The first seven days.

I've been having trouble finding little joyful things in life lately.  I don't think I'm really having a depression episode, there have just been so many tiny, stressful things worming their way through my brain and heart. I've been looking for a way to do better about counting my blessings (the "1000 gifts" app didn't really work out for me), and I do ok with keeping up with blogging projects. Shelley over at Unforced Rhythms of Grace posted recently about finding happy little things every day for 100 days, and being sure to share about them. Since I saw her post, I've been seeing the hashtag #100happydays pop up in other places, but I'm still crediting Shelley for giving me the idea to participate, since I heard about it first from her!
I think it would be challenging to try to do an individual post each day, so instead I'm going to do a weekly post. That way there will only be a few entries to read (and write) rather than a hundred. I'm starting at the beginning of the week, Sunday.

May 18: Got a new cell phone. I really didn't want to count this because of all the drama I had to go through to get it (facebook friends may have noticed my mini-rants recently about how my 7 month phone just completely gave up on me over the weekend), but I really am happy about it. We were able to work out something affordable, I got an iPhone (which is kind of exciting in itself), and going to get my phone meant I got to spend some unexpected time with my mom this weekend. That's always a bonus!

May 19: After a crazy night at work, I got a message from Hannah sharing some photos of her little boy with me. I decided to send him one of my stuffed animals from a favorite movie, Ratatouille, because she had mentioned recently that he really liked it. I love my rats and hunted all over Disney World two years ago, and this plush Remy is the only thing I found- and then I just put it on my dresser and left it for two years! Little Juanito really likes Remy, though, and seeing happy pictures of him with his new friend definitely made me smile!

May 20: I usually work Tuesdays, but this Tuesday I was off. I do have to make up that time later in the week, but it was nice to have a day where I basically just sat watching Netflix and writing response letters to my kids. So on this day, my little break in routine made me happy.

May 21: Some of my favorite patrons, whom I haven't seen in a long time, came in to the library on this night. One was a family that I really enjoy talking to (particularly their teenaged son, who is always excited to see me so we can talk about Star Wars) and another was a really sweet patron whom we haven't seen in about six months because she had a traumatic leg injury around the holidays. Chatting with them really brightened my night- and it was really good to know they were all doing ok!

May 22: My mom brought me peanut butter M&M's at work. I can't say this was a good day. A lot of random, frustrating things happened, but seeing my mom and getting a treat helped to cheer me up. Then when a really big, frustrating thing happened after I got home from work, I ate my peanut butter M&M's and felt a little better.

May 23: We saw ducks behind the library when we got off work! I know they're just ducks, but I wish I could have taken a picture. There was a car coming, though, and I couldn't stand in the road to take a picture of the ducks making their way toward the woods behind the library. I don't know why, but ducks make me happy!

May 24: We spent the day at the farm! Brandon's grandparents have a farm a little over an hour away from where we live in Louisville. His parents and one of his brothers were staying down there all weekend (Mamaw and Papaw Jones moved to Louisville full-time a few years ago when Papaw's health got worse.) We picked up another brother, Stephen, and headed down to join them for the day. I go to sit out in the sun for a long time, watched most of a movie, hung out inside the house for a little while, went for a long and sunny walk, and then went out for pizza in what used to be an old jail house (they preserved the hole below the gallows- or is that the actual gallows?- and put plexiglass over it. Very creepy. And you can eat inside a cell. It was a good day. The sunshine and family made me happy.