14,000 things to be happy about

Perseid meteor showers
turning off all the lights except those on the Christmas tree
playing hooky to do something you don’t ordinarily have time for
uncovering an unexpected patch of wildflowers
practicing speaking French
enlarging a favorite photo
alternating between reading a novel and looking at the hilltop skyline
getting mail
the secret urge to expedite the person ahead of you through a revolving door
rain at night, if you’re safe in bed
the ability of parents to guide their small children around by the tops of their heads
unread textbooks
crazy kids
cold hands
making clarinets squeak
buying T-shirts and short-sleeve shirts on the first day of spring, and then having a blizzard on that night
feeling blue
overdue library books
the gap in the dressing room curtain that can never be completely closed
having an unfortunate knack for approaching a set of double doors and always pushing the locked one

"why i ♥ jesse"

her smile
her cute nose
her laugh
her smell
tiny;cute hands
her legs
her bitchen hair
her eyes
her soft voice
her soft everything
her sweet kisses
her hard shell
her soft middle
"squishy squish"
shes my babe
shes romantic
shes raw
shes emotional
shes honest
shes outgoing
shes sweet
shes cute
no; gorgeous
alright; sexy
and because she ♥ me too

[from the words of tatum i would suppose; i would write more, but there would be nothing left for me to cherish about her]

before i was a mom

Before I was a Mom I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby. I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations. Before I was a Mom I had never been puked on. Pooped on. Chewed on. Peed on. I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts. I slept all night. Before I was a Mom I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried. I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep. Before I was a Mom I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put them down. I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt. I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much. I never knew that I could love someone so much. I never knew I would love being a Mom. Before I was a Mom I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body. I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby. I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child. I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy. Before I was a Mom I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay. I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom. I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much before I was a Mom.

14,000 things to be happy about

a suit made to order
50s music
designing billboards
fish fries
"Out to din-din" signs
putting on the soundtrack of a favorite Broadway show and singing it in the shower
Saturday lunch for leaf-rakers
watch fobs
watching the winning touchdown
waterfront properties in Maine
trammel=adjustable, two-piece pothook
after shower cologne
children's toy ovens
"Its better to ask your way twice than lose your way once"
butter-crumbled eggs
cotton-velor terry wrap robes
eating all your snack-bar items before the movie starts
sauntering
getting carried away
hot sauce chugging
the pounding of a hammer
slumberousness
true, lasting values
spun glass
blue for delphiniums, inky dark lobelia, the sea and the sky
the many positions you take when trying to read an article and there is not enough light

14,000 things to be happy about

personality profiles
Marshall Field's store, Chicago
strawberry-peach pie
throwing the bouquet
a wire basket filled with leafy green ferns and eggs
working on a project
across-the-breast watch chains
Bart Starr, football player
attic junk
chrome-baned tables
curling up on a chaise lounge with a word search and a cup of tea
November chills
"in the red"
horse-show ribbons on the wall
insulated food totes
moss-laden terra-cotta pots of geraniums
watching children play
mushrooms stuffed with spinach, capers and cheese
pasta with prosciutto and peas
test tubes
washing the car mats
a shrug of the shoulder when things don't get done
hot peppers threaded along a string in a kitchen

14,000 things to be happy about

stopping being a perfectionist
wall storage systems
Rhode Island: Newport, mansions, breakers, yachts, Block Island
tropical fruits
two-handed backhands
heinz tomato ketchup
an old Welsh dresser
broiled fish topped with slices of lemon and cut-up parsley with browned butter around it
cloudy days and sunny thoughts
a portable aluminum camp grill
crocheted bedspreads
floating poinsettias
working better in dull weather
food gifts
frosted glass ceilings and pink-capped chandeliers
ghost stories and marshmallows by the fire
paper logs
apple beer
apple squares with cream cheese
Copenhagen
happy feelings emanating from the kitchen
parallel and crisscross styles of lacing

14,000 things to be happy about.....

hollow-stemmed Pilsner glasses
building a model car
dainty fruit dishes
doing your own thing
flickering gaslights
a 10-gallon jug of fruit salad
lakeside roads with farm stands offering apples, pumpkins, pears and other fruit and vegetables
making friends with the police
passing notes
"skit night" at camp=oh the memories of wawona
jellyrolls
flipping the record-selection flaps on the jukebox until told to stop
nylon tennis panties
splendid "dunkers" with coffee
allowances
halcyon= calm, peaceful, happy, golden, prosperous, affluent
rosemary= remembrance
fried rice
competence
hymn-sings
dim, low hanging factory lamps
a candle lit room
hemming your clothes
smooth, muscular arms
snorkeling
homemade cider jelly
long hands
miniature artichokes
pink butcher's paper
Montego Bay, Jamaica
10 cent ferry rides
window spray de-icer
winter as a master miniaturist
candy-stripe shirts, unironed
cinnamon coffeecake
snow outlining the elements of trees' architecture
dinner with laughter
funny toes
knowing there will be many surprises in the future
stuffing a phone booth with people
rooms with polished pine floorboards and door jambs that tilt and slant and extra touches like silk flowers and current issues of antique and wildlife magazines
snow white carpeting
sports-art galleries

some more things to be happy about....

French playing cards
french toast, butter, powdered sugar
open-weave
the cinema
leaves to sniff: pennyroyal, dill, bergamot, sage, geranium
fruits to smell: early apples, fresh strawberries
Italian cheese toast
peach/banana/cream, yellow/pink/gray, sand color combinations
yankee ingenuity
ties the width of lobster bibs
uneven parallel bars
viewing every day surroundings with a tourists eye
the delicious smell of cooking food and the hustle and bustle of the preparation
the ketchup that collects at the lip of the bottle
Welcome Back Kotter
an eat-in-the-rough restaurant
cherry tomatoes
driving under an overpass during a storm
chew face or smash mouth=kiss
fresh ginger muffins
coffee steeped with cinnamon sticks and cloves then iced
regional offerings on the menu
bags of magic tricks
eight hours of sleep
lying on your back in a snowy field and making and snow angel
paintboxes
building a bed frame
spinach and sour cream omelets
an idyllic quiet broken only by the ripple of the stirring water, the splash of fish rising to flying insects, and the crackle of a driftwood fire
stickpins
thin slices of radish, pepper, sweet butter on sliced french baguette
white cupcakes with multicolor sprinkles
stilt-legged wharves
writing a screenplay
aging and stew or soup
animals and toys for a nursery
the Florida Keys
Amish buggies
briefcases

14,000 things to be happy about.....

I am going to write a few things every day (up to 14,000) that people should be, or most people that is, happy about.

A stream-of-consciousness list
pajamas at breakfast
reed-fringed lagoons
seeing the moon rise
the feel of a rug under bare feet
sweet fresh corn and tender baby lima beans, drenched with cream
the "snuggle right in" feeling
a lake catching the last flecks of sunlight coming in over the pines
the position of your head as you bite into a taco
shadows cast by shutters against a shiny white wall
a small music box
moderation
starting to make things happen
a baby's first tooth
teakettles
sweet potato souffle with miniature marshmallows and raisins
brass-decorated cash registers
clam-strewn sandbars
headphones
a baseball game going into extra innings
the groan of ice on a lake when the temperature has flirted with zero all week
babies who never cry
orchestras
a boat tour to see a picturesque little ocher-and-red villas
brand-new notebooks
pachyderms
Staffordshire calico dinnerware
braiding gimp at camp
picnic-cooler colors
a rich spiced chocolate drink
the eastern seaboard
babies who cry
medallions bearnaise
old-time radio shows
red-carpet treatment
toddlers' vocabulary

Okay.... thats good for today. Enjoy some pictures of Breezy while you ponder these pretty neat things.