Happy 101

Linda at Wander To The Wayside passed along a Happy 101 Sweet Friends award this weekend. Thank you Linda! It says "Add kind words; Mix in sweet thoughts; Enjoy good times". The rules are that I tell you about ten things that make me happy, then pass it along to fellow bloggers. It's a great way to start out the week, especially discovering there was so much that pushed my happy buttons.

Happy Buttons:1) My children laughing and my grandson's smile. And my downstairs neighbor's baby's chortles. Okay, pretty much children laughing make me giggle. Unless they're creepy. Like Chucky. But he's not real. Right?

2) Creating ~ writing, photography, crafts, a new life.

3) Golden sunshine against a blue sky with white clouds skittering by.

4) Flowers ~ gardens, pictures, window boxes, but especially in the house. We used to have a gardenia bush when I was growing up in Florida. And I miss the roses I grew in Arizona, big as my outstretched hand (thank you, Miracle-Gro).

5) Birdsong ~ I don't even need to be hiking. Birds at the deck feeders, outside an open window, just please not pooping on my car.

6) Any good book I can't put down. A recent favorite contributing to my grogginess is Linda Lou's 'Bastard Husband--A Love Story'. It's a funny and heart-warming memoir of an amazing woman/comedian/writer/healer (that's my assessment).

7) Sugar in all its nefarious forms, especially if there is frosting involved. And coconut.

8) Checks in the mail and packages from Amazon.com (more books!).

9) Decorating: our home, a cake, my kids, the farm(ville)--sigh.

10) Comments on the blog!

And here are just a few of the fun blog friends (blognutians, according to blognut at More Mindless Rambling) I like to hang out with. By no means is this list complete as ALL the folks on my blog list know how to rock it--whether you are looking to connect with beauty, insight, humor or heart:

Anna at Nature Trail

Deb at Catbird Scout

Linda at Linda Lou, live from Las Vegas

Julie at Midlife Jobhunter

Kim at Yellow Trash Diaries

Jelisa at The Typing Makes Me Sound Busy

Michel at Facts are Strictly Optional

Debbie at Suburb Sanity

Julie at Prairie Thistle

Blognut at More Mindless Rambling

Hilary at The Smitten Image

So I'm grateful for the nudge to think up happy buttons and savor my blog list. It made for the best start to a good week. I invite you to put on a cup of tea/coffee/rum-n-coke and cozy up with them when you get a moment to get to know some really good people. After all, visiting your sites is where I've found all my blog favorites!