list three things every day that made me happy

1. I have stripped all the wallpaper in our house that I can reach

2. I took the afternoon off and watched tv

3. We got an early start on our after work/school errands and then had a nice dinner. I just want you all to know that there is a lot of underlying story about that that absolutely did not make me happy but that’s the good stuff I found in it

1. I stripped the paper off another room in our house

2. Lunch with my sister and 2 friends at the new restaurant that opened in town. I ate the whole yummy giant cheeseburger but almost none of the fries. Too burnt and greasy

3. My sister found her diary from her freshman year in high school and read it aloud to me. Great silly stuff

4. Good ideas at a meeting

1. I had to substitute-teach Sunday school but I managed to pull together a lesson and activity along the same line they’d been studying

2. The nice weather is holding out. It is much easier to get motivated and work hard when the sun is shining

3. Mom made a good dinner

I forgot one from Saturday…I got a package from WN! It was full of goodies including wine from her uncle’s winery. Yum!

1. The morning worship service was amazing

2. More stories. I got many ideas for new outreach services for our church. My sister and I mulled them over on the long ride home

3. Finally collapsing on the couch with a movie and popcorn. Aaah…

1. Coffees for the road

2. Meeting new people and sharing stories with them…listening to their stories and learning

3. Dinner out. I had some sort of cocktail with sage and lemon and gin that was very interesting

4. Sleeping in a hotel room, sans children, 5 pillows all to myself. Always makes for a marvelous night’s sleep

1. My sister called right before I headed out the door to take S&W to school and asked if I’d help in the library. I complained briefly but went upstairs to brush my hair…and was followed by mom who proclaimed that she’d go help in the library. So we went together. I think it was really good for my mom.
Then all afternoon, she kept asking about being a substitute teacher and wondering aloud about it. It gave me hope that maybe she has found something she could be interested in again

2. I drove by my house and saw the contractor’s truck there!

3. Cocktail hour laughs. My sister, Sarah, swore she heard ducks in a tree outside her window one time. Do ducks sit in trees? she wondered. Did you get up out of bed and go look or just lie there and wonder? She’s wacky

1. McDonald’s coffee, orange juice and sausage egg mcmuffin. I don’t care, it was good and I needed it

2. An email from Yukari with a picture of her daughter and their Halloween celebration…albeit without us, but I was happy that she thought of us

3. We ordered our kitchen. Go here to see a before picture

4. I felt better in the afternoon and was really productive though the point had been to work in the house all afternoon, at least I got other small things complete

1. I helped out at the school library again. It feels good to see and work with familiar faces

2. I bought stuff for tacos and my sister made them at her house

3. I am a saint. Ha! Well, I live with my mom and we’re all still alive so I’m doing something right…or not right…

1. Getting everything done that I wanted to despite changes in plan and roadblocks

2. On the drive home, the moon was low and full and bright and a V of geese flew by, squawking in the night. It was like a vision

3. Coming in the door to the smells of dinner. Sure, there are issues with the whole thing but it still smelled good

1. Church. All Saints’ Day so we had good hymns and read the names of all the “saints” we’ve lost from our congregation and community. Happy and sad

2. I worked all day stripping wallpaper. Neckbreaking work but Elizabeth stopped by and helped a little. It always goes better and faster with a friend to talk to and laugh with

3. Delicious pizza and a Coke for dinner