New Beginnings

Today, I am grateful for new beginnings.

It is the end of a decade, and what a decade it was! It has been a decade of loss and a decade of discovery; a decade of learning, both academically and learning about what matters most to me in life. It has been a decade of love and growth and a decade of understanding as I came to know the heights of joy and the depths of sorrow. It has been quite a decade, and now that the end approaches within the hour, I find myself grateful for the opportunity to start 2010 with a clean slate and the promise of new beginnings. I cling to the hope- the faith- that the lessons I have learned in the past ten years have prepared me to move forward into a new life, and that God will guide my path as I move forward. I pray now that all those I love will find joy in the coming year and decade and that, at this juncture a year from now, we will all have found happiness in our intended journeys.

So, what made you happy today?

Laughter

Today, I am grateful for laughter.

When you hold your breath for a really long time, there is nothing more satisfying than that first, lung filling breath that comes when you can't take it any more. The same holds true for seriously laughing after not having done so for quite some time. Of course, I've laughed watching television or reading books in recent weeks, but it wasn't until I had lunch with my mom today at the mall that I realized how desultory my attempts at laughter have been of late. Once I found my laughter sweet-spot, though, nothing was stopping me. Later, when I got home, I almost immediately got a phone call from one of my best friends. We talked for almost two hours, and in that time, there were very few moments when we weren't laughing, prompting him to observe:
"We are very easily amused, aren't we?". I don't even remember what we were talking about. Ponies, politics and tacos, maybe? Anywho, it felt really good to laugh that hard, for that long. Give it a try...it really IS the best medicine!!

So, what made you happy today?

Warm, Cozy Bedrooms

Today, I am grateful for warm, cozy bedrooms.

Okay, so this isn't a picture of my bedroom, but it is a picture of my dream bedroom, and since I was sick today, I had a lot of time laying around in my actual bedroom dreaming of my dream one. If I could pick a good day to be sick, today was definitely that day. Outside my windows, it was snowing and blowing the way it only snows and blows in Western New York, and since I couldn't leave the house on account of the bad roads I'm no longer used to driving on, it made sense to give in to the stomach bug I had picked up somewhere and just stay in bed. It was very nice and, admittedly, something I've been longing to do for a while; just laying in bed, under warm blankets and warmer cats with cozy pillows and a pile of books. Maybe it wasn't the best circumstance under which to discover the blessing of a warm bedroom, but it was what I needed today, and for that, I am grateful.

So, what made you happy today?

New Running Shoes

Today, I am grateful for new running shoes.

After years of wanting to learn how to run, I decided that I was going to do it right this time. Being a consummate researcher, I determined that I should approach this endeavor as I would most other things. To that end, I have interviewed the runners in my life as to how they got started, read a ton of articles online, and finally, went and got fitted for a new pair of running shoes. What I ended up with are the Cohesion NX shoes by Saucony, and I am so happy I took the time to figure out what would be best for my feet instead of just getting the first pair of shoes that aesthetically appealed to me. I love them. Running in my new shoes makes me feel like I am flying, and applying all the other advice I have been given, I am running longer and longer every day without getting side stitches, shin-splints and without running out of breath. How fun!

So, what made you happy today?

Barnes and Noble Gift Cards

Today, I am grateful for Barnes and Noble gift cards.

Okay, so maybe it isn't a "simple pleasure" per say, but since it's the day after Christmas, I thought I would give a shout out to one of my gifts. For years and years, I worked at bookstores, and during that time, I sold hundreds -maybe even thousands- of gift cards and watched as customers redeemed even more. It always seemed that there was some sort of indescribable pleasure that came from using one of these little treasures, but, alas, I was never given one myself. Later, I was told that people didn't give these as gifts to me because they thought that, since I worked with books all the time, I would be sick of them and would want something else.

Me? Sick of books? Pshaw!!!

So, anyhow, yesterday, for the first time in my life, I was given a Barnes and Noble gift card. Thank you cousins Jody and Joanna!!! You've made my dreams come true!!

Merry (belated) Christmas to all!

So, what made you happy today? (or yesterday?)

Old Books

Today, I am grateful for old books

This morning, I awoke to the most wonderful smell. No, it wasn't coffee being brewed, bacon being fried, or cinnamon rolls being baked; instead, the wonderful smell that greeted me this morning was that of the old leather bound pages of my 1906 edition of Everybody's Magazine. Last night, I fell asleep reading this old tome and, upon waking, I discovered it right where I must have left it; on the pillow, right next to my head.

I love the entire tactile experience of old books. This is something that a "Kindle" or downloading a book to a computer can never replicate. There is the smell, which comes from the contributing factors of the materials used in creation of the book and the influences of the environment in which the book has lived its life. Smelling an old book can be like discerning the different notes of a fine perfume; the base note is the old leather, paper and glue of the book itself; the middle note is that supplied by the years of being stored in a box in grandma's basement; the top note, a delicate blend of the remaining hints of grandpa's pipe smoke and dust. Just as type sets, paper stock and embellishments differ from book to book, so do their scents. So, today, I am grateful for old books and their deeply visceral link to the past.

What made you happy today?

Mac and Cheese with Hot Dogs

Today, I am grateful for boxed mac and cheese with chopped up hot dogs mixed in.

Sometimes, it feels good to eat like a five year old again. Those who know me well might describe me as a bit of a "foodie"; I enjoy trying new things, am pretty open-minded in my food adventures (though, I draw the line a readily-identifiable filter organs, i.e., liver and kidneys)and I am not one to turn my nose up at any form of ethnic food. I love fancy, artisan cheeses. I do back flips for anything that hails from the Mediterranean or Middle East. Despite this, though, I am still a sucker for good ole American comfort food, and nothing screams "comfort food", in that salty, processed, nuclear-family-1950s-sort-of-way more than boxed mac and cheese with chopped up hot dogs mixed in. Yum. I mean, really, even the process of making this mess on a plate is comforting in its mindless simplicity. Follow the direction on the back of the box to make the mac and cheese. Boil the hot dogs in the pasta water. Chop up the hot dogs. Mix it all together. Eat. The only thing that makes this tasty meal better would be a side of green Jello with bananas chopped up in it. See a theme here?

So, what made you happy today?