Small Joys — blessings too many to count

Day 301

#394

count my blessings

Where to start? And it would never end. I am very fortunate and very grateful.

Sean and the kids — how did I get so lucky to have this amazing family.

Barbara — makes my life better. Changed me for the better and for good.

Numerous other friends — I am blessed with abundance. I try to keep up with birthday cards and fb messages and texts.

Financial stability — and even beyond that. We’ve worked hard but we’ve also been lucky. The real estate transactions and home improvements of this year are incredible and I’m humbled to be able to afford them. Money does ease life.

Medical miracles — I wouldn’t be here with them.

A cat who adores me. And is beautiful and fuzzy and lets me pet her incessantly.

A dog who adores me. So loyal and gentle and sweet.

Board gaming hobby and community — really changed my life for past 15 years. Entertainment, friendships, community building, Flamingocon — all blessings.

Sourdough hobby and community — delicious bread, a meditative hobby, and sharing joy with fellow enthusiasts.

Small Joys — curiosity!

Day 300

#294

practice curiosity

i feel like I’m always curious. We went for a bike ride, and explored a couple side paths. I looked up what happened to the drained lake that became Paynes Prairie. We decided to walk to the concert rather than drive and explored a tiny bit of gville.

Small Joys — deep clean

Day 299

# 381

Weed out, organize, review lotions and makeup in bathroom

Well, I picked this for today: cleaning out completely under all three sinks. Loads of stuff donated to an immigrant group. Tons tossed out — many outdated toiletries and meds.

Small Joys — kaching

Day 298

#15

Take in coins to be counted

Small Joys — memories

Day 297

#361

Share a memory

Shared two so far — in other posts. And I’m inspired to ask others about their Thanksgiving memories.

Small Joys — Buddha and Eve

Day 295

#80

read a Buddhist text

This isn’t as easy as a bible passage, since there is no one book. I tried googling “koans” which are riddles to make you think. I ended up reading a lovely essay by Thich Nhat Hahn , a very wise Vietnamese Buddhist monk (recently passed away).

His essay Finding Our True Home was lovely. Excerpt:

Our true home is life, our true home is the present moment, whatever is happening right here and right now. Our true home is the place without discrimination, the place without hatred. Our true home is the place where we no longer seek, no longer wish, no longer regret. Our true home is not the past; it is not the object of our regrets, our yearning, our longing, or remorse. Our true home is not the future; it is not the object of our worries or fear. Our true home lies right in the present moment. If we can practice according to the teaching of the Buddha and return to the here and now, then the energy of mindfulness will help us to establish our true home in the present moment.

Day 296

#395

Name and get to know my inner voice

I’ve been thinking in this one a few days. I’ve had a hard time naming her. I’m certain she’s a her. In fact, she is me, sometimes a scared me, sometimes a confident me. It’s not my mother’s voice, which is a relief to really discover. I don’t get a lot of “should” or shame from my inner voice; she’s mostly supportive, sometimes uncertain.

I think I’ll name her Eve, I decided as I wrote this. I’ll start being supportive back and maybe we can team up to work together on problems.

I was reading about giving your negative inner voice a name so you can call it out. I can calm Eve and tell her to stop fretting.

How to find your inner voice. A little meditation to see if I can get to know her better.

Small Joys —Go Bolts

Day 294

#332

Check out a sports score

I really had to think through what sports season we are in — hockey or football. I checked, and the local Tampa Bay Lightning, aka the Bolts were playing against the Philadelphia Flyers. Just checked the score, and the Bolts won 3-nothing. Previously read an article saying Tampa is a stronger team, but the Flyers had proven good comeback team. Not so much tonight I guess.

This didn’t awaken a big new interest in sports. But I know Jon and Nora like the Bolts so I’ll probably pay a teeny bit of attention going forward.

Small Joys — catching up

Day 292

#165

Write a list of 20 things that made me happy this week

Done! See blog post. Definitely will be a regular thing from now on.

Day 293

#45

pet a dog

Done! I met and petted 20-week-old Hershey, a big puppy who turned her back to be petted. And met an English Spaniel. And saw a cute pug. And I petted Kenji.

And I petted a friendly boxer (?) at Swan Brewing. And a little Australian shepherd puppy with light brown eyes. What a day for dogs!

Small Joys — biblical joy

Day 291

# 77

read a bible passage

This seemed like no big deal. Then I discovered u made a big boo boo: didn’t pay the homeowners insurance, due last week. GAH.

so I chose to read Psalm 121 KJV which is about God taking care of things. This made me feel better:

5The LORD  is thy keeper:

The LORD  is thy shade upon thy right hand.

6The sun shall not smite thee by day,

Nor the moon by night.

Small Joys — a two-fer

Day 290

# 527

Update picture frames

AND 528

Enjoy new music

Sent photos of past couple weeks’ excitement to Nana and to Laurie and to our own frame — which has been unplugged lately.

AND today I hung out with son-in-law Jon, and learned about a cool country-ish band, Cory & the Boys. Which has led to much other good music today on my phone. I told him about Marcia Ball and Nancy Griffith.

Small Joys — break time!

Day 289

#440

Take a break

Been some busy weeks. And the stress of buying/selling and of being apart is wearing on us. Taking a couple days off from Small Joys. They’re fun but a commitment too. I’ve also been trying to take a break from feeling guilty for everything.

Small Joys — otter love

Day 288

#323

Cuddle an otter

Always happy to be reminded to hug my otter.

Small Joys — clean slate

Day 287

#5

Clean out the car

After a super busy week, things had piled up in the car. Peter helped get trash, clothes, empty bottles and stuff out of car. Joyful to start the week with a tidy car.

Small Joys — cheers

Day 286

#526

enjoy a new cocktail

Lemon drop martini: my new fave.

Tried a gift one, with grenadine to make it pink, at Cob & Pen in Lakeland. Had another at Riveters in Tampa.

Small Joys — sunny day

Day 285

#525

enjoy the sun

Had a lovely day with a picnic and a walk with Laurie and Nora at Bonney Springs Park.

Small Joys — Art again!

Day 284

#523

enjoy art

A lovely day at the Morse museum full of art and stained glass by Louis Comfort Tiffany, with Aunt Laurie.

Small Joys — prepaid adventures

Day 282

#521

use a membership

Enjoyed an afternoon at Busch Gardens with Laurie, Barbara, her son Jamie and two of his friends. I bought a membership in September but hadn’t gone back until today. Fantastic weather today and I’m looking forward to more walking days there.

Small Joys — flamingo explore!

Day 280

#404

find a new flamingo

Met Phoebe at the airport.

Day 281

Rando # 518

explore a city

Toured downtown Tampa with Nora and aunt Laurie

Small Joys — subtitles!

Day 279

# 520

see a foreign film

Saw Dracula, a 2025 Romanian film that uses/mocks AI. It’s nearly 3 hours long and mildly insane.

Small Joys — stepping back

Day 278

#519

empower Peter

I helped Peter today by not helping so much. Took him to registrar’s office, let him deal with bureaucratic nonsense. Later, we stopped at the grocery store — one he hadn’t even been to before — and I stayed in the car to make phone calls and he went in to do the shopping.

I do love it when he steps up. I’m so happy to keep building his confidence.