"Creating ways to be happy is your life's work, a challenge that won't end until you die."
--Martha Beck
*Writing a grocery list on a yellow pad with a lavender flair tip pen.
*My purple yoga mat and block. Not that I've been using them for yoga...but the mat is very nice to sit on while cleaning, doing a project, or organizing kitchen cabinets. And we can use it under a blanket to pad the wood floor for Oliver's play time!
*Glade Sugar Plum room spray. It appeared at Christmas time, and others must have discovered it too because I was only able to find one can during the whole season!
*My silver seahorse hooks I use to hang necklaces (just out of the kitties' reach).
*Children in Tasha Tudor art.
*Susan Branch drawings of anything from straw hats and strawberries...and her stickers especially.
*Corinne Bailey Rae's songs...so mellow whether cheery or melancholy.
*How my pink lampshade makes darkened rooms look rosy.
*Paying a chunk toward credit cards (even if it won't make much of a difference).
*Putting a chunk in savings (which feels much more obviously helpful than the above).
*Having plenty of clean laundry.
*Josh Groban singing "You Raise Me Up."
*Having more than one pretty, satisfying-today outfit to choose from.
*My Cinderella print with the blue striped matting (we got a discount because the ivory frame was a bit scratched).
*Having postage stamps in an easy-to-find location.
*The royal blue velvet, silver silky-lined, silver sparkle trimmed cape my mom made some eighteen years ago for my dark-haired doll.
*A newly remade bed (especially if Josh did it. He always has a great attitude about this).
*Josh putting up pictures and posters.
*The rubber mat in our tub. It's ugly, but it's kept me from slipping since my balance got funky.
*Having an aux jack in the car.
*Having readers (or clickers) in a thirty-two countries. No way!
*Being able to tell my mom about the best kind of ponytail holders and where to buy shelf paper.
*Rabbit kisses. Button and Otter (Mom's bunnies) don't really do this anymore, but they were generous as babies.
*A fridge that smells like cold pizza (because I ordered pizza).
*Examining my large belly and betrayed-looking belly button in the hall mirror.
*Feeling Oliver's head under my hand when he rolls around.
*Writing on Josh's hand.
*Eating pudding before 10 a.m.
*Finding room for my shoes (so far).
*The green plastic crate Melissa decorated with my name in purple foam letters.
*The nice new purple cat tower Josh bought to replace the very nasty, five-year-old one we had. The cat hair and crusted cat nip were bearable, but the spilled diet soda was the end.
*Finally reading a book I really should have read one hundred years ago.
*The fact that Peter Facinelli is nice.
*Cinnamon toothpaste and dental floss.
*Journals by Papaya.
*Pink roses on a pale green background.
*Josh drinking tea.
*My silver Tinkerbell ring from Disneyworld (even though my fingers are too swollen to wear it right now).
*Actually throwing away a dry pen instead of just putting it back in the cup and hoping it will work eventually.
*Finding the throw pillows (hot pink silky with purple velvet Aurora and Prince Phillip silhouette, blue silky with dark blue velvet Cinderella and Prince silhouette, green embroidered, purple embroidered, and lavender velvet with icicle beads) that had been packed up for months.
*My sparkly silver and pink VH-1 Save the Music makeup bag.
*Glitter powders that smell like blackberry, peppermint, and marshmallow.
*Finding a really distinctive pair of shoes in a really practical color.
*My small, heart-shaped pillow that perfectly supports my knees, neck, or lower back. I could use more.
*Bath and Body Works selling home stuff at Valentine's Day (like the heart-shaped pillow and a stationery set in a red, envelope-shaped box).
*Having a big stack of magazines to leaf through at my leisure.
*Eating sunflower seeds with my mom at the pool.
*Bringing over a big box of Panera pastries on my mom's birthday.
*Love notes Josh writes to me as he watches me waddle back and forth to the bathroom (with Oliver's happy feet, this trail stays well-traveled at night).
*A Subway club on wheat with tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, and avocado.
*Making a ton of pasta salad or fried rice and not having to cook for a few days.
*Owning most of my favorite movies.
*Looking back at lists of books I've read.
*Looking back at lists of books to read and finding that I've read some of them since I made the list.
*Looking at a display at a bookstore and seeing several familiar covers.
*Floor space where boxes used to be.
*Someone picking up our trash and recycling. The magic just doesn't fade.
*Having a recycling bin as big as our trash bin.
*This photo:
