Little things that make me happy

Yesterday, I vented about things that annoyed me so I thought today I would share things that make me smile :)

1) Hearing my kids play music. Especially when they play together!

2) Being able to sit outside while I eat lunch.

3) Getting a pedicure with a friend

4) Getting my hair cut and styled when I am actually going somewhere afterwards

5) Eating a Buster Bar from Dairy Queen

6) Finishing a great book! (like The Red Tent)

7) Wandering around a great bookstore

8) Seeing the Dodgers win

9) Finishing a crochet project (this one doesn't happen too often, so I enjoy it when it does)

Little things that bug me

I don't know what it is lately, but I have been very annoyed by the smallest things. I thought if I got them off of my chest, I would feel better...

1) The tree at the corner where I turn is hanging down and scraping the top of my car every time I turn right. I know it's stupid, but it bugs me! We pay our homeowners fees, they could at least trim the damn tree!

2) The multitude of parents who illegally park in front of the school playground every single morning. Ohhh this really makes me mad! The street is quite narrow already and with cars parked on both sides of the street it almost becomes impassable. Drop off your damn kid and leave! If you have to go on the playground with them, leave your car at the park and walk your ass over there! I have been toying with the idea of calling parking enforcement and telling them they could really clean up if they showed up one morning and started writing tickets.

3) The lack of customer service at Michaels. The cashiers are so obviously bored with their jobs it is pathetic to see. They never acknowledge you, smile or , heaven forbid, say thank you. I know, I could go to Joann's, but if you read my friend Cheryl's observations on the topic, you would understand why I can't go there either.

4) Voice mail bugs me. With the beauty of caller id, I can see that you called me. If I want to talk to you, I will call you back. I don't have the time or patience to retrieve a message from voice mail to tell me that you called. I can see that from the caller id!

5) I love Halloween! But, I hate the people in my neighborhood that have already put out Halloween decorations! It is frickin September! Halloween does not occur for over a month!

Wow, this is great, I feel better already!

Life Lists

I keep hearing about people writing their "Life Lists". I have never been much into the idea of writing goals. I think I have a fear of success/failure and by writing things down, it is one more way to be held accountable.

I read this book called Write It Down, Make It Happen by Henriette Anne Klauser. It is fascinating! She shares examples of where people wrote what they wanted and how it came true. She also shares some exercises to help you get the thoughts out of your head and onto paper.

So, I wrote a few things and I was amazed because some of them are not things I ever consciously admitted I wanted.

In no specific order, these are somethings I want to do or have in my life...

to see fireflies
exercise weekly
be paid as a public speaker
see the Northern Lights
to find a way to be involved at Central
get a new, great family portrait
get my teeth fixed
have more friends
learn to knit

...to be continued

Monday

It's Monday. I don't mind Mondays, they are ok. But my motivation is really low today. I don't know why. I have tons to do, I just don't want to... do... anything. I want to crochet and read and, that's about it. But I need to work, clean my office, do a lot of laundry, go to the gym and about 50 thousand other things that I just don't feel like doing.

Maybe Tuesday I will be more motivated... or maybe not.

Saving the world, or at least my little corner of it...

I am a problem solver. Nothing makes me happier that figuring out how to help people. My friends and family all know this and take full advantage of it... I feel needed and they get what they need it is a win-win situation. "Where can I buy...?" April will know. "Who can tell me how to do...?" April will know. "Why doesn't this program exist in our community?" April can find out if it does and chances are, if it doesn't she will work to make it happen.

So what's the latest problem needing to be solved? Well, I have a friend who has kids around the same age as mine and we want our kids to volunteer in our community. None of them are in Scouts (mine were, we are done now, thank goodness!) and it isn't easy to find a way for them to see and appreciate what they have. I thought, "there must be a website that lists volunteer opportunities for kids in our area." Well, there is not. So I started thinking, do parents really have the time and energy to take their kids to 'one more thing' not that this thing isn't important, but after sports, music, homework, etc. it tends to become one more thing.

What about a way for simple hands on projects that non-profits need done that can be delivered to kids who are already in a group, like Safe Key? If the NP can deliver the project {books needing labels, bag stuffing, packet assembling, etc.} to the group site the kids could do the project, learn about the NP and maybe appreciate their lives a little more? This could even be done in a pre-school playgroup environment where the moms do the project while the kids are playing.

I don't know... it's just an idea that may or may not go anywhere.

Past ideas/Problems solved:

Safe Haven Law - this one was very successful! I worked on this with the Junior League of Las Vegas.

Building a fully accessible playground - this one hasn't happened, but I believe it will. I may not be the one to do it, but by sharing my vision with others I know the right person to make it happen will come along. The story behind this is that there is not a fully accessible playground in Nevada. One that can be used by children in wheelchairs and walkers as well as being used by able bodied children. A few parks have one or two items that are accessible, but not an entire playground. The dream is to eventually have one piece of accessible equipment on every elementary school playground also.

Coats: Many of the students at a local elementary school in a low income neighborhood would not go to school on cold days because they didn't own a coat and they knew they wouldn't get to go out for recess and lunch without a coat. The school would have upwards of 100 absences on cold days vs warmer ones. So we collected over 300 coats and delivered them to the school and let the kids pick out any coat they wanted. It was the best, the look on those kids faces when I told them they could keep the jacket, it was priceless!

I guess I just miss the feeling when I have a project do complete. And right now I don't have one.