Day 77 of Happiness: It's a Bittersweet Life

Life can sure be bittersweet at times and I guess that's what this blog is all about - finding the good, even when it's mixed in with some not-so-good.  Although this week has been stressful and I've really been wishing that I got home from work earlier and could spend more time with my new esposo, and missing my sister while she's on vacation, there have been a lots of spots of happiness.

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A few days ago (yeah, sorry, haven't had too much time to blog) my neighbors invited us over for dinner.  Now, this may not seem a big deal to you lucky folks who have great relationships with your neighbors and live in picturesque little towns where everyone is friends.  However, where I live pretty much people go to work, park the car in the garage and disappear into the house never to be seen again.  The only people I know are the few people I've met walking my dog (which means I say hello to them and could pick them out in a line-up) or the people that also work at the golf course.  Pathetic.  Maybe because we live in a townhouse development and there not a lot to get you outside?  I really don't know why no one in the neighborhood wants to get to know each other, but I've been there three years and haven't really met anyone.

Well  I can happily say that three years later Ivan and I were FINALLY invited over to the neighbors' house for dinner.  Success!!!  Super-spot of happiness.

Another thing that always makes me happy (ok, so not always) is cooking.  I love to cook when I have the time and ingredients.  With my sister and her family away I have been cooking for Ivan and me and it's been great.  Ok, so there have been some crazy incidents that include smoke alarms going off, totally misread instructions on a Mayan-spiced Chocolate Pudding recipe, and hands so dry from washing dishes that they could be used for sandpaper - but it's still been fun.  My sister and her husband stick to chicken breast and ground turkey when it comes to meat - so pretty much that's all we eat.  With them being gone, I've been able to experiment with a variety of meat recipes - like BBQ pork chops (which set of the smoke alarm), and roasted chicken.  The roasted chicken was almost more than I could handle because it was just like a turkey (with little giblets) and felt like a baby in my hands.  But I put those thoughts aside, rubbed olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, and basil all over the little guy, shoved some limes in the top and bottom cavities, and popped it in the oven.  And two hours later, it was tasty.  Yeah for food experimentation!!

And my last spot of happiness - which is quite simple - I went to work and left the sink full of dishes from the night before (waaaay to tired to wash them) and when I came home Ivan had washed them all up.  Wow was I thrilled!  It's the little things that count, right?

Oh, and I'm also super thrilled that although the Nuclear Security Summit is going on in DC and there are numerous blocks completely closed to cars and buses and police cars all over the place (and some important people tooling down the road in huge SUVs with lots of security guards), my bus wasn't late arriving this morning and wasn't late picking me up.  This was a huge relief and made me sooo happy.  It's always a spot of happiness to return home before 6:30pm!!
So - those are my happiness notes for the last few days.  Hopefully I have many more to come this week!!

Happy Monday!!!