Recently, I jotted down some simple things that brought glee to my life and I decided to share for a blog post. These are aside from the obvious such as family, God, and of course any money laying around to spend, lol! I have to admit that money can bring temporary happiness and I’ll explain more about that later. There’s so much more that can make me happy other than these things listed below but these were things first things that came out of my head when I thought of “simple things that bring me joy”. Your list may be quite different. I’d love to know what your list is. What’s your top 3?

• Coffee. Just that warm brew that gets my day going and completes the wake up process. The heat of it, the earthiness of it. The thought of it even brings me joy. Around 1:30 to 3:30 another cup of it revives me for the remainder of the day. The second cup is not as joyful as the first, but can definitely give me a boost.
• Wine. Growing up a Church of Christ gal, it was one of many forbidden fruits. However, having studied the Bible own my own for myself and figuring out my own salvation based on everything I’ve read, I’ve learned that wine is not necessarily inherently evil. Much like Eve picking the fruit from the wrong tree where the apple was not what was evil but the intent behind it. I love to have a glass of “wine down/wind down” every night to transition between work and evening. It’s my treasure for having worked all day. I don’t believe it is appropriate to get drunk. I do believe it binds people together in positive ways if the intent is appropriate. I think meeting for coffee is the same way, lol. The fact that there are so many kinds of wine and various tastes is exciting for me.
• Streaming. YouTube, Netflix. Especially YouTube where I can travel with those that sail or RV and see what they see, or I can go to Svalbard at the North Pole and hear about the polar nights, see the cobalt blue days, or dancing northern lights. This thrills my soul and feeds my travel thirst.
• Restaurants. There is some kind of thrill within me to try new restaurants. It is the thrill of the hunt to find new and different cuisine. And when we find it we recommend it or take friends or family back to it again and again. The pandemic and recent changes have kept us away from Nashville more and closer in to the Mount Juliet and Lebanon domains, but this is still one of my favorite things to do.
• Travel/Nature. I’m putting these together because I really had eleven simple things and it seemed better to just have ten for the sake of rounding. Nature and travel, in my world often come together but not always. I think when we are traveling I notice nature more. I love the woods, the oceans, animals, trees, flowers, birds, the sky, space, mountains, fields, farmland, ranches, terrains of all kind. I love capturing nature in photography/videography as well as our travels. I love sharing what we see with others. This makes me happy.
• Time. I think a chunk of my life, I was always afraid of being bored. So I always had a line up of things “to do someday”. As I have grown older, I’ve collected a lot of hobbies and lists of possible things to do. Time has become a precious element. It is one of my favorite things now and there is absolutely NO chance of boredom at this stage of my life anyway. The world tries to not only grab at your money, but if you have time or even if you don’t – the world wants a piece of you. I have had to protect my time. Others will fill it full if you let them. The working world would have you ignore your family and friends if given the chance for ownership of your week leaving you with barely a meal and a short night’s sleep for their cause. Support of vacation time is minimal as requirements for still getting it done are there even with you being gone. The world does not respect an individuals time and sanity in having some. I guard time with my life and if I don’t get some time to myself to re-energize, the world will absolutely know it. I fret with everyone until I get some time to reclaim my world, my space, my life. I am happy when I can find solitude and then recharge my introverted self. Oh the glee of getting up on a Saturday morning with a clean slate of what I can do for the day. It usually involves chores but a mixture of just “time to do whatever and in whatever order, and not having to go anywhere” brings ultimate joy to my soul. I can “nest in”!
• Music. Sometimes music can move me. I am not a huge “go crazy gotta have music” kinda person but sometimes music can be consoling, invigorating, and mood altering”. So it is a go to for me when I need just a little something added to my environment. If I’m doing something tedious at work it adds a layer of interest to the moment, or while driving, or while cleaning, or even sleeping at times. It just adds a layer of contentment.
• Books. Sometimes when the world is too much and I cannot make sense of it, or if I’m just tired and wanting to escape, is usually when I will read. Sometimes it is simply out of curiosity or the fact that I need to sit for a few minutes after being on my feet in the house. Books can really put me in a different place when I finally sit down to read or listen. It allows you to live another life, see or imagine different places, and go so far beyond your own world. You can go in so many directions. Fact or fiction. I like a little of both. Some of my best reading has been by the pool or on the beach or on a deck overlooking the beach, while sipping a beer or glass of wine, or at home with a cup of coffee – even popcorn, lol. The glee of just escaping and finding out what is happening next in the book gives me satisfaction.
• Blogging/Vlogging. It’s an outlet. It allows my creativity to emerge, flow, and develop. It’s been the single most important contentment/therapy/solution that I have found. The ability to communicate my feelings, myself, convey my thoughts, concerns, fears and to be understood. To have an avenue to learn and grow and share with others.
• Shopping. Although this is listed last, shopping is truly one of my favorite past times. I love clothes, shoes, socks, accessories, make up, bath stuff, household stuff, fake plants, pictures/prints, decor, pillows, throws, baskets, containers, quilts, organizing products. I love to come home and play with the clothes, change items up to redecorate in the house. I love going out and finding new things to bring in to the mix. I don’t spend a lot doing so. I usually stick with basics and find a few flairs to make things pop. Then you can change things around from time to time. I don’t have opportunity to get out as much and shop. I spend time on Amazon though and when I do go out to shop I get really excited. It’s the thrill of the hunt. I’ve always loved a good bargain. You go find what you need and sometimes you find things you didn’t know you wanted, lol! I’m so glad George likes to shop some too. Especially when traveling and at Christmas. He’s very patient.

So at the end of the blog, let me know some things that truly make you happy – just the little simple things that when life goes south, can bring you around? These are mine!

Real Time Update

So we are not sure if the weather is going to bring forth as much snow as originally intended. The original post called for 5-8 inches or more. Then it was 3 to 5, then 1-3, and now “about an inch”. It was a very complex system and I see why it was hard to predict. But I really wish I hadn’t bothered to pack that big box of stuff and bring it home. It’s all good. It bought me some extra time this weekend that my psyche needed.

So What all did we do yesterday?

We had brunch with our neighbors and had a fabulous time. They have helped us so much – with Mom’s move on Move #1 and also with Little Bit while gone to Asheville and Knoxville and then they checked on us while gone to TX. We wanted to thank them by buying brunch. It was so much fun hanging with them and talking to them. We want to get together more and they like wine tastings, so we will plan to check out some wineries sometime. Afterwards we walked to Houston’s a local butcher that has groceries as well. We bought potatoes and biscuits and carrots. We needed biscuits for this mornings breakfast (country sausage, grits, eggs) as George thought a “snow day” was fun day to cook ourselves some breakfast. Of course there is no snow yet. But here was my brunch plate yesterday for Catch22, not far from our house. Not many people know that it’s available for brunch. But on the weekends you can go at 10 a.m. an hour earlier than their sign says, or that their hours show on google or website, and you can get breakfast! They have a breakfast menu. A little known secret.

Little Bit has enjoyed our being home this weekend. He actually knocks on the door when he wants in.

He loves it at night after dinner when we are watching TV. He will find warmth and solace from my lap. I enjoy him too. As long as he doesn’t start “kneading” his sharp claws into my PJ’s. The flannels and a blanket help with that.

Back to Yesterday….

Our “piddling/tinkering” included:

• Laundry as always but getting into sheets, bathroom rugs, robe, and all the things that are not every weekend
• Got my sheets changed after 3 to 4 weeks. That was nice.
• Gave George my Christmas/Birthday checks to cash
• Picked out things on Amazon for my office to decorate with or items that I need or wanted to decorate with (small bookshelf, chalkboard, chalk, map of the world, fake plants)
• My lamp that George ordered came in. It’s this one below in the picture. We found one on Amazon. It’s $27 ish. And has a place to charge phone built in. This is perfect for my desk in my office at work.

• I dusted the living areas and put back out most of the Nic Nacs that I use year round. (Still have a few more items to work back in place but most of it done.)
• Spent time in my office at home which had become a dumping ground for everything personal that I needed to do or projects. (Consolidated notes, put passwords in my password app, wrote important dates on the calendar, scheduled tasks to do in my phone, threw away trash, put things up, opened up some Christmas gifts, put people’s new addresses from Christmas cards in my address book, made lists, wrote down blog ideas, etc). Just a very good hour or two of doing things I have wanted to do for six weeks. It didn’t take long, I just needed the goof off time to get a little organization back in my office, planner, lists, and head! This was probably the most important thing I did for myself yesterday as this is my space, my zone! When it’s messy my life and my head is messy.
• George and I filmed the Roger tribute and it came out so good. I loved it. I’m so glad he agreed to participate. I will be able to work on it soon over the next week or so and get that out. That made me so happy. I was stuck in time til we got that done.
• I opened my Rode microphone and wind muff and added that to the camera with the help of George. Mom had given me a camera tripod she had at her house and it ended up being perfect for what I needed. It’s very sturdy and well made. I guess they made them better back then. lol Very happy with that. I almost told her I didn’t need it but I’m glad I took it.
• Went through and bought things on Amazon with Christmas and Birthday money from Mom and my sister along with my half of the Amazon point money as we buy almost everything on our Amazon card. I bought all those things I mentioned above for my work office, plus some clothes – a big flannel shirt and some v-neck tee shirts, vases of various shapes/sizes to put little flower or plant stems in for decor, some huge hair rollers with clips (lol), a purse, some hair accessories since it’s growing out, and a spring PJ set.
• I watched Less Junk More Journey – a couple of their RV shows that I was behind on.
• We watched The Woman in the Window on Netflix while eating dinner. Kinda dark but it gets your attention. I had been reading the book as Judy gave it to me. I wasn’t through reading it but once I know what happens, I don’t really want to finish reading it. I’m that way with any book I see the movie for. So I’ll probably just start another.

I think that was about it for our day. Just really a day to putter around and piddle around (for Sybil and Mary, lol) and move things around, organize, and get myself together. It was very nice. So it is kinda showing rain, snow, ice and everything in the map below. I don’t think we will get much.

So over and out ya’ll. Have a splendid Sunday. I’ll be continuing to get things organized here on the home front so I can be a better person and be able to freely clear my mind and get things done at work and for Mom and everyone else that needs me. Thanking the Lord for this quiet weekend after the burst of such a busy quarter of the year in which we accomplished much. The Lord provides. Time. We needed some time to chill in our nest.

What things make your life worth living? And are you getting snow? What are you all up to this weekend? Love to hear.