..

Zoo tomorrow..

Go ahead, sing along. You can’t help it. If you’re a mom you’ve heard Raffi. I’ve listened to Raffi’s music so much over the last 6 years that I can’t even hear the word “zoo” without singing this song either out loud or internally for at least the following 30 seconds.

But I’m digressing, already. My friend, our children and I recently went to the World Wildlife Zoo with some buy one-get one free tickets. If you’ve been out there, you know it’s quite a drive. It easily took an hour from the East Valley, but with four kids in the car and a friend for mommy to talk to, the time really just flew by.

And then you arrive and you’re not quite sure if you’ve just come to a zoo or a farm, because the area looks remarkably like Schnepf Farms with jungle animals. But once you pay the entrance fee, slightly higher than the Phoenix Zoo, you begin to look around and really get an idea of the size and value of the place.

The animals are so much more up front and personal at the World Wildlife Zoo. For $.50 a pop your children can feed the giraffes pellets from a tree house look-out and they don’t even have to get licked if they don’t want to. At scheduled times of the day, for no cost at all, you and your kids can head into a bird aviary and feed the birds apples out of the palms of your hands. I have gorgeous pictures of my son and daughter covered in beautiful birds with these great smiles on their faces.

On top of this, there is a sky tram, a boat ride down the canal and a choo-choo train that will take you through, around and literally over the animal exhibits.

It’s a once in a lifetime experience that I have not found anywhere else. We were there for over 3 hours and did not even have the energy to check out the giant playground and the petting zoo - where I hear there are deer and goats just waiting to be loved.

As always, the food inside is overpriced - but a bucket of popcorn lasted us long enough to get us to McDonald’s just down the road afterward. Almost everyone napped on the ride home, and our children were stockpiled with stories to tell that weekend.

I hope we can go back soon. But even if we never do, we’ll never forget our day at the zoo.