In honor of the
Brown family and Jalen's 16th birthday, I decided to make today's blog post a list of 16 things that make me happy. Sixteen things that I can see, touch, or am reminded of while sitting here at my computer. Here goes, in no particular order -
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My coffee cup |
1. Coffee, and more specifically, coffee in My cup. I absolutely LOVE my coffee cup and the rest of the family know not to touch it (actually, it's a "them." I have three. I used to have four, but we won't go into that because this is a post about happy things.) It holds two cups worth of coffee, the handle fits my hand perfectly, the cup itself is not too heavy and it keeps the coffee warm for quite a while. While this particular cup is showing signs of its long life (I've been using these cups daily for 14+ years) its original finish had that old world, scuffed and well loved look to it. I just love my coffee cup.
2. I have come to love the little scribbles the kids made on what used to be our dining room table but is now my desk. Back in the day, when the table was our dining room/homeschooling table, I was not pleased to find little hearts, stars and x's, "I hate math," "Klaine," (what is Klaine??) or even "Metallica" carved into it. But now, many years later, with homeschooling in our past and the kids all grown up and a new, unmarked dining room table in the dining room, I look at those markings and am instantly transported down memory lane. And it's a good lane to travel down.
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Minnie |
3. Minnie. Minnie always makes me smile. Even when she's only hanging out with me because she wants my sandwich.
4. Flip flops. Cheap flip flops. The kind that cost $1 at the grocery store are my favorite.
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Blue Skies |
5. Flip flop weather.
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Max |
6. Max. He is my constant companion and The biggest pain in the butt but I love him more than life itself. I even freely admit that he's my favorite. Just don't tell Minnie. She might get an attitude and eat my flip flops.
7. My
Passion Planner. I can't get over how much more I am accomplishing with help from my Passion Planner. Instead of Passion Planner, it should be called the Miracle Maker.
8. Knitting on the porch. This kind of goes along with flip flop weather except porch knitting is a slightly longer season.
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www.theringlady.com |
9. My new ring from
The Ring Lady. You'll have to remember that I am Not a photographer and take my word that it is much shinier in real life than it looks in the picture. Emerald is my birthstone and since I outgrew my birthstone ring in late middle school, I have always wanted another. I finally bought myself one last week at the Southern Women's show. The stones aren't real, but they look real, and for less than $40, I couldn't be happier. I've worn it every day since I got it and it doesn't show the first sign of wear and it is not turning me green. I couldn't be happier.
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theringlady.com |
This guy was our salesman. (Sarah got a ring too, for even less than mine and hers isn't turning her green either. Yay!) I can't believe I got a photo of him, but not his name. Good grief! He was super nice and extremely helpful without being the least bit pushy. If
The Ring Lady happens to see this, I hope she gives him a raise or a bonus, or at least a pat on the back. He deserves it!
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Magenta |
10. Magenta, Janet and Dr. Frank-N-Furter, my mannequins. Dr. Frank came to live with us first and got his name because he's a male mannequin but I slapped a dress on him so that he could model my sweaters. Magenta and Janet arrived later. It's easy to tell them apart because Janet has a weird discolored spot on her boob. Every time I'm using her in photographs, I get to say, "Dammit, Janet" and then I laugh and jump to the left.
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iTunes |
11. iTunes. Where would I be without iTunes? I seriously have no idea how we survived back in the day before iTunes. I love music and have extremely eclectic tastes that, as you can see, range from Frank Sinatra to Marilyn Manson and beyond. And while I'm talking about music, let me say a quick RIP to Prince. The news of his death was just breaking as I began typing this post.
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Office Mates |
12. My office mates. I just love these guys and smile every time I look up & see them sitting there on the shelf, never complaining about the fact that I tend to sing along to my music.
13. The Kindle app. I can't say that I love my actual Kindle so much anymore. It's old and tired and it takes 48+ hours to charge now days. But I sure do love the Kindle app. With the app, I can turn just about anything into a Kindle and read where ever I am.
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Seaweed Scarf |
14. Social media and the small world it creates. Social media is the most amazing thing. The other day, I was sitting in the mechanic's shop waiting for my car to be inspected. I was reading and knitting to pass the time.... Another customer came in and we began chatting. Nothing out of the ordinary, just chatting to pass the time... At some point, I'd snapped a photo of myself reading and knitting & posted it to Instagram. (I am SO loving having a phone that's smart & not dumb as a box of rocks.) When I got home, I peeked at my Facebook account & saw a post from the guy I'd been chatting with at the mechanic's place. It turns out, we're Facebook & Instagram friends but hadn't recognized each other in real life. What a small world!
15. My car. I may not be crazy about the way she looks, but damn if she don't run good. Two and a half years ago, I broke our 'Chevy's only' rule and bought a Nissan Altima. She was well used but seemed to be in good shape. She was also affordable. I bought her with the cash I'd saved up working a half a season at the local theme park. Two and a half years later, she passed another inspection without needing any repairs. I'd say I'm definitely getting my money's worth.
16.
Mini Mochi yarn. It's just so gloriously soft. I'm using Citron Mist to knit the scarf (pictured above) but my skeins don't have a color name printed on them & I've been calling it Seaweed. It's not the prettiest color I've ever seen, but it does remind me of seaweed and seaweed reminds me of the ocean and I love all things ocean related so.... Even though this isn't my all time favorite colorway, I love knitting with the yarn itself and I think the scarf will be quite snugly when it's done.
16.5 I'm sneaking this one in here. Don't laugh. I know I rank up there within the world's top poorest spellers. I had to look up how to spell "snugly" and guess what its definition is -
"
Full Definition of snug. snuggersnuggest. 1a of a ship : manifesting seaworthiness : tautb : trim, neatc : fitting closely and comfortably"
How cool is that. I had no idea snug also had a nautical meaning. I'm going to love snugly things even more now.