Sunday, February 17, 2013

10 Little Things That Bring Me Joy

An oldie from when he was a few months old
It's Sunday night, which means time for Listicles! This week Wendy from Stamping rules calls the topic: 10 tiny (or secret) things that bring you joy. Now, if I wrote about secret things, then they wouldn't be secret anymore, would they? I think I'll stick with little (not so much size, but more like simple) things that bring me joy.
  1. Eating pink grapefruits. I don't cut them in half & eat them with a spoon. I peel them like an orange--which I find somehow more satisfying because of all the pith, then I peel the membrane off each segment & eat them one by one.
  2. Crazy socks. I love interesting patterned socks. The ones I'm currently wearing have sharks on them. I've also got Union Jack socks (a gift from a friend who went to England--I'm not a monarchist or anything), zebra striped, three pairs of leopard socks, lots of stripey socks--many of them knee-high. 
  3. California rolls. Since I discovered them about 15 years ago, I've ordered cali rolls pretty much every single time I go to a sushi restaurant. Just ate some tonight for dinner, in fact.
  4. Perfectly ripe bananas. Just past green, no brown spots, nice and firm. Mmmm.
  5. The smell of pine trees. I think it's because they remind me of my childhood. Ponderosas were my favourites to climb because of their nicely spaced branches. Pitchy though.
  6. Making lists & checking things off. I'll often write things on my To Do list that are really simple, just for the pleasure of ticking them off. Listicles kind of dovetails with this nicely...
  7. My old-school label maker. It's one of those that embosses the letters one at a time as you rotate a dial past the black plastic tape. I remember my dad's lunchbox had his name on it with a similar label in the 70s.
  8. The smell of a new book. I rarely buy books, except for Sprout, but I do enjoy burying my nose in the middle of the pages & inhaling whatever that smell is. Probably something terrible like the glue in the binding or the bleach used to whiten the paper pulp. Heh.
  9. Altering clothes. Sometimes it's just a nip or a tuck here to make them fit better. As the classic pear shape, I can rarely find dresses that fit both halves of my body, so alterations are essential unless the top is swimming on me or the hips are too tight. Other times it's just to add a bit more personality to the mass-produced stuff I (sadly) have so much of in my wardrobe.
  10. When Sprout holds my hand. While his hand is still much smaller than mine & while he still wants to actually hold my hand, I'll enjoy it.
What little things in life make you happy? Share a few in the comments below!


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25 comments:

  1. Loved your #2 and #4. I love crazy socks, too! :) And I LOVE perfect bananas! Great list!

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    1. Thanks! When I started my list, everything was food & drink... I had to think hard to find things other than edibles. :)

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  2. Great list! I love California rolls, too - they definitely make me happy.

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    1. They're totally not authentic Japanese, but I love avocado... I have heard that they were invented by Tojo, the famous sushi chef from Vancouver, to please the palates of North Americans. The traditional way of making maki with the nori on the outside was too weird for us, so he made them inside out & used less challenging ingredients--cooked crab, avocado & sometimes cucumber. Kind of the 'gateway drug' to get us all hooked on sushi. I think it's worked, judging by how sushi has become one of the default 'fast food' options here. :)

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  3. Very sweet (#10, that is)!

    I love grapefruit too, but I've never tried eating them like an orange--will have to try that out!

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    1. I find the membranes are a lot tougher than oranges but if you go to all the effort of peeling them off, it's soooo worth it. Kinda like all the work involved in eating nuts in the shells. They taste better somehow when you have to do the work. ;)

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  4. HOLY CRAZINESS I could have written this same post minus the crazy socks ( I did think it said cozy at first). I love your list! And that photo is adorable.

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    1. Ha ha! I noticed a lot of the lists I saw had some similarities. I think I'm the only one who didn't include coffee though... :)

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  5. #6 is totally me, too! Sometimes I like to write things as multiple steps taht could really be seen as one, just so I can have the joy of crossing off each thing individually.

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    1. YES! It's totally cheating & just a little obsessive somehow, but I know exactly what you mean!
      1. sweep floor.
      2. turn on steam mop.
      3. mop floor.
      4. admire shiny floor.
      5. wipe toddler footprints/spilled food off said floor.

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  6. I don't know why I don't have/buy more funky socks because I like them too. I know exactly what you mean about the bananas.

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    1. I don't wear a lot of patterns or prints typically, so it's fun to have on a pair of wild socks. Even if I'm wearing boots & no-one will see them, I still know... :)

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  7. I do enjoy California Rolls as well. Yum yum!

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    1. I think they must be pretty healthy too--good fats in avocado, omegas in the pollock, aka 'crab', plus iron in the nori. :)

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  8. Replies
    1. Once they're a day too ripe, my toddler will still eat them, or into smoothies they go... :)

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  9. I will put things on my To Do list that are actually already completed just so I can check it off. :D

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    1. That's totally cheating! Unless you did them in the last five minutes. Five minute rule, right? ;)

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  10. LOVE #10!! Holding hands with my little girls is the best! I am constantly thankful that they still want to and already mourning the day they start being too grown up and embarrassed to do so!

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  11. Visiting from Listicles. Yep, totally with ya on the list thing. My fam sometimes gives me a hard time about my lists. But I just feel bad for them...if they only knew the satisfaction of "checking off" things, sigh :)

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    1. I bet you there's a word in another language specifically for the pleasure of checking things off a list. Maybe Japanese or German. I find those two languages often have really specific concepts like this covered by one word... :)

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  12. Lovely. I am a Cali girl too. Hubby is all fancy and orders sushi I cannot pronounce and I am like: just give me some Cali rolls...yes to perfectly ripe bananas and avocados too!

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    1. I tried to acquire a taste for the fancy stuff with raw fish. After five years I was still gagging on sashimi, so I gave up. Cali rolls it is! :)

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  13. #6 and #8. Me too! I love lists. And new book smells are soooo intoxicating, aren't they?

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