1,000 Joys: Part 7.

1. Days of the week mats in hospital elevators
2. AAA when a tire is flat
3. Mom's crab dip
4. The rubbery handles on my water bottles--easy to carry
5. Cherry Sprite from Sonic
6. Musical theatre--for me, it's like magic every time
7. Amtrak daydreams
8. The colorful drawer knobs on my awesome desk
9. Surprising help from family members and friends
10. A sheet of college-ruled paper
11. Paper Source--the name does not express the shop's whimsy
12. Papaya!--a gorgeous stationery and accessories company
13. Tiny treasures in my Christmas stocking--one of the best bits of the year
14. Someone's saying, "I'll  take care of it."
15. My precious pink baby blanket, surprisingly sturdy all these years
16. James Taylor's singing, "River."
17. Composition books in their many forms
18. Ice in a beverage
19. People who are kind on the phone
20. The fact that I've never wanted to try substances
21. Oliver's being verbal
22. Egg salad sandwiches
23. Front-row seats to Phantom
24. Grace
25. Blue markers

1,000 Joys: Part 6.

1. Rosebuds
2. Josh's cursive
3. The snowflake dishes Melissa gave me when I was eighteen
4. The new tiny freckles around Oliver's nose
5. Spotting Disney Princess items in stores
6. Wild violets popping up in the grass
7. Amy Brown's fairy art--a joyous teenage discovery
8. The Dancing Moon shop in Boone
9. Pentel metallic gel pens
10. Gelly Roll Stardust pens
11. The fox dress socks I gave to Josh
12. The fun of choosing and giving gifts
13. Cinnamon mints
14. Cinnamon floss
15. Fringe journals
16. Honey-scented bubble bath
17. Honey on warm, buttered biscuits
18. Cracker Barrel with Mom
19. TGI Fridays with Bruce
20. MST3K with Josh
21. My dad's taping my childhood plays (not that I want to watch them!)
22. The overpowering scent of cinnamon in stores near the holidays
23. The word wonder
24. The word delight. The words taste like what they mean.
25. Bubbles

1,000 Joys: Part 5.

1. Bubble bath!
2. Bath bombs, especially those with rings inside!
3. Unicorn and mermaid trends
4. The thrill of completing a journal
5. GoodReads
6. Discovering that one of my favorite authors has a new book out
7. The words on my duvet cover: Hope, Peace, Love, Imagine, Joy...
8. My princess-y bed-white metal with fancy curling
9. My pink coasters with Audrey Hepburn quotations on them
10. My inhaler
11. Uplifting Christmas carols
12. "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"--my favorite carol
13. My cousins. They're turning out so cool.
14. Snowflake ornaments
15. Price stickers that peel off easily
16. Jimmy Fallon. I love his laugh.
17. Back tickles from Josh
18. Oliver's singing songs we've listened to together
19. Mom's washing my hair after hair dye. Soothing.
20. Remembering to wear one of my necklaces
21. The pink velvet seats at the Peace theatre
22. A kiss on the inside of my wrist
23. Dangerous Angels, probably my favorite book
24. Lotion on itchy-dry skin
25. Checking off a book on GoodReads for all to see!

1,000 Joys: Part 4.

1. The sensation of a clean face
2. Finding a stray bit of glitter
3. Hot pink metallic eyeliner
4. Oliver's team: doctors, technician, teachers, and therapists
5. Dark denim
6. Writing in a journal and finding a sticker I haven't had for years
7. New release bays at libraries
8. Changing the calendar page
9. A sudden comment from a Borders friend
10. The book awareness from working at a bookstore
11. Memories of stick-on earrings
12. Sonic ice
13. Color names--crayons, nail polish, eyeshadow, lipstick...
14. Memories of tiny blue-tailed lizards
15. Falling into a reading flow state
16. Teal file folders and purple hanging folders
17. Cherry Sprite at Sonic
18. Having an abundance of blankets
19. Making my therapist laugh
20. Writing on a white board with a royal blue marker
21. Showing silly videos to Josh
22. Ice and water dispensers on fridges. They're like magic!
23. A book so good that I look forward to time with it
24. Seahorses!
25. Holding hands

1,000 Joys: Part 3.

1. Thunder--when I'm indoors
2. The fragments of color in a faux opal
3. Good morning texts from Bruce every day
4. Colorful cardstock paper
5. Water on my neck and arms after a walk
6. Oliver's muttering while he eats
7. Cold water from the fridge in the middle of the night
8. Josh's saying, "That's fantastic," when something's really funny
9. Michael Crawford's voice
10. Billy Joel's voice
11. Kevin Spacey in general
12. Oliver's arranging his shoes and socks just so after taking them off
13. The memorable texture of my dearest friend Keely's hair
14. Smelling like bubble bath
15. Jeremy Sumpter as Peter Pan--perfect!
16. A burning scented candle
17. Having everything in my Google calendar
18. Pink polka dots
19. Having a husband who is a super reader (even if I envy him)
20. Easy left turns--real gifts!
21. Looking at journals at Barnes
22. Peter Pauper Press journals
23. Mermaid stickers
24. Magic Shell
25. Red and pink hearts

1,000 Joys: Part 2.

1. Door knockers
2. Pretty skeleton keys
3. Susan Branch's handwriting
4. Watermelon, a newly discovered joy
5. Sonic's ice
6. A vanilla milkshake
7. My mint green Shabby Chic blanket
8. Oliver sitting in his school chair with his coloring sheet
9. Strangers' telling us we're such a cute family
10. Oliver's slowly spelling his name
11. Jeans that fit
12. My Madame Alexander Cinderella doll from Mom
13. Flowers at the grocery store
14. "Game of Jones"
15. Ava Ryan (tiny comedian)
16. Pancakes with pecans or walnuts
17. Crab rangoons
18. Season theatre tickets
19. Re-watching favorite movies with a friend
20. Watching Oliver put together a puzzle
21. Reading a children's book I missed
22. Amazon recommendations
23. Baby ducks in our pond
24. Foaming  hand soap
25. Testing eyeshadow and liner on my wrist

1,000 Joys: Part 1

I'm reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. This is the first book I've been able to read in weeks (okay, months). It's given me new thoughts about the power of gratitude. The author, over time, made a list of 1,000 gifts in her journal. I've decided to try that too, but I'm calling my list "1,000 Joys." I don't know how long it will take me, and I'm sure I'll have repetitions. I'm going to keep the list in my journal and then share it with you. Here's Part 1:

1. The approach of fall
2. The blue knit hat that my mom made for me
3. The black pen that has white ends like a magician's wand
4. Foxberry Road and other pretty street names I pass
5. Inks, jewel-like in glass bottles
6. Puff tissue with lotion
7. Red seedless grapes
8. Our washer and dryer--miraculous!
9. Oliver's singing the chorus of "Just Another Day" from Next to Normal
10. Oliver's singing anything
11. Cedar wood
12. My big pink water bottle
13. Pretty pouches full of pens
14. The egret that visits our pond
15. Turtles sunning themselves
16. Sesame Street and muppets, which make both my boys happy
17. Stretchy pants
18. Sunshine naps
19. Oliver's teacher's saying, "He had a good day!"
20. A big cobb salad with lots of avocado
21. Twice-baked potatoes
22. Falling asleep right when I'm sleepy
23. Sticky flags with book characters on them
24. Lip gloss that sparkles
25. My faux lavender rose in a glass Dr. Pepper bottle