Seven Things That Make Me Happy

Since I am officially done my month  -- okay, six weeks, but whose counting -- of mourning for the passing of my grandmother I have decided I will devote today's blog post to sharing a few things that make me happy.

1) I am an eternal optimist.  I always see the glass half full.  Sometimes even 3/4 full.  My husband's favorite phrase is "Murphy Says" as in Murphy's Law.  This obviously puts us constantly at odds.  But you know what, I LIKE being an optimist.  I like believing the best in people; that my team will come from 21 down to win (WE ARE......); that most people are intrinsically good; that the toast will land jelly side up and that the tickle on my upper lip won't turn into a cold sore.  I want to look through my rose colored glasses and see the world as a pretty place.  And I don't ever think that will change.

2) I like twitter.  Using the fun page, How Long Have You Been Tweeting, I discovered that I've been tweeting since March 6, 2008.  That's 977 days.  Wow.

3) Baubles make me happy.  Shiny, sparkly, blingy things make me smile.  So much so that I started making my own jewelry.  Like for real this time, not just a one and done thing.  I'm starting my own line, to be called, "BIG GIRL BAUBLES".... primarily bracelets, the bane of every big girl's existence.  You know, the cute stretchy kind that, if not large enough, will cut off the circulation in your hand or leave really attractive squeeze marks on your arm, or worst of all pop scattering all your pretty bling to the four winds.  Links to the new store coming soon!  Meanwhile, here is a tiny sneak peak....

4) I like when the clocks change and it gets dark early.  Makes me feel all snuggly inside.  And candles with autumn scents; pumpkin, spice, cranberry, sage and all those other warm earthy scents.  Yum!

5) My job makes me happy.  I have the most amazing job in the entire world.  If someone told me to write down my dream job description I would  say "Social Media & Marketing for a Yarn Company".  How many people get to live their dream? Seriously?  I am incredibly lucky to have the opportunity I have been given and I hate the fact that sometimes I take it for granted.  Bad, bad me.



6) My Zune makes me happy.  I like that I don't have an iPod.  That I am not one of the pod people.  That being said, I do have serious iPad envy.  But I am especially happy that The Mighty Mighty Bosstones "The Impression That I Get" is playing right now as I type this.  I LOVE that song!




7) And last, but never least, my family makes me happy.  My husband is the most amazing provider in the world.  My kids make me smile, make me laugh and make me feel loved.  Even when I want to strangle them on occasion, they fill me with an indescribable joy and I am incredibly proud to be their momma.

So, what makes YOU happy?

p.s. Counting Crows "Round Here" just started -- my absolute favorite song ever.  See, happy.

What I found in my phone

So I own a Cliq phone, which I hate, save for the fact that is an android phone, which I love enough to make up for any other shortcomings the phone has.  I got the phone in December and I have just now FINALLY figured out how to upload photos using my usb cable.  I had tried in the past and failed, but for whatever reason, today it worked.  So I went thru and found some photos that I either wanted to share for a while now or some that I thought you just might enjoy seeing.  

This photo was taken today.  It is me & my kitten, Lunos.  Remember when I found this adorable kitten and it's littermates in the middle of the road?  And we named her "Luna"?  Well, last week Luna's testicles decided to descend, thus making a name change necessary.  Sparky calls him "Lunock" when he is evil -- what a good evil sounding name!  We also call him "Teeth and Claws" when he is being evil and "Fur and Purr" when he is being sweet.  Obviously this morning he was being his sweet snuggly self.

Speaking of Sweet & Snuggly, this is my middle son, Alex, commonly referred to as "medium" or "Calvin" or simply "A".  He is shown here with a girl he dated for about 10 minutes.  He seldom lets me take his photo, so this will have to do.  And yes, she IS wearing shorts, although it is hard to tell from the pic.

And this is my oldest son, O.  We really do call him O most of the time, although his given name is Orin.  He is also commonly referred to as "large".  He does indeed have a red afro & it is indeed epic.  It's actually even bigger now than it was in this photo -- believe it or not!

This is me; showing off a necklace & earring set that was given to me.  Sadly, the boo broke the necklace shortly thereafter.  But it's a pretty good pic of me -- well save for my hand in the photo.  

This was a fun night -- my first (and only, so far) fishbowl!!!  Sparky & I went to Maewyn's Irish Pub in downtown York, PA.  We met fantastic people and had a great time.  Any bar that has a frozen rail to keep your beer cold & has all the the brand specific beer glasses is good in Sparky's book.  And let me tell you about the fishbowl!  What fun!  They take the bottoms of all of the bottles and dump them in this HUGE glass dispenser thing. I should have taken a photo of that, since it was much more impressive than the fishbowl.  Next time, I promise.  Anyway, they dump the bottoms of the bottles as they get emptied (save for the scotch, which would be nasty) and then mix it with fruit juices and such.  Who knew want amounts to "bathtub juice" could be so delicious!  Oh, and the best part, $5.  That's right FIVE DOLLARS.  For the ENTIRE fishbowl. Now even I have the potential to be a cheap date!

So, the WikiReader.  Have you seen this thing?  I am thinking about getting one for my father-in-law, the king of curiousity.  If you have a computer, it's silly, but since they don't (nor do they want one, trust me, we have tried), I think he would really enjoy this.  From the WikiReader website:

Why Take Wikipedia Offline?

Because how can knowledge equal freedom

if people need a modem to get it?

People don't go to Wikipedia because they want to be on the Internet; they go there because they want to find answers and discover new questions. Of course, the best answers are never ends in themselves. They raise our curiosity and lead us down new avenues. They don't stop conversations but, rather, sustain them.

Similarly, each WikiReader experience is the beginning of something new. With more than three million interconnected articles in a completely offline, handheld package, the WikiReader is discovery, investigation, entertainment, and inspiration all rolled into one.

In keeping with Wikipedia's stated goal of:

“Providing a free encyclopedia to everyone on the planet.”

it has a touch screen that accommodates international keyboards, and uses widely available AAA batteries. And since the WikiReader never requires an Internet connection, it can deliver all of this to anyone, anywhere, at any time.

Turning a WikiReader on is easy. Turning it off is a different story.

SO, what do you think?  Do you know someone in your life who would benefit from something like this?  

More random; this is my not mounted in-dash GPS.  I love my car, I really do.  But it is a 2007.  Which means it doesn't have any of the built in fancy-schmancy that today's new cars have.  But I have solved the problem but jamming my GPS where my fuel gauge is located.  And since I am very conscientious about my gas tank levels (don't laugh, I really am!), it's not a problem living there.  I am sure I am not doing the cord any favors jamming it in there like that, but for now, it works for me!

And finally, a photo of waiting for the bus, Day #2.  As you can see, my ability to get a good photo still is lacking, but at least he is having fun waiting.  I am going to try to take one of these photos every day and send them to daddy in the morning.  Plus I just like all of his new back to school outfits!

Pheww!  That's a lot of sharing for one post!  If you made it this far, yay!  Go get yourself a cookie -- you deserve it!!!

wow, two months? really?

I know I hadn't blogged in a while, but I cannot fathom that it has been two months. There is entirely too much to even begin to do a catch up, but I'll hit you with the highlights.

* there has been much knitting
* Beastie is happy in his new classroom
* there has been spinning
* I am going to be working at stitches next weekend
* medium played varsity golf
* my PT Cruiser is up for sale
* Penn State is undefeated
* Red Lion beat Dallastown
* My nephew was born (happy, healthy & gorgeous)
* medium got his driver's license
* Beastie has adjusted well to his meds and we are seeing improvements
* I started getting allergy shots weekly
* I still plurk constantly
* I started a garden at Molehill Empire
* I went to the Big City Reunion
* medium got a bass guitar
* sparky still works too much, but it has gotten a little better
* I am seriously committed to buying a house on the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico when we retire
* I have read the entire "twilight" saga, save for "breaking dawn" which I am 2/3 finished
* I'm not sure if I'm going to my 20th high school reunion or not

Okay, that's all I can think of at the moment. Right now I've got either a seriously bad 3 day long allergy attack or a cold, I'm not sure which, but either way, I'm off to bed soon. I've missed you, blog land -- pics with the next post.