Happy~Ness

A blogger I read and admire, Abigail Green of Diary of a New Mom, has tagged me with the "Sweet Friend" Award and asked me to post 10 Things That Make Me Happy. How could I refuse? A new year began 26 days ago and here is my first post! But, I think it's a perfect "first of the year" post.

1. My Family--I'd be crazy not to put my family at the top of my list. They are by far the biggest source of happiness in my life. Although I've posted my fair share of mama woes and toddler troubles, I've never experienced such happiness and awe as I do when I'm with J. My husband is happy and funny, a great partner; my parents live near and are supportive; my younger brothers, though they don't always "get" my life as a wife, mother, professional, are around and involved; AND, I have four living grandparents! Life has been good to me in the family department, and I do realize it often.

2. Reading--I've always been a reader, and although it's harder and harder these days to find the time, thankfully I still am. I just finished The Help, which I loved and will be recommending for quite some time. Currently, I'm reading two books for the two book groups I'm involved in: Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult and Teacher Man by Frank McCourt. (I bet you can guess which one is for the retirement community book group!)

Next on my to-read list is probably The Happiness Project, which fits in perfectly with this meme. The author summarizes it as "a memoir of the year I spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages, the current scientific studies, and the lessons from popular culture about how to be happy". Check out her blog, which is one of the happiness experiments she conducted while writing the book. It's energizing and inspiring.

I love to write and talk about books, and I have another book giveaway (or two) coming up soon. Please stay tuned for those!

3. Nature--Nature was a big part of my upbringing. My parents "made" us spend lots of time outside, took us to metro parks all the time, and planned vacations around nature attractions and activities. I feel happy and enjoy myself when I'm outdoors. My mood is also strongly affected by the environment and the weather. (I probably have undiagnosed SAD, but how could you not?)

4. Concerts, Live Theatre, Performances--If we made more money we would be more frequent patrons of the arts, but as it is I think we do pretty well. Last week we took J to his first symphony, one geared towards kids, which he loved. In high school, I went on the Stratford trip, where we traveled to (ahem) Stratford-on-Avon, Canada for the annual Shakespeare Festival. That was a really amazing experience. A couple of my favorite concerts are U2 and David Gray.

5. Traveling--I've taken some great trips around the country, the highlights being a) honeymoon to Bar Harbor, Maine, home of Acadia National Park; b) a year into our marriage, C and I trekked across the country to the Southwest in a little stick shift Saturn--these were some amazing adventures, one of which was my profound desire to knock C over the edge of the Grand Canyon once we finally got there; and c) a high school road trip with my best friend, her brother and her uncle traveling throughout New England and into the amazing cities of Montreal and Toronto.

6. Music--All kinds. Lately, my favorite musical interests are J's. He's BIG on singing, making up songs, dancing, playing instruments and asking who we're listening to on the radio. I think he has some kind of music lessons in his future, which makes me very excited and happy, as I have no musical talents whatsoever!

7. Writing--A favorite past-time that's taken a back seat lately. The entries in the pregnancy journal are much shorter this time around! But, any kind of writing makes me happy, especially blogging and letter writing. And, the extra happy bonus about letter writing is getting mail in return!

8. Good Food--I'm just gonna be totally honest here: food makes me happy! Pregnant or not, I like good food!

9. Photography--I could probably add "wanna-be photographer" to my blog header. I'm not sure exactly how good I'd be at it, but it is something I enjoy. And, I can appreciate the qualities of good photography. Looking at photos makes me really happy. We have so many albums around the house that I often pick one up and flip through, however quickly, just for that warm fuzzy reminiscent feeling I get.

10. Friends--Last but not least, my friends make me happy. I hope you all know that! Whether you are close personal friends, blogger friends, Twitter friends, you all add happiness to my life. With that, I'll tag a few friends with this "Sweet Friend" award and encourage you to blog your own 10 things:

Jenny of Write the Journey

Cheryl of Herland Notebook

Amanda of Made in a Treehouse

Books NOT Read...

So, bed rest has given me a slight opportunity to catch up on some starred Twitter posts and blog posts. @bostonbibliophl recently tweeted a post that caught my eye--What books have you NOT read this year? Despite our best intentions, despite the hype and great recommendations that many books get, I think we all end the year not having read a book or two that we thought we would. And, as someone who loves to gift books, what a great way to get some gift ideas. Check out the discussion she generated at her blog, Boston Bibliophile.

It struck me that this year-end topic could be adapted to a little meme, and with a to-read list as long as mine I've definitely got some material! I'm going to focus my list on books I did not read just for lack of time. These aren't books I've changed my mind about or books I started and didn't finish. I do hope to get to them next year!

First up, and probably the most popular response on @bostonbibliophl's post is:

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

A few others:

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

And, for readers young and old, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

Please share your Have-Reads and Have-Not-Reads!

quick tag

a bloggy friend tagged me with this quick little meme, and i thought i'd churn it out to leave you with some fun before we head out on vacation. apparently, the categories have been narrowed from 8 responses down to 4, which i fully support. (some of these tag games are so fun, but also sooooo loooong!)


4 things i'm looking forward to


::finishing the book i'm currently reading (water for elephants--it is so good!)

::taking pictures of J's feet as he walks in the sand on vacation

::taking J to his first baseball game tomorrow

::remodeling our bathroom (someday)



4 things i did yesterday


::went to the zoo

::took a nap

::ate a piece of pattycake vegan bakery's chocolate-raspberry cake

::laughed A LOT, especially when J and the two boys we were babysitting did this:




4 things i wish i could do

::travel more often

::sew

::get a weekly massage

::live near water


4 tv shows i watch

::the office

::30 rock

::castle

::i want to start watching 'a place of our own' on pbs


4 places i'd like to travel

::paris

::vienna

::ireland

::yellowstone national park


4 places i've lived

::columbus, ohio is actually the only place i've lived, so the next 3 are places i'd love to live

::camden, maine

::santa fe, new mexico

::portland, or


OK, your turn! If you're reading this, you're tagged!

A Christmas Meme

Merry Christmas everyone! I was tagged by Cheryl to do this festive meme, so here goes...

01. Wrapping paper or gift bags?

I'd say, about half and half. I love buying cute wrapping paper and tying packages up with ribbons and bows. These gifts are much more fun to open as well. Gift bags are nice though - and reusable.

02. Real tree or artificial?

I grew up with an artificial tree. It was enormous. It had to be carried up from the basement branch by branch, and my brothers and I always enjoyed doing that. But, I absolutely love the smell of pine and the tradition of picking out a tree at the nursery each year, so my husband and I have always gone with real. I do feel guilty, though, when I think of all the trees that get cut down each year, so we are thinking next year we might try one that can be planted after Christmas.

03. When do you put up a tree?

Early December. My birthday is the 7th, and the tree MUST be up before then.

04. When do you take the tree down?

New Year's Eve day or New Year's day. As beautiful as our tree is, I'm tired of it by then.

05. Do you like eggnog?

Meh. It's okay. I usually have a small glass on Christmas Eve, because that's when my parents would drink it. So, I associate it with the excitement and festivities of that particular night, but I really don't care for it all that much. I guess you could say I choke it down in the name of Tradition! ;)

06. Favorite gift as a child?

A huge stuffed brown rabbit. It was almost as big as I was. He wore a black tie and a red plaid vest. I named him Bentley and loved him dearly. (I thought of him as my own personal Velveteen Rabbit.)

07. Hardest person to buy for?

My mom. She is particular about things that I am not, so I have to really try to think like she would while I am shopping for her.

08. Easiest person to buy for?

That's probably a tie between my husband and J. Both are excited by small things and very appreciative.

09. Do you have a nativity scene?

Yes. We purchased it from a talented wood carver at Winterfair one year. We have subsequently gone back to his booth in the years since to buy more as gifts.

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?

Hmmmm. It's probably a tie between a box of chocolate-covered cherries that I received when I was about nine years old (disgusting!) and a quilted vest embroidered with little dogs. I kid you not.

11. Favorite Christmas Movie?
White Christmas. I just love Rosemary Clooney's voice, the costumes, and the crazy funny acting of Danny Kaye.

12. Favorite Christmas Song?

Um, I'm not sure... Honestly, I find a lot of them annoying. Oh, but I do love the Chris Isaak Christmas!

13. Travel at Christmas or stay home?

We stay in Columbus. We spend Christmas Eve with the in-laws and then divide Christmas day between my maternal grandparents and paternal grandparents, all of whom live nearby.

14. Have you ever recycled a christmas present?

No, I don't think so. Maybe an ornament...

15. Favorite ornament or theme color?

When J is old enough I am sure my favorite ornament will be one he makes for me, but for now it's one from my childhood. A glass reindeer that appears soft and glowy when hung directly in front of a Christmas tree light.

OK, so to carry on the fun, if you are reading this, consider yourself tagged! I'll also specifically tag Casey, Mike, Mark and Steph. (I will be completely shocked if Mark participates, btw...I don't think this is his kind of thing!) Please stop back and leave a comment if you do participate.

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1/1/09 UPDATE: Thanks to little brother Mark, my mom got wind of this post and takes offense to being my answer for the person hardest to shop for. I attempted to clarify the reasoning behind that answer and in no way meant to imply that she is picky! :)

10 Random Things

For a project at work, staff were encouraged to participate in this meme. Participants were to list 10 random things about themselves, publish it to their blog, and then send out a Twitter update when finished. The goal was a networking/getting-to-know-you experience.

I've had fun reading others' random things and thought I'd extend the challenge out to those of you outside of the library blogosphere. Have fun!

1. OK, the CML stuff first. I was a Page before there were LSA’s and a Clerk before CSA’s and CSS’s. I’ve been in the system 12 years. (Yes, I realize this sounds like gibberish to all you non-library folks. Sorry. None of the other 'things' will; promise.)
   
2. My husband and I met at the library, although he was not an employee. (We’re actually kind of the result of a set-up.) We’ve been married 8 1/2 years. If not for him, I would not have absorbed so much Seinfeld trivia nor developed an interest in the Tour de France.
   
3. My retirement dream is to move to Maine, buy an old farmhouse, and open a bed & breakfast.
   
4. I have naturally curly hair and it drives me crazy when people ask me about it - I don’t like the implication that I might possibly have a perm!
   
5. I love to travel. A few years ago, the husband and I took a cross-country 3-week trip out West, visiting St. Louis, MO; Moab, UT; Sedona, Flagstaff and Grand Canyon, AZ; Santa Fe and Taos, NM before looping back home. The kicker–we made the trip in my ‘94 standard transmission, NO cruise control Saturn. Yeah, that made the Rockies interesting. Still, it’s our favorite trip.
   
6. I can’t stand the word ‘whatnot’.
   
7. Typos, misprints, grammatical errors, the stuff on Jay Leno’s Headlines are my worst pet-peeves. That’s why I enjoy reading this blog.
   
8. Garden gnomes freak me out.
   
9. As a child, I was i n c r e d i b l y shy. I hated talking to ’strangers’ like my parents friends, employees at stores or restaurants, doctors, etc., even on the telephone. I’m not sure when I got over all that…maybe not until high school.
   
10. I love mail. As much as I enjoy and feel thankful for email, blogging, IM, chat, etc., I still love sending and receiving handwritten notes and letters. Besides feeling special and more personal, one of the best things about mail is that it combines two things that I love/am fascinated by: stationery and people’s handwriting.
    

Care to share your 10 random things?