What Makes You Smile?

I was looking at someone elses blog this morning and the first sentence of it made me pause, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized something. I think that we all hurry through our lives, getting things done, ocassionally noticing something in passing, but how often do we stop to dwell on the things that make us smile? Perhaps even make a list of the things that make us smile. Taken individually, it always seems like those moments are too far apart and too few. The mistake is in taking them only on an individual basis. That life is the sum of its parts is too true.

So I thought that it might be interesting to you, if I were to share those things that make me smile. You might find similarities, shared delights, or they might inspire you to make your own list.

I like the feeling of fresh, clean sheets that are tightly stretched on the bed. They don't have to be warm from the drier, just taught and unwrinkled.....it makes me wiggle my toes and twist and turn just so that I can get the full fresh sheet experience. I like it when I pick Diesel up when he has been in a very sound sleep and I hold him on his back and he lazily stretches out as long as he can go, all the while looking up at me with sleepy eyes and the tip of his tongue poking out at me. I like it when I'm feeling tired, and in passing in the kitchen, I get a hug from Don and we just stand there for a moment, with my head nestled in under his chin. I like it when I'm digging up a new flower bed and pulling out the weeds and making it all tidy and ready for the new plants that I just bought at the nursery. I like walking through the nursery and picking out first this plant, and then another and another.....

I like it when I'm walking Sierra out to the paddock in the morning and I have her halter in my hand, and beside my face, is her whiskery nose and her lovely brown Arab eyes, right there, looking at me. I like the way her slender legs are shaped - they seem so delicate to hold up all that weight. I love it when Kim and Holly call and we connect like we do, I like it that they are my friends! I like sawing wood and hammering and making things to make our home cozier. I like it when my bread comes out of the oven and they are starting to be consistently good, no more inner caverns, or flat bricks that would hurt my foot if it were to slip from my fingers.

I like it when I get a closet tidied and organized after a long while of it being a chaotic cavern that needs to have the door closed on it. I will go back for days, just to open the door and stand and admire the order and pat myself on the back for having done such a good job. I really like using caulking to fill in cracks and crevices around doorways and baseboards before I paint. It makes everything look so much more solid and finished and like it is better quality than it really is. I like the feeling of hot, soapy dishwater on my hands, and I like the gradual change from messy kitchen counter, to tidy and clean.

There are so many things and these are only some that make me smile as I go about my day. Sometimes it is too easy to get caught up in life, taking care of business. We forget to realize just how many special things there are that make it all worthwhile. Sometimes, it's good to make a list...