Happy Things

I've been a bit down in the dumps lately, having had a stressful fall and holiday season, then finding myself falling behind with a number of my commitments. But I'm slowly emerging and getting back on track. With that in mind, here are a few things that have made me HAPPY lately!

Almost nothing makes me happier than PROGRESS on my to-do list. I finally accomplished a biggie: I dismantled my Dickens Village and put it all away...along with all the other Christmas decorations which were in various piles in the basement. This was no small undertaking, as I always take the opportunity to re-organize as I go. Now that it's FEBRUARY (HA!) it feels good to have Christmas packed away. Hey, there's almost time to get out a few Valentine's Day decorations!

Another thing that makes me HAPPY is Thai food, especially spicy basil. I love it so much that I am reluctant to order anything else! We enjoyed a trip to one of the many good Thai restaurants around town last weekend.

Here's another bit of HAPPINESS -- actually 200 bits: My 200 October Afternoon buttons from Peachy Cheap arrived last week! I love these buttons because they are solid (not clear) and many of them have little details like raised edges or patterns. I rarely buy from Peachy Cheap, but I could not resist this button deal!

Another thing making me HAPPY is that I finally made a scrapbook page, after a way-too-long hiatus. One of my goals is to get back on track with my personal scrapbooking, so here's to progress! This page features a cell phone picture of my daughter with a saxophone around her neck. Being a percussionist, it's really strange (but wonderful!) to see her learning wind instruments. This page is about the "new horizons" she's exploring at IU's Jacobs School of Music.

We had another small snow event last week, and it happened to be on a day that I was home working on projects in my craft room. I absolutely LOVE crafting on days when it's rainy or snowy. This view from my craft room window made me very HAPPY!

And here's another thing which makes me extremely HAPPY: Our nighttime deer visitors! Every few nights sometime between 10:30pm and 2am, three or more deer saunter through our neighborhood. Sometimes they stop and lie down in our yard. It's such a treat to see these beautiful animals! On this particular night, there were SEVEN deer, and I rushed to grab a picture with my phone as they crossed the street. The photo turned out completely black, but after I lightened it in Picasa, you can see them! It sort of looks like one of those sketchy "crime buster" type photos but I can assure you, these deer were on their best behavior!

Here's to less stress and many more HAPPY moments in the weeks to come!

jp