Happy

What Makes Me Happy

• What makes me happy? I used to write 'Thankful Lists' once every few weeks. I still get them from my sister sometimes and they themselves make me feel happy. I don't write thankful lists with items like 'my existence in a community where I am loved and accepted for who I am, yet corrected when I have stepped out of line' or 'the balance of natural and man-made creations, resulting in an ease filled life.' I'm not saying my sister does either. Her thankful lists are definitely a lot deeper than mine but they don't sound corny like my examples.

Here I go again. Procrastinating. Elaborating on something that should be simple.

The happy list of my day/week/year/life

•Sewing - the new dresses I cannot leave in my closet til the day of the event they were sewed for, the bookmarks, bags, quilts, shirts, etc. I make with many scraps I have accumulated, my beloved little sewing machine that finally quit a few months ago. I made it work hard for 5 years.

•Long quiet drives. Just me, the road, and my book. Meandering down dark city lanes or lonely gravel roads. Long quiet hours. Just me, my thoughts, my book, wandering down the driveway on a lazy Sunday afternoon or winging dreamily in my hammock.

•2-year-olds who wrap their arms around you, their little hand absentmindedly patting your back, who run to the door when they see your car coming down the driveway and open the door, grinning at you. Who can talk a blue streak without real words. Who get very excited tones in their voice and point their little fingers at the 'mume' (moon) whenever they can see it.

•Deliciousness like cheesecakes and brie with maple bacon and goat cheese and pesto and corn dip and generally anything creamcheesey or just cheesey.

•The time of evening when the sun leaves us for the day and the sky lights up in a different rainbow of colors every evening. And then the stars. The dark. The 'mume'. Give me a small fire, a few people to softly chatter and laugh in the backround, and a sky full of stars and I'm happy. Or the few early hours of an exceedingly warm day and small patch of Rapids to stare and wonder at.

•Playing baseball or volleyball or hockey with my friends. There's competition and encouragement but no real boohing when someone messes up. Sitting around the fire with them, singing, chatting, joking. These are the people who I've grown up with. We've been friends <or frenemies> since we were kids and we know each others' quirks and oddities and we enjoy their presence because of that.

•My two jobs.
    -Mowing lawns for people I only know by how they keep their yards. Dripping with sweat on somedays (feels like +39) and dripping with rain on other days when the clouds unexpectedly decide to open upon us and force us into the trailer for a few minutes. I love being able to spend at least a few of my days outside.
    -The last three days of my week are spent in an office, answering phones and cleaning and doing anything small-business receptionists do. I didn't like the job at first but I have become a lot more comfortable with my coworkers and the aspects of the job and have been given more responsibilities as my abilities have magnified and I am happy to have this job with these people. I have actually sometimes started to look forward to the phone ringing.

• Family time in the form of a 6 hour truck ride, the girls in the back, giggling over things that most of us would just have rolled our eyes at had we not been riding together for a few hours. My sister who made herself at home in our house that used to also be hers and helped herself to my closet for the afternoon cuz she knew I wouldn't care. My other sister who comes from a bit farther and does the same thing, for a bit longer. And the days and evenings I spend yammering to them and they have no other choice but to listen.