happy

The Dancing Mermaid challenged her readers the other day to remember what makes us happy. Make a list, she said, so you can visit it on the days when happiness seems far away...

1. children -- I find them entertaining ... far more entertaining than anything
2. clouds... I love them whether I am picking out the shapes inside them or just enjoying them
3. the hot air balloons sliding up into the sky as I run
4. WILDLIFE ... of all kinds! I particularly appreciated the dolphins that stopped by to say hi on my last beach day in SoCal!
5. trains
6. law and order. I won't lie, whenever I get near cable, I find law and order and watch it, episode after episode. The original is my favorite, especially those featuring Benjamin Bratt, but I will watch just about any of those original episodes regardless of the number of times I have already seen them. I will watch first few seasons of Criminal Intent and any of the ones with Chris Noth. But I don't care for SVU. I am planning to at least try out the new one in the fall.
7. dessert -- I am slowly working my way through the Flying Star dessert menu. Sometimes I go to a restaurant just for dessert, you get more CALORIES in your dessert that way.
8. chocolate, not to be confused with dessert
9. strawberries, especially if they were grown in Oxnard and bought at a roadside stand -- closely followed by blackberries, raspberries and then blueberries.
10. whipped cream -- I keep it in my refrigerator at all times ... either in the can or a carton of heavy whipping cream ... and I was recently gifted with the little canister that makes whipped cream like the ones at sbucks... can't wait to use it!

That should be enough to lift my spirits under most circumstances!
Visual reminders, just in case:


We are off to the mountains with no internet access...so posting will resume sometime after we come off the mountain next week.
Happy fourth!