little things of 2018

Grateful living is happy living. Every year at this time I like to take time to reflect on things that made me smile or feel grateful over the past year. Here's my list:

• Buying an item at a garage sale and a week later finding a gift card tucked inside. After checking the balance online, it was never used! Regretfully, after going to 20+ garage sales seven days prior, I was clueless  as to which house it came from. So all I can say is "Much obliged indeed!"
• Being able to have some great laughs! And a laugh is so much better when I can get it at my husband Ange's expense. I must preface this story by saying that our four-year-old grandson is obsessed with bodily functions, especially burps and farts. Since Ange is just a grown-up version of a four-year-old, he downloaded a 'fart app' on his iPhone which our grandson L-O-V-E-S. Here's the funny part; after Ange and I spent an afternoon with our grandson, on the way home we stopped at an evening garage sale. You're familiar with pocket-dialing? Well, while Ange was looking at garage sale items (in a small garage filled with people), the iPhone fart app activated in his pants pocket, and the volume was not low. You should have seen the people scatter!
• Receiving an unexpected gift of an entire pound of high-end chocolates from a specialty shop in Oshkosh. Definitely my guilty pleasure! I ate nothing but chocolates that evening for dinner. Best.meal.ever.
• My eight-year-old granddaughter asked me if I was aware of the fact that by the time she's a teenager, I would probably be dead. You gotta love this girl :)
• Getting the gift of a perfect September day that coincided with a day off from work. The local weather had forecast thunderstorms and rain all day, when in fact it turned into a beautiful day with temperatures in the low 70s. Gardening heaven!
• Finding a division of a daylily I had admired in my friend's garden potted up and sitting by my car at the end of a work day.
• Our brother-in-law is a rock star. After two brain surgeries, lung cancer, chemo, radiation, and heart bypass surgery (all in the course of a few years) his sense of humor and resilience is nothing short of amazing. He also makes me think twice before complaining about anything.
• I know this will be hard to believe, but before 2018 I had never seen the sitcom 'Friends.' So over a six-month period I watched the entire ten seasons on Netflix. The best part was that every single episode made me laugh! And who doesn't need a happy place to go to at the end of the day?
• Ange and I have had the same card-playing group for over 20 years. Cards have become quite comical as of late. We are spending more and more of our time figuring out who dealt last, who laid down the last card, and who the heck snuck Canadian money into the pot. Thankfully, none of this interferes with having a guaranteed good time with lots of laughter.
• Finally, I'm so grateful that Ange always takes time to help me out in the garden. He says he hates flowers, but just between us, I kind of think he's playing me.

Pictured above: Minneapolis sophisti-cat 'Sophie,' a shelter rescue who now lives the life of a princess