The fourteenth seven days.

This is my penultimate post (alliteration!) for the 100 Happy Days series, as this takes us up to day #98. Because I like consistency, I will post a full week next week, and maybe my thoughts on the project as a whole, depending on how much I have already said in that post!

August 17: Today I worked in the nursery at my church, as I do every third Sunday of the month. One of my happy moments today was spending some snuggle time with one of the little babies in the "crib" room, where I usually volunteer (I have a hard time lifting the bigger babies.) There was a squishy little girl who needed someone to hold her for the morning, and I got to be her buddy. This made me happy for a couple of reasons. One, some of our other kids- regulars- are getting to be old enough and active enough that they are happy to play with toys on the floor, instead of constantly fussing and wanting to be moved around. That makes my morning easier, because I usually have to deal with them- the little bitties are usually snatched up by the other ladies that I volunteer with! And this baby was a very good baby. She just sat and smiled and kicked her legs around. And then she took a nap. In all honesty, as much as I want to be a mom, I have absolutely no desire to have an infant. They are complicated and awkward. I'm happy for my friends who have babies, and I like my time in the nursery each month, but I'm definitely fine with only caring for a tiny human for 90 minutes once a month! It made me happy that my time in the nursery this morning was peaceful and pleasant, without screamers and grossness.

August 18: Today I got my first letter from Sharifa! Hallelujah. We were swiftly approaching the 6 month mark of correspondence to her, rather than with her (we got her as a correspondence kid in late February.) She didn't say anything about her family, or provide much insight to her life other than the fruits that are growing in Bangladesh, but it's a start! And her letter was written in April, about two months after we got her, so hopefully that means she is actually writing the letters, but they're just taking a while to get here.

August 19: Today I was really happy to "meet" another sponsor (online) who has a child in Tanzania, at one of the centers I visited in March! I am a member of a facebook group for sponsors and correspondents, which has taken the place of the now-defunct Our Compassion website. A lady posted a picture of her new correspondent in Tanzania, and asked what our experiences were like with that country. I replied that I love Tanzania, and mentioned that I had gone on the trip earlier this year. She asked if I had visited 812, and I had! That was the first center we visited! I was able to share my few pictures from that day (we weren't there very long) along with the video I took of the choir singing for us. It made me happy to be able to share these experiences and give this woman some insight into her child's center. And I know that it made her happy too- if I could see pictures from my kids' centers, it would make me really happy!

August 20- I got a phone call about another job interview today. We will see how things go. There are a lot of things to take into consideration about this job, because it is only part time and would require me to use a lot of gas, since it is in another county. I'd appreciate prayers for guidance about the opportunity! Getting the call made me happy because I was thinking since I live outside that county, they wouldn't be as interested. But the fact that I got a call (several days after the job posting closed) gave me a teeny tiny self esteem boost. My interview is next Thursday!

August 21: I was very pleased that my friend Shelley agreed to write a guest post for my blog (hit "older post" at the bottom of this page, or just scroll down a bit, to read.) I'm very excited about her upcoming trip to Kenya, and think it would be really neat if she wound up visiting Victor or Mary's centers! And by asking her to write the post, I got to learn more about her motivation for going to India earlier this year as well. : )

August 22: My family had a yard sale today. We used to have them more frequently, sometimes twice a year. I was thinking that we wouldn't have one this year, but it's good that we did. I had a lot of stuff to sell (some of it donated) and my own sales are going toward funding my next trip with Compassion. It was VERY hot today, and muggy, and my hair was going bonkers and my shirt sticking to my back after like an hour, and I wound up a little dehydrated (I did well the first few hours, but after lunch I was too tired to drink!) but I'm really pleased with the day's sales. I ended up making more money today than I usually do when we have a yard sale, and the bonus is that they are putting everything out again tomorrow! I have to work, so i won't be able to help, but my dad and Pappaw will be running things.

August 23: Normally I would not say that waking up early is a good thing, but today it worked in my favor. Brandon and I have been a one-car family all week (and it's looking like we will be next week as well...) but we both had to work today. One of his brothers is on a high school retreat with church, so this morning we got up very early (for me, anyway) and went to get his keys and then his car from the church parking lot. Brandon drove that car today. Getting up early allowed me to take care of some things that I wouldn't have been able to otherwise. By getting up early, I was able to go by my mom's and get the shoes she ordered for me (so I could wear them to work and hopefully save myself some pain!) And it was nice to see her for a moment. Then I was able to go to the post office and mail something that I recently sold on eBay. And then I got to come home and go back to  bed for a little bit! If I hadn't had to drive around this morning with Brandon, I would have slept much later, wouldn't have had my new shoes for work, would have had to visit the post office after work, and wouldn't have been able to take care of the things I did accomplish in the time between leaving work and going to pick up Brandon. Plus going back to bed helped me feel much more rested when it was time to get up and go to work! So a small inconvenience saved me lots of time, energy and pain later in the day. That's pretty neat. But I don't want to make a habit of it!

The thirteenth seven days.

I'm almost at the end of my 100 happy days posts! This post brings us up to day 91.

August 10: I think today was a really good day. Our sermon at church was good (it was about forgiveness.) Then later in the afternoon, we went over to Brandon's parents' house. His mom really wanted to make us dinner, and I wanted to spend some time with her anyway. So we went over there and she taught me some crochet basics while Brandon played video games with one of his brothers. We had a good dinner and I got back to crocheting while Denise and I watched "19 Kids and Counting" on Netflix. I was very glad to get to spend time with her, and I'm glad Brandon got to spend some time playing with his brother, too. I'm excited about learning to crochet- I am going to try to make some things to sell to fund my next mission trip!

August 11: I didn't do much today, but what I did get done, I feel pretty good about. I got a little bit of housework done and spent much of the rest of the day working on the scarf I'm crocheting (it's totally for practice- it doesn't look very good!) I was also happy to have leftovers for lunch and dinner. I'm thankful that our families have shared food with us!

August 12: Do you ever get really excited about something you find for a really awesome price? Today I found some steeply discounted yarn in a clearance bin, and I bought two skeins to turn into scarves. I started on one today, and I think the practice I had on my "ugly scarf" really helped. I just started a new one with the pretty, soft, new yarn, and I'm already very pleased. The stitching is neat and the colors are so pretty! I'm looking forward to finishing it so I can see how it looks and start on the next one. It's also nice to work on something you can be proud of!

August 13: Hey hey hey! I don't remember what I was originally going to write for this day, but I have something super exciting for today- I get to go to  Disney World! My cousin will be in Orlando for work in November, around her birthday. My aunt was talking about driving down to do a few days at Disney, since they'll have some of the Christmas stuff going on. I guess they've nailed down the dates and are starting to make things official, and my aunt texted me and invited me to go along! I'M SO EXCITED!!! I adore Disney. I am one of those people who tears up when seeing a commercial for the parks. I love it, love it, love it. And my last visit there wasn't super awesome- we tried to do two parks in one day, and it was hot and we were tired, my dad was in pain and my brother was absolutely miserable (his medical issues limit his mobility, and he spent the entire trip in a wheelchair. Despite not having to walk- which he couldn't have done- he still had so much pain and the heat made him feel terrible.) We will be spending a long weekend there in November, so we don't have to rush through as much, and hopefully since it's the week before Thanksgiving, things won't be too busy! I'm super pumped. Ridiculously so. This has made me so happy!

August 14: Today is my best friend's birthday! Kelli and I have been friends since 8th grade. She is one of my oldest friends and I love spending time with her. Around senior year of high school we saw each other every day, and spent a lot of weekends together. She came over once or twice a week throughout most of college, too. But then we got older and I got married and our schedules are harder to coordinate, between when I'm at work and when I have things going on and when she's out of town or working nights. I actually haven't seen her since my birthday (mostly because we haven't had air conditioning most of this summer!) I'm so thankful for her. Spending time with her makes me happy. Actually, usually I get sick when we hang out together, because we eat and then laugh and talk and laugh even more, and my reflux starts acting up big time (she is the only person to whom I can say "being with you makes me feel like barfing" and it be a compliment.) But it's worth it! I hope she has a really fun birthday, and I'm looking forward to spending time with her this weekend! Besides being happy and thankful for my BFF, I'm also happy that I got a letter from Bonifas today!

August 15: I got to take a surprise field trip today. My boss needed to get some books on a specific subject for one of our volunteers, and the task kind of got away from him this week. Today, he asked me to try to track down the books, and said that he would even be willing to travel to a nearby branch to pick them up. I found that our branch didn't have the books, but another branch did- the one that my dear friend Jess went to work at! I selflessly (haha) volunteered to drive over and get the books for my boss. I kind of had to work hard to convince him that I definitely didn't mind going! So I got to leave work for a little bit, drive over to the other branch, and spend about five minutes speed-talking to my friend whom I miss terribly. It's still so weird that she's gone- as I said last week, we've worked together for the better part of a decade. She's like a sister to me, and I'm sad that I no longer get to see her every day. It still sort of feels like she's just helping out temporarily at this other branch! But getting to drive over to see her for a few minutes was an unexpected blessing. I don't think I could do it every week, because of using the extra gas, but it'd be nice if I could run errands to see her every once in a while!

August 16: Today I got to spend the day with my BFF Kelli. I did some cleaning this morning and baked up a batch of birthday brownies for her, then she came over around lunch. She picked up lunch on her way over (we had lunch from Mark's Feed Store, a really yummy local barbecue chain.) I'm happy she liked her birthday presents- there were some inside jokes, lots of candy, and a really sweet Harry Potter t-shirt (it was navy and had a doe patronus and the word "always" in floaty script. And if you like HP, you will know why this is awesome.) We watched "My Neighbor Totoro", read some funny articles I had been wanting to show her, and then decided to watch "Jumanji." I had been wanting to watch it all week, as the passing of Robin Williams has weighed heavily on my heart. And Kelli said she hadn't seen it since she was a little kid, so it was fun revisiting that part of our childhood together!

The twelfth seven days

Movin' on up! I'm continuing to share my "happy" moments from the week, inspired by the #100happydays movement.

August 3: This was the day that my mom had to go to the hospital. I'm happy that she didn't have to be admitted, and I'm happy that I was able to go over and take care of her while my dad caught up on sleep. This was the start of a week of abundant food, which was one positive thing about my mom being sick. I got to spend a lot of time with her, and she fed me well. It was nice to have a variety of things to eat instead of toast and sandwiches for every meal.

August 4: Today my first letter from Eduardo arrived, and it included an extra picture! It made me very happy to finally get a letter from him after six months, one week and two days of writing letters, and extra photos are always a blessing. However, I am tremendously burdened to pray for Eduardo....I think he must have some really tough stuff going on in his life. So while I was happy to get the letter, I also felt sad reading it and looking at the picture.

August 5: Much of my happiness this week was food based. Today I left work at 1 and went straight over to my parents' house to sit with my mom. I picked up some fast food on the way, but as a special treat I stopped by the Homemade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen and got pie and cookies for my family. The Pie Kitchen is a local chain of stores around my city, and as their name implies, they sell ice cream and pie...and cheesecake and cookies and upside down cupcakes (which have frosting poured over them!) I got peanut butter Reese's cup pie for my mom, chocolate cherry pie for me, and giant football-shaped cookies for my dad and my brother. I hope they liked it! It was nice to have a sweet treat.

August 6: I wasn't feeling too well today, and was happy to settle in with my laptop for a bit and watch some Netflix before Brandon came home and I had to go to work. I started watching the show "19 Kids and Counting" (which started as "17 Kids...") and it made me really happy. I have loved the Duggar family since I first found out about them- before I got married I watched all their specials on TLC, but I only caught their regular show periodically in the little while between its start and the time I got married. I am really enjoying watching the show! It's fun to see what all the Duggars are up to (like meeting Dolly Parton!) but I also think they're a pretty great family. The dad, Jim Bob, is really involved with his family and has a lot of fun with the kids, and is so supportive of them. He also mentors other kids who have lost their dads. Michelle, the mom, is such a peaceful person- she just sounds like someone who should spend all day reading children's books. She's so gentle and loving with all the kids, and even sounds sweet and kind when the kids are being disciplined. Anyway, I had a good time watching that this morning. And then I went out to the mailbox and found letters from Patricia and Jayid!

August 7: Today was my last day with mom for a while, but the happy thing is that the doctor says she is getting better and won't have to be hospitalized or anything for her infection. She can go back to work soon- she has some swelling left over and the pain isn't constant, which is good. I also got my first letter from little Erick today, and my mom got two letters: one from Karen in Nicaragua, and her first letter from Herlan in Bolivia. I want to share Karen's letter here, because it was so pretty:

Hello esteemed sponsor Karen: 

I hope you are in good health together with your beautiful family. I want to thank you for your faithful sponsorship and for the letter that you sent me where I found words of encouragement for my life. 

I want to tell you about the weather in my country. We are in winter. The climate is a little bit cool. The leaves of the trees are green and there are pastures for cows, horses and other farm animals. It is cloudy and the sun does not come out. Nature looks beautiful when the sun is hidden; all is cloudy. The road with ponds and mud; the birds sing in the morning for water. Winter is beautiful. Thank God, the rain is a blessing from God. 

I always pray for you. I ask you to pray for my family to be always together; this is my greatest desire. You are a very important person that God placed to light my path. You cannot imagine how grateful I am. 

I say goodbye to you with love, Karen Nathalia

Last year I did a blog post of waiting kids who had the same names as the members of my Bible study group at the time, and Karen was on there. I'm so glad that my mom decided to be her sponsor! 

August 8: Tonight I went upstairs to try to cool off a bit. Brandon's cousin brought over a window unit air conditioner for us to borrow, and it has been keeping our pets safe and cool in their room. I was trying to get some cleaning done, and the heat was making me feel sick. Anyway, my husband was up there playing with the animals (the rats and the bunny get an hour of playtime every night- not at the same time, though!) and since I went up there, I got to spend some more time with him, and my pets! I cut up the remains of a big cucumber I had bought and took it to the animals, and they really enjoyed it. Seeing my animals happy and being able to provide them with a special treat made me happy. 

August 9: Today was the summer reading finale at work, so it was really busy and crazy. And it was also my last day working with my best friend. Neither of these things make me happy (although it is always nice when SR is over.) However, not long after I got home, our air conditioner was working again!!! It's been out for about a month, and the timing couldn't be better, as it's supposed to be about 100 degrees several days next week. I'm so thankful to have the air again- I can sleep better, we can turn on the lights, and it will be so nice to be comfortable in my own home again. And a big shout out to cousin Wayne for working so hard to fix all three problems our AC unit had, giving up so much of his free time to come do work for us! We'd be lost without him! 

The eleventh seven days

A few days late, but here are last week's happy moments. : )

July 27: We had a nice evening at home today. Some of my other happy moments in these posts have been related to good movies we have watched- that is how we like to spend our time, and when a movie is really good, and I get to watch them with my husband, and we have a good time. Tonight we watched "Howl's Moving Castle," which is another film from director Hayao Miyazaki. I really liked this one as well!

July 28: Today was my observation day at the preschool where I applied for a job, and it was so much fun!! Ridiculously so.

July 29: I had a nice evening at Bible study. Mom got dinner and we had some good discussions. Then we stopped by the store on the way home and she bought me a few things, like princess band-aids and Hello Kitty fruit snacks!

July 30:  Many things to be happy about today. I had the most relaxing dentist visit today. Which sounds impossible, but it happened! I went to see the new endodontist since the last one I visited didn't finish the job. He was super nice, they had a "Tempurpedic" brand exam chair (so comfy) and I popped in my earbuds, they turned on the nitrous, and I basically just zoned out for over an hour. Absolutely no issues whatsoever. Which is the first time in my life that has happened. No exaggeration. Also, my dad brought me a milkshake at work since my mouth was tired and hurty, and then later that night, I got texts from my friend Ashley- I sent my buddy's A.'s birthday present over to him via his dad (who is my mom's boss) and I got pics and a video. They really made me happy. I love my buddy so much! The bubble mower was apparently a big hit! : )

July 31: I'm happy with myself because I got some work done around the house today! Between having no energy and having a hot house (still no AC!) I haven't felt like doing much. So I'm happy I got some stuff done today.

August 1: Today was a pretty good day at work. Nothing particularly special happened- I had a nice cup of coffee when I got to work, and had a really long day, but nothing traumatic happened and there were no major problems. I am glad that I got to spend the day with my best friend- this was my last regular day working with her as she is going to work at another branch starting next week. And now I will stop writing because this is supposed to be about happy things, not sad things.

August 2: A letter from Elisha arrived today! It was short and didn't say much, but it was still a nice surprise. I feel like I have heard from my TZ boys so much lately- that's definitely something to be happy about!

The tenth seven days.

We are up to 70 days now! I am continuing on with my practice of looking for "happy" things in my days, and sharing them here with you! I'm doing pretty well finding five or six happy things per day and writing them in my pretty notebook- it's really good for your mental health! : )

July 20: I am really excited on behalf of my mom! She asked me a while back to try to find someone who might be going to Ecuador anytime in the future. She has a sponsor child there named Jessika (a beautiful teenage girl) and she worries about her a lot lately. Like, getting up in the middle of the night or feeling these intense urges to pray for her and her family. She really wants to send Jessika a package because she can't go see her herself right now. I posted on the advocate boards a few months ago trying to find someone, and after all this time, I got a response today! A very kind lady named Emily is going next spring with Compassion, and even though that's quite a ways off, she said she'd be happy to take something for Jessika! I feel happy for my mom, and for Jessika, too.

July 21: We got a surprise letter from Brenda today! We just heard from her two or three weeks ago, so I wasn't expecting to hear from her again so quickly! All my letters make me happy, but it was neat to get another one from her so soon (and she seemed happier in this one, too!)

July 22: Two things made me really happy today. The first is that my Bible study group got together for a service project this evening. For the past few years, my church as done kind of a free yard sale thing for families in our community who need some extra help. We collect clothes, shoes, housewares (dishes, cooking supplies, linens), large baby and preschool-age toys (like bouncy seats and stuff) and school supplies. Families can register for the event, and come "shop" for whatever they need one weekend in July before school starts again. My friend Dave, who went on the Tanzania trip back in March, said something during the trip that has stuck with me- he pointed out that a lot of times, people want to help but they don't want to be directly involved. Like, his church does similar stuff throughout the year, and people are happy to donate, but when it comes to the relational aspect- assisting on the days when the families are coming to get the items- they struggle to find volunteers. So I came back and shared this with my group, and we decided to help out with this project at my church. Unfortunately, due to the timing of the event, we could't all get together for the weekend project- but tonight we went up to church and worked on unpacking the boxes and getting the stuff sorted out and arranged on the tables for people to come and shop. There was so much stuff, which made me happy! And as a bonus, tonight when I got home Brandon's cousin brought over a window air conditioning unit, which we put upstairs in the room where our pets are. Now I don't have to worry about them getting sick and dying because of the heat- and I can come up here to cool off, too!

July 23: Today was not great. I could only find two happy things about today: I had a short night at work, and a four year old girl told me she thought I was pretty and she liked my "sparkles." I'm glad that some of our little patrons appreciate my affinity for glitter.

July 24: Today was a good day! I had an interview for my aforementioned "longshot" job opportunity, and I think it went really well. I'm excited about it! I also had a nice lunch with my mom and was able to spend the day with her. Plus I got a letter from Victor, and most importantly, it's my buddy Anell's birthday! He is six today! I can't believe he's been home for about a year! I love that little guy so much, and I hope I can see him soon so I can give him his present!

July 25: We got to go see Transformers today- it was the first showing of the day, so it was really cheap. And I love Optimus Prime. I would totally name a child after him. Seriously. I know that the Transformers movies are not examples of cinematic greatness, but seeing one of my fictional heroes on the big screen makes me really happy. The movie was super long and could have used more Optimus, but going out to the movies was definitely a nice treat!

July 26: Today was pretty good! I went to Walgreen's before work to pick up some photos I am sending to Kajal, and I also found a few other treats- like sparkly notebooks that were buy one, get one free. I also got to work with my friend today, and we had a nice lunch from a local barbecue restaurant. It's always yummy! The day at work was long, but I didn't work with anyone who's been acting weird around me lately, so it was definitely a nice change and a pretty good day, considering I spent most of it at work. : )

The ninth seven days.

I definitely can't say that the last week has been happy. I can say that I have been making a thorough effort to find things to be happy about each day. I even bought a pretty notebook in which to record these things. In tribute to my love for Martha Stewart, I have called my book "It's a good thing." : )

July 13: We got a new sponsor child today, and there aren't many more exciting things than that. Kajal is 7 years old, and she lives in India. I have been wanting a little girl in India for a long time- we would love to adopt from there someday, too! Kajal had been waiting pretty much all year for a sponsor. She is really cute, and I love her sweet little dress. I can't wait to shower her with letters and presents and lots of love!

July 14: I had to do a little grocery shopping today, and I found a really pretty notebook. It's covered in purple glitter! I love it! I'm using it to keep track of my "happy moments" from now on.

July 15: My mom got me dinner tonight, and we were able to spend some time together this evening. I miss spending so much time with her- for a while we were able to get together just about every Thursday and eat lunch and watch TV and stuff.

July 16: Today was a day of good food! I had ice cream for breakfast, and Hot Browns for lunch! If you don't know what a Hot Brown is, here's an explanation: it's this kind of amazing sandwich thingie that was created by the head chef of a fancy hotel in my city, which was mentioned in "The Great Gatsby" and used to have visitors like Al Capone and other famous folks in the first quarter of the 20th century. It's a thick piece of French bread topped with turkey, smothered in cheese sauce (basically just Parmesan, butter, and heavy cream) and bacon. Some people put tomatoes on it, too. It's just a baking dish full of cheesy heaven. And my mom makes the BEST hot browns. My family had them for dinner last night, and I got the leftovers.

July 17: My friends said nice things after I didn't get the job at work. And that's basically it. I worked really hard, finished the day on a bad note, came home and cried. For hours. So I'm counting the nice comments from my friends on facebook as my "happy thing" for today.

July 18: My mom and dad came by late tonight and brought over some leftovers and a card and CD from my friend Helen. They made the trip over to our house at 10:30 at night just to bring me these things, and then turned around and went home. I'm glad that they took the time to do that.

July 19: Today I got a letter from Said, and our new sponsor child Kajal's info packet arrived! I already sent her an intro letter online, and am putting together a folder of goodies to send with my next package of letters for the kids. I found out this week that Kajal was registered in Compassion's program in November, and found a sponsor right away- who promptly dropped her. And then she found another sponsor right away- who also dropped her. She's been waiting ever since. Never received a letter. Well, she's definitely going to get lots of letters from me! Kajal definitely won't have any doubts as to whether her new sponsor loves her! :)

The eighth seven days.

Here are this weeks moments for 100 Happy Days! We're over halfway to the end- but I might just keep posting after I reach 100!

July 6: OK, truth be told, I didn't write anything down for this day. From what I remember, it was an ok day. Right now I feel like most of my days are pretty stressful. So if I can look back on a day and say "hmm, I don't remember anything terribly upsetting that day," I will count that as a blessing.

July 7: I kind of want to say the same for this day, too. I had a good laugh at work tonight, though, and heard a happy story from a coworker. The night wasn't too bad.

July 8: Bible study was canceled tonight, which was a bit of a bummer. My mom and I weren't going to be there, and that's like 40% of our group. And she's the leader. So it was canceled. Anyway, I did go by my mom's work and give her a hug and I gave her a card that I had found at the store. I thought it might help put her in a good mood. I was also pleased because I was able to sell a bag of books at the used bookstore across the street, and I got a few more bucks than I expected. I purchased a book on adoption that I have heard is very helpful, and am adding it to my bookshelf to read later.

July 9: My dentist appointment this morning was really quick! I had to stop by so the hygienist could look at my gums and make sure my antibiotic shots had gone ok, and basically we just had a quick conversation and then I left. I was happy that I didn't have to hang around.....I feel like I'm spending to much time around dentists lately. It's gross.

July 10: Today was a very bad, bad day. I had been quite proud of what all I had accomplished, and was feeling pretty positive until this afternoon. Then something unpleasant and unexpected happened, and I have been upset for much of the evening. But I do have two happy things to report. Well, the first one isn't all happy- right after this upsetting thing happened, I was of course, well, upset. And concerned that the upset would get the better of me. I still had a little less than an hour left in my shift at work, and when I got back to my station after this upsetting thing happened, a friendly face was there! My friend Darlene had stopped by the library for some reason or another, and before she left I was able to write her a note on a piece of scratch paper asking her to pray for me. What a relief that was. She said she could definitely do that as she left. I also want to say on here that today was Julian's birthday- he is one of our new Colombian Compassion kiddos. He is at CO 384, and I have seen a lot of sponsors post this week that they are getting first letters from the kids at this center! I hope to have one from Julian tomorrow or the next day. I didn't get the chance to share his birthday post on facebook, so I will give him a shout out here, before the end of the month Compassion Joys post. : )

July 11: My mom ordered pizza for me and Brandon to have for dinner. It was a nice treat! Especially since this week has been so challenging.

July 12: I decided it would be nice to go have lunch with my mom today, since Brandon was working and I don't get to see my mom so much anymore (I have been scheduled to work on her days off so now the only time I get to see her is Bible study, and we have had a few cancellations over the past two months.) On my way over to meet her at work, I stopped at the mailbox, and boy was I glad I did! I had SIX beautiful Compassion envelopes waiting for me! I was so excited!!! When I met my mom, we walked down to a burger restaurant that is in the same shopping center as her store, and we opened the letters and read them while we waited for our food. Two of them had surprises inside! But you'll have to wait until Mail Call Monday to find out what they were! : ) Unless of course we are facebook friends, in which case your newsfeed was inundated with posts from me yesterday. It took over an hour to type all the letters up and post photos of the artwork and stuff! It was definitely a wonderful treat at the end of a pretty dumb week.

The seventh seven days.

June 29: Today my coworkers and I met for lunch to say goodbye to my friend Laura, who is retiring. I am sad that Laura is leaving, because she has been a part of my library experience since I was a small child, and she was even the one who told me about the open position right as I was finishing up my junior year of high school. I hope that she is able to come and visit us pretty frequently. Today I am happy that I have such good relationships with some of my coworkers, and that I got to go out to eat (I took my mom as my date since Brandon wanted to stay home!)

June 30: A letter from Tasya arrived today! It was a nice surprise in my mailbox- and I'm thankful that the letter got to me, because it had been written 4 months ago! After that long, I guess it's lucky that it didn't get lost in the mail! Tasya lives in a very remote area, so I always expect her letters to take a while to get to me- they have to travel on boats and planes and more boats and everything else. So each letter from her is extra special!

July 1: Someone stole my antenna topper over the weekend- which is a really dumb thing to steal. I really liked it because it was cute and pink and Disney and cupcake-shaped. I posted on facebook asking if anyone was planning on going to Disney this summer, so maybe they could pick up a replacement for me. My cousin's wife found a link to buy them online, and my father in law ordered one for me! I got it today, and was able to put it back on my car. Now I can find my car in parking lots again. It was really thoughtful and I'm happy to have it!

July 2: I don't know that "happy" is the precise word I should use to describe this, but I am thankful for a prescription today. I am having some problems with my mouth, where my wisdom teeth used to be. This is part of the reason I've been to the dentist so often lately. They said I had a few spots of infection back there and last week I had it all cleaned out and got some antibiotic shots. Things have only gotten worse since then, and it's so bad that the pain wakes me up in the middle of the night. I called yesterday begging for a last minute appointment, and they saw me this morning. Unfortunately, it looks like something a little more complicated than an infection may be going on, but I did get a prescription for pain pills. They worked really well for a few hours. I'm happy to have them (even if they aren't providing total, constant relief- it's definitely better than it was) and the medicine was very affordable, too!

July 3: A friend of mine came by the library today with her daughter, her friend and her friend's granddaughter. This friend of mine used to be my Sunday school teacher, and I don't get to see her too often anymore- and visiting with her is especially fun since she has an adorable, sweet daughter now! It was a really long day, but I was happy to have a visit from them!

July 4: We had such a wonderful day today!! Since visiting the Jones family farm back in late May, we have had the intention of spending Independence Day there...Brandon planned to have the day off and everything! I made a cake the night before to share with everyone, and we packed up our backpacks and hit the road not too long after a late breakfast. The ride down there is over an hour long, but Brandon had the fun idea of bringing along our world atlas and quizzing him as he drove, to entertain him. I had my doubts at first, but it was actually a lot of fun! Unfortunately as we got close to the farm I started feeling a little car sick (apparently I can read in the car, or talk, but not both) but I recovered quickly after we got there. We had fun talking about different countries, and I also threw in some questions about our sponsor kids ("What is the capital of Brazil? And how many kids do we have there?") Several family members were able to make it to the farm- Brandon's parents and two of his brothers had been staying there all week, but we were also joined by a few aunts and uncles, some cousins, and Mamaw Jones. I brought bubbles and sidewalk chalk and had fun drawing a gigantic (like, 8 feet long) brachiosaurus on one of the driveways. We also had an Uno Attack tournament (I won, for the first time ever) and Brandon played lots of games like badminton and basketball. My mother in law grilled up a bunch of stuff for lunch, and everyone loved the cake that I brought (which made me happy because it was a recipe I hadn't tried before!) We made a journey down to a creek on the property and looked for geodes- we didn't find any (after cracking open several sparkly, promising-looking rocks) but did find one rock with two fossils in it. Then we went back to the house and I watched some classic TV (the only thing the antenna picks up) with my youngest brother in law before we ate leftovers for dinner, followed by a walk down the road, and then a popsicle break! When it got dark, some of the guys set up a little fireworks display, and we all sat outside to watch. I was a little nervous because I am extremely sensitive to the noise, but Jonathan found some noise-cancelling headphone things he uses for shooting, and that really helped! The fireworks were so pretty- I was able to get a few good pictures with my phone, some of which I attached to the letters I sent to our kids talking about the holiday! We got home a little after midnight and were really tired, sore, and a little sunburned, but it was a wonderful day. Here are some of the pictures I took!

Out in the middle of the woods, I looked up and it was so pretty! The sun was gorgeous in the trees. 

We headed out for a walk just before sunset. 

July 5: Since we were at the farm all day yesterday, we missed my family's informal Fourth of July celebration (a KFC dinner at my grandparents' house.) With my cousin out of town and my mom at work, we weren't the only ones missing. Tonight, we went to my aunt's house for dinner- my dad had fun playing with her new grill, and fixed up some barbecued chicken and grilled corn on the cob (which is my go-to food this summer, for some reason!) And my aunt made homemade vanilla ice cream and extra chocolate-y brownies for dessert. My mom was able to be there, too. The food was really good and I was glad to see my aunt and spend time with my parents. I also came home with quite a few cards and stickers for my kiddos- my aunt is a very generous person, and is involved with many charities. So she gets tons of those free greeting cards, address labels, notepads and stickers that those organizations send out. She has quite the collection of stuff to share! My mom and I both picked out a whole stack of cards, including Christmas cards to save for the fall, when Compassion collects them for the unsponsored kids!

The sixth seven days.

I'm still challenging myself to find happy moments and things each day for 100 days! Here are this week's.

June 22: I'm thankful that I had a lot of time to rest today. I feel like I'm reaching some kind of boiling point with my stress levels, and I was able to have some downtime today. After church, we came home and ate lunch and watched a movie. Later in the day I got to go through some cookbooks looking for new recipes and spend some quiet time by myself!

June 23: I had to go to work early today because we had a staff meeting with my boss's boss. It wasn't fun limb to work early, but the good thing is that the rest of my work days this week are a little shorter to make up for the time. And since I had a longer shift, I had to take a lunch break. I'm thankful I got to eat dinner with my best friend (and she brought me a big Mountsin Dew fromTaco Bell!)

June 24: I am very proud of myself. I had my last dentist appointment today (for a while) and I got through the whole thing without freaking out. No nitrous, no digging my nails into my arm. Nothing. I did come home and nap because of the adrenaline crash, but still. Like I said. I'm very proud of myself. And after I woke up. We had a great night at Bible study, and my mom and I had a yummy dinner from Mellow Mushroom!

June 25: I had a very short night at work tonight. That in itself is a blessing. And that's all I have to say for today.

June 26: I don't feel like I have a lot to be happy about today. Our air conditioning is out, I got some very bad news today, and there is just a bunch of dumb stuff going on (related: I would really appreciate prayers for the management of my stress.) But I got a letter from one of my kids, so that was nice. That is my happy thing for today.

June 27: Today was HOT. Argh! And it was my coworker's retirement reception at work (there are very few reasons I will go to work on my day off- honoring my friend Laura is one of them.) So those two things made me sad. But a few happy things happened today. I found a lace dress on clearance at Target for $8. We had green punch at the retirement party- normally we just get that punch at the art show we host every spring. It's like a special treat that my friend and I enjoy very much. And our air conditioning got fixed late tonight, so it is starting to cool down in my house. The best part is that the fix was cheap, and that Brandon has a family member who works for an HVAC company so he was able to come out and take care of it! He will come back this weekend to make sure everything's going ok. But it has been about half an hour since the fix and we've already dropped two degrees. Woohoo!

June 28: I found something really cool online today- a website that sells cookie cutters in the shape of different countries! They don't have every country, but they do have several interesting ones, including several where Compassion works, and many where my friends and acquaintances have gone to adopt children. I've been working on some crafts to sell recently, and those include some clay ornaments in the shape of Africa. I'm hoping over the next few months I can afford to order some of these neat cookie cutters for more crafting! I'm excited about it!

The fifth seven days.

Continuing on with the #100daysofhappy theme, here are this week's thankful moments/gifts/happy things.

June 15: Lots of things made me happy today! I got some gifts in the form of food and nice-smelling things: my mom brought Brandon and I lunch because we were at church when the rest of the family went out for Father's Day. And she delivered some yummy smelling stuff from the Body Shop that my cousin got for me. I was also really happy that I got to see my friend Denise M. (or "other Denise" as I refer to her) in church this morning! I work in the nursery on the third Sunday of every month, and Denise is usually in there with me. I hadn't seen her since February- in March I was in Tanzania, April was Easter and I worked an earlier service, and she was absent last month! So I finally got to talk to her about my trip and show her a few pictures on my iPad before some more of the babies started crying and we had to get them out of their bouncy seats. Sharing with her made me really happy- I'm glad that I got to see her again after several months!

June 16: One of my pet rats, Glitter, has been really sick for a long time. We don't know if she had a bunch of strokes or what, but we had basically been expecting her to die from last spring until....about a month ago. Seriously. She hasn't eaten her real food in over a year- when she's doing ok she can eat things like bread, when she's not doing ok she eats baby food and baby cereal. Lately it had been a lot of baby cereal. She also had some tooth issues from going so long without grinding her teeth down on the pellets she normally eats. Tonight I am spending some time upstairs working on the computer as I eat my dinner (frozen french fries! I'm an adult, don't judge me.) Glitter was super excited to see me (the rat cage is right next to the computer desk) and just to see what she'd do with it, I gave her a little french fry. She's been able to eat almost all of it! Even with messed up balance and wonky teeth and all the other problems she has. I'm so happy she has been able to act more like her old self this past week or so. I'm really impressed with how well she is doing! Healthy pets not on the verge of death makes me very happy. : )

June 17: I got to have dinner with my moms tonight! My mother in law Denise has been sitting out of our Bible study group this year because she was involved in a discipleship training course at our church. She is ready to come back and join our group again- but tonight we didn't have Bible study! So my mom and I met her for dinner instead. We had a nice time catching up and eating some yummy food (I am generally happy whenever I can get my hands on a Shirley Temple) and afterwards, my mom and I made a run to nearby Walmart and bought some things for the baggies we are going to be sending to some of our kids later this year! They didn't have much in the way of school supplies yet, but I found some colorful ink pens, soccer pencils for Victor and rainbow pencils for Mary! And we got ice cream, too. It was a very nice evening! : )

June 18: Today was a mess. Work was especially messy! It was hot and gross because the air conditioner isn't working right, and we were super busy. I got worn out pretty quickly, and I wasn't the only one! Our Friends of the Library group is really awesome- several months ago they bought us a fancy pants coffee machine (one of those Keurig thingies.) I have some ethical issues with those machines because the individual coffee cups are extremely expensive when compared to just buying a bag of coffee (which I don't do anyway) and none of the little individual cups are recyclable. However, this evening I desperately needed some energy, and I was so thankful for that machine and the "cafe mocha" coffee cups that someone brought in to share!

June 19: Brandon was off work today, and I got off pretty early, so we had time to watch a few movies together this afternoon. It was nice to take a break and just sit down for a while after standing all day at work! And it's always a plus when the movie we watch is actually enjoyable- tonight we watched "Spirited Away", which is a really nice animated feature from Studio Ghibli (I really like Hayao Miyazaki's movies!) This was a vast improvement over some of the stuff we've watched lately, like "Conan the Barbarian!"

June 20: I'm happy that I get to work with friends. I don't think there was very  much that I would call "enjoyable" about today- I had to get up early again to drive my husband to work, we had a very busy and exhausting day at work (during which I got a very bad stomachache and had to take a nausea pill, which made me very sleepy) and then there was a torrential downpour once I got to my car- I couldn't even see the road sometimes on my short drive home. But the day would have been a lot more difficult if I worked with people I didn't like. I'm thankful for my friends from work, who make difficult days more bearable!

June 21: Today I'm happy that I live so close to my parents. When money is really tight and we are running low on things like, well, food, I can go over to my parents' house and pick up some necessities. That's what I did today. My mom made up a few bags for me, which included Big Red (yay!) and a box of Kleenex (we are out, and we have allergies. And one of us is struggling to cope with stress and might be doing a little more crying than usual.) It was nice to have something for dinner that wasn't sandwiches or hot dogs (we did not eat the Kleenex.) I'm happy that my mom takes care of me, even though I don't live in her house anymore.

The fourth seven days.

I'm continuing sharing my posts for the #100happydays thing that's going on, even though hashtags don't really work on blogger. : )

June 7: My aunt's birthday was yesterday, so our family got together for cake and ice cream this evening. I got there a little early, in time to watch the Belmont race (no Triple Crown winner again this year...I think it's cursed, like the Defense Against the Dark Arts position in Harry Potter.) My Mammaw made a homemade chocolate cake and Dia (that's what I call my aunt) brought over homemade vanilla ice cream. It's really amazing with mini chocolate chips! I'm glad I got to see my family and celebrate my aunt's birthday!

June 8: Church this morning was really great. We're in the middle of a series about "dirty religion", basically how we take the Bible and what God wants us to do and basically mess it up. This week's sermon was about how we don't all worship the same God, even though some people may believe that we do. Toward the end of the message, our associate pastor made a really good point. He mentioned the verse where Paul says it doesn't really matter if you eat meat that was originally intended as a sacrifice for another god, because there is only one God. And how God doesn't need us to fight his battles for him- the strategy for "winning people for Jesus" shouldn't be to wipe out non-believers with weapons, or to knock them down with sarcasm and insults, but to love them and share Jesus with them without being a jerk. I love that. I love messages like that. I wish that I had a better way of conveying that to some people I know, because I think I don't do a good enough job of it sometimes. Anyway. The sermon made me happy. The message of love made me happy. The fact that I know that my pastor thinks it's wrong to be a jerk to people makes me happy. It may seem like a small thing, but really, that's kind of the opposite of what some churches teach!

June 9: Today has been a bad day. I had to go to the dentist this morning (I'm having issues and will continue to go there pretty frequently over the next month or so) and I couldn't get an appointment until later in the morning- I usually try to go first thing, so I can just roll out of bed, brush my teeth, and go. Going later gives me more time to stress. When I got home, I was feeling really sick and shaky, and my mouth hurt so bad. I grabbed the mail on the way inside, and I had three pieces of mail from Compassion- two amazing letters from Mary and Victor, and Reine's info packet! These things made me feel so much better after my dumb morning! God gave me a gift via the mailman today.

June 10: I took some of my books over to Half Price Books to sell today, and was able to get a pretty decent amount for them- that always makes me happy! Pretty much everything extra I make these days goes toward repaying my Tanzania trip so I can go on my next trip, but money was really, really tight this week, and doing well at the used book store definitely helped us make it to the end of the week!

June 11: I had another dentist trip on this day. And it was not happy. It was panicky and stressful and I didn't do as well as I have been. I have the nail marks on my arm to prove it. And I was really worried about going to work tonight, because I have been hearing horror stories all week, from my own coworkers and people at other branches, about how busy and stressful things have been. Tonight was busy, and stressful at times, but there were a few moments throughout the evening where I was able to catch my breath, have a cup of coffee (and a donut from the surprise box on the kitchen table- the same bakery that did my wedding cake!) and I was so, so thankful. The five minutes here and there of peace was just so unlike what the rest of the week had been for everyone else- and looking back on that, I'm thankful for the interruptions in the chaos!

June 12: This may sound kind of dumb, but today, price-matching made me happy. I never know what to get my dad or my husband's dad for their birthdays or Christmas- well, I don't know what to get them that would fit in my budget. But thanks to a certain big box chain, I was able to find a really great price on something for my dad, show it to them on my phone, and actually get him something that I feel pretty good about. That doesn't happen very often! I came pretty close to high-fiving the check out lady when she took off the discount.

June 13: We went to see a movie today! I think I've written about my love for superhero movies on here before- today, I was very happy that we finally got to go see X-Men: Days of Future Past. I think that the X-Men are my favorite superhero collective. I absolutely loved seeing the first three films (fun fact: Brandon and I saw X-Men: The Last Stand on our first "group" date) and enjoyed the first episode of the reboot, but it just wasn't the same without Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan, and more Hugh Jackman! It was so nice to see them all back on the big screen. We had a good time- we even got free popcorn, which was a little burnt, but what we did eat was still a nice treat!

June 14: I kind of forgot that two days ago, we took Brandon's car to the mechanic's and left it. I remembered late last night. I had to wake up soooooo early and drive him over to get his car so he could go to work. I came back home and slept for a few hours before I had to go to work. I'm happy that I got the chance to do that- I actually woke up a little easier than I usually do (the second time, I mean.) Maybe the key to feeling rested in the morning is getting up early and driving around for a bit before going back to bed?

The third seven days.

Moving on to the new week....here are my next posts for the "100 Days of Happy" challenge!

June 1: This evening, I had dinner with several folks who work with my mom (who are like another family to me since she has worked there since I was a tiny baby.) Our friend Ron is moving on to another job, so we were having dinner as a "see you later" party, not a goodbye party. I'm sad that Ron is leaving the bookstore, but I'm glad that he's staying in town, and hopefully we will still be able to see him sometimes. Plus I got to hang out with Anell, which is just the best. We colored (he colored a LOT, which is awesome for someone who has recently learned how to handle crayons!) and played with my phone and stuff. This kid is adorable and lots of fun. Even though I had a bad day Saturday, it made me feel better knowing I'd get to see my buddy the next day! Dinner with friends = happy me!

June 2: I forgot to write something down for this day- oops! I do remember one thing, though: I was able to make a friend happy. I like making people happy- it makes me happy. I surprised my friend with some candy and a new nail polish, and she seemed quite pleased. And that made me smile. : )

June 3: I had three particularly happy things today: I found Hello Kitty yogurt at the grocery store (I love Hello Kitty!) I also got a letter from Brenda and a new correspondence kid named Reine! I'm very excited to get to know her- she's in Burkina Faso, which is a new country for me!

June 4: I think it's kind of funny that most of my happy things involve Compassion or food. This one was Compassion related-- today I got another new correspondence chid, Erick in Ecuador! Ecuador is another new country for me, so I'm really excited about learning about these kiddos and where they live!

June 5: Summer is a really, really stressful time at the library, particularly when we are short-staffed and are experiencing other personnel issues. It's bad. But on this day, I got to spend some time working on fairly fun things, and I worked with my best friend. Those two things make me happy and keep me going in a season that normally leaves me in tears or a ball of tension at the end of the day.

June 6: After a horrendous day at work- seriously, horrendous- we got to go out to eat for my brother in law's birthday. Spending time with my in-laws made me happy, but I was especially happy when Stephen, my 17 year old BIL, offhandedly repurposed a quote from Jurassic Park to suit the conversation. I caught it immediately, said "WHAT!" and made him give me a high five. I was so proud. Which is silly and dumb, but it was funny and referenced one of my favorite things, and it cheered me up.

The second seven days.

Keeping up with the #100happydays posts! I write the paragraphs as each day happens.

May 25: Today is Eduardo's birthday! He will get another mention in my Compassion Joys post at the end of the month. We got Eduardo as a correspondence child in late January, and are still waiting on a letter from him. He will, however, be getting a special (slightly late) birthday gift from us. Kim over at Three Little Larks is currently in Honduras (she got there yesterday) and she took a bag for Eduardo for us! We sent him a Spanish Bible, some candy and gum, a pocket knife with a verse on it, some pens and pencils, a small notebook, and a leather cord necklace. I hope he likes everything! Thinking about Eduardo getting his present makes me happy.

May 26: I found a bunch of paperback books at the used bookstore to send to my kids! Everything was 20% off for Memorial Day, and I had a little bit left on a gift card, so I only ended up paying like a dollar in cash. I got some Spanish easy readers for Julian, Sandier, and Michel, two books for my knowledge-seeker Victor (one on important African-American scientists, and one on the US Presidents and their pets), plus a Batman activity book for Caleb and a Swahili alphabet picture book for me !

May 27: Bible study was really, really good tonight. There were just four of us, and it was nice to sit closer together and talk. I really enjoyed it. Also, on a more superficial note, I got my hair cut on this day, and I always have them wash my hair because it's very relaxing. I can't afford to get a massage at a spa, but I can afford the extra $3 to get my hair washed by someone else (I only get my hair cut every 12-18 months, so it's not like I'm getting it done all the time!) Is that weird? Probably. But it really is relaxing!

May 28: Today was Tasya's birthday! As my first sponsor child, she holds a very special place in my heart. I hope she had a wonderful day. When she was a little younger, I always got lots of letters from her starting in January telling me that her birthday was coming up soon. It was so cute! I haven't heard quite as much from her since we had those letter writing changes- her center seemed really affected since they are in such a remote area- but I hope she writes soon telling me about her birthday.

May 29: Today I got the chance to talk about some really great causes with several random people! I went to the dentist this morning (and saw a duck outside, exciting) and had the friendly, familiar hygienist that I like. She commented on my purse, which is a really cute tote bag from Freeset. They empower women who were once forced to work in the sex industry in India. Now they make bags and bracelets to support their families. Parts of the bags (like the handles and some of the decorations) are made from old saris! I got a new Freeset tote this week, and lots of people have commented on it- giving me the chance to tell them about Freeset! Then when I went to the Dollar Tree to look for something, I picked up a bunch of birthday cards for my kids. I apologized to the sales girl because it's got to be annoying to scan so many of those things, and explained that I have lots of sponsor kids. She asked what organization they're with, and she told me that her family sponsors a child in Thailand! So cool! Talking about things I love made me happy. And so did the duck outside the dentist's office.

May 30: I had the day off today! I didn't have to do anything, but even though I did a lot of nothing, I feel like I still accomplished stuff. If someone says I wasted my day, I can say "I folded clothes, washed towels, did the dishes, cleaned out my car, and updated my car registration. And vacuumed." Accomplishing things makes me happy, because there are some days when my pain levels or my stomach cause problems and I can't get much done!

May 31: I feel like today was a hard day. I felt like crying part of the time, for no reason. People got on my nerves. Etc, etc. I'm having a hard time thinking of something happy, and I'm sorry about that. Um, I guess I can say that I'm happy that I got to have a cookie with lunch today, because I have been wanting a cookie lately. And I wish I had another one....or several.

Well, that ended on a happy note, did it not? Even if some days are a struggle, it's important to count your blessings and name your gifts. Hopefully next week's post will start AND end happily. : )

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.