So, there are things that are especially making me smile right now. And I thought I’d make a list (ala Oprah’s gratitude journals from years ago because- let’s face it- we need some smiles right now).
Here’s my current I heart you list…
Strawberry cake with vanilla icing. I made one Saturday night when my sister, her hubby, and my sweet as peas little niece and nephew came to town. We all gobbled it up.
Lola and her obsession with licking children and battering their faces with her enthusiatically wagging tail.
Pro football season. Go Panthers with your four and one record.
Garinger High School football. I taught at Garinger throughout the late 90s and that place was and is my heart. The football team hadn’t won a game on the field since 2002 until this past Monday night when they won a game handily– 31-7. I cried when I saw the news. Go Wildcats!
Football season weather. Can’t get enough of these perfectly temperatured days. Love me some 70s.
Our new stained glass. I just love it. Seeing it hanging on the front porch makes me smile everytime I come home.
Pumpkin bread season. Whoever invented pumpkin bread deserves a gold star. And cream cheese frosting? Two gold stars.
Brach’s candy corn. I am all about the holiday candy: Brach’s candy corn, Bob’s candy canes, and Brach’s jelly beans. Are you sensing a theme? A sugar theme. Yeah, I can’t really hide my sweet tooth.
The amazing women in my body image class at UNCC. They are interesting, honest, vulnerable, willing to be challenged and just a delight.
My niece and nephew. They make me so happy, even when they are bad. My niece is 16 months old and is terribly discerning. She says, “uh oh” right before she does something bad like throw something on the floor from her high chair (or headbutting her brother for taking something out of her hand), and I quietly crack up at the way that she is just like my sister– even if people comment on how my sisters’s kids look like me. My nephew ( 2 1/2 years old) is all sugar– sweet as sweet can be most times (when he isn’t ganking a ball from his sister). “Come here, Lolo,” he said all weekend, sometimes with his voice breaking in desperation if Lola was not right up against him. And he likes to say, “Okay” when you ask him if he wants something and the answer is yes. “Want me to carry you, buddy?” “Okay,” he answers. Ah, they make me grin.
There.. ten things that are making me happy these days. What’s on your list?
