Speaking of Ordinary -

here are a few excerpts from Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, a cute little book that i've read and reread many many times, her Alphabetized Existence from A to Z reminding me time and again how wonderful, amazing, funny and extraordinary an ordinary life can be...

"As"
As self-conscious as rearranging what's on your coffee table before guests arrive - putting Art Forum and Milan Kundera's latest novel on top of People magazine and The Berenstain Bears Potty Book.
As specific as a mosquito bite on a pinky toe knuckle.
As startling as coming home from vacation and seeing yourself in your own bathroom mirror and only then realizing just how tan you really are.
As out of place as a heap of snow that remains by a street lamp on a sunny April day long after all the other snow has melted.

"Butterfly"
Once you learn how to draw a butterfly, you just want to keep doing it. There is something calming and satisfying about drawing them. Maybe it has to do with the symmetry, and the curves of the wings.

"Doing Something"
It is so much easier to not do something than to do something. Even the smallest tasks, like filling out a Scholastic Books order form or putting away the butter, requires time, focus, and follow-through. It's astounding, actually, that anything gets done at all, by anyone.

But then, let's say you finally are prepared and determined to do that thing, whatever it is, but you wake up to find that your basement has flooded and you must spend your day making phone calls to the contractor, plumber, and carpet people. Or not that but something else - perhaps you must stand before a committee for approval, a committee that neither grasps your intent nor appreciates your ingenuity, and anyway, they are in a bit of hurry to break for lunch.

Yet. Still. Somehow. I am encouraged to see that despite the colossal effort, despite the odds against one, despite the mere constraints of time and schedules and sore throats, houses do get built, pottery gets glazed, e-mails get sent, trees get planted, shoes get reheeled, manifestos get Xeroxed, films get shot, highways get repaved, cakes get frosted, stories get told.

"Rainbows"
If rainbows did not exists and someone said wouldn't it be cool to paint enormous stripes of color across the sky you'd say yes that would be very cool - impossible, but very cool. Children are totally tuned in to the miracle of rainbows - that's why they are forever drawing them. [...] It would be nice to have some universal ritual connected with rainbows, along the lines of stray penny equals good luck, and car with one headlight equals, say, piddiddle/make a wish. Maybe: See a rainbow, eat a sugar cube. Or see a rainbow, put a dollar in a jar: then when you leave home at eighteen, your mother sends you off with your rainbow money...

"Toast"
I cannot stress this enough: One second your toast is fine, golden brown; the next second it is black.

"Sunny Day"
I stepped outside. It was bright, very bright and sunny. There was a long patch of yellow flowers across the street. The flowers were in full bloom, so alertly yellow, as if plugged in. I felt like I was in a Claritin commercial.

For more excerpts read here.