Monday, April 21, 2008

Things that make me smile...

I was walking (running) through the store on Saturday trying to grab several things in a short period of time, and I realized I was frowning. I made a mental note to stop frowning and put a pleasant expression on my face. Done. Check. Move on to the next item on the list. Minutes later, I was standing at the checkout and a little old lady in front of me turned around, took one look at me and then smiled - I realized I had been frowning again! It was so nice to be smiled at by a complete stranger, and I thought 'I'm going to start doing that'.

Of course, I'm going to have to conquer the frowning thing first!

So here are a few things that have made me smile lately :)

1) I was in church last Sunday, and all of a sudden a toddler up the back let out an infectious peel of laughter. I love that! It made me want to laugh out loud too. The sound of a really little child laughing is wonderful.

2) I was driving down the street on Saturday, and I saw a car on the side of the road that was piled HIGH with tree branches. I guess they'd been doing yard work. I turned back to look at the car when I'd passed it, and from the back, it just looked like a giant ball of tree with wheels :) That made me smile.

3) My family make me laugh. For Jonny's birthday the other week, Jessima (Jonny's wife and the world's best sister-in-law) and Abby had set up a bunch of games for us to play. My favourite was 'Sardines in the Dark'. It's that reverse hide and go seek game, where one person hides and everyone else looks for them, and then, when you find them, you hide with them. Anyway, we decided to play it in the dark (because we'd had so much fun playing Murder in the Dark minutes before). Micky had hidden (he was just sitting in the corner of the kitchen, but we didn't know that). Anyway, on our way into the family room, Jonny fell over onto the floor, and then about 5 or 6 of us who were following immediately behind him, all felt him on the floor, and thought we'd found Micky, so we excitedly plonked ourselves right down on top of him! We sat there laughing our heads off (not so silently), and then we started laughing even louder when someone finally said 'Is micky even here?!' We had to turn the light on to prove that we were all sitting there for no reason :) Good times.

4) Reading comments on my blog makes me smile. Especially from my oh-so-competitive siblings who are eager to win the 'international competition'.

5) Our backyard makes me smile. It's so green - I love it. On Saturday it was really windy - I LOVE the wind - and it was rainy (my FAVOURITE weather). I was very happy looking out the kitchen window at it, and I even wandered outside to enjoy it.

6) I was driving home from work on Friday night listening to a radio show that's hosted by two very funny guys. They were up to their latest antics, and I suddenly realized I was sitting in the middle of not-going-anywhere traffic, laughing my head off in the car by myself. That made me happy :)

7) Watching home movies of Reuben make me happy. My favourite to date, though, has been the running around a band-aid video :)

8) Remembering my holiday to Perth with Jenny makes me smile. We had such a wonderful time. Jenny, remind me to send you a copy of an article I read in the Readers Digest the other day, about a women and her friend who went to a day spa but didn't know 'what to do' and did everything wrong - it was totally us!

9) Watching my Mum laugh about silly, silly things when she's really really tired, makes me laugh a lot :)

See? Lots of reasons to not be frowning in the grocery store! I'll work on it ;)

xo Tammy

13 comments:

Jennsie said...

I loved your entries. They always put a smile on my face. I'd love to read that artical. I still remember us trying to figure out what to do after using the steam shower. Oh man, that was funny!

It so easy to forget how great life really is. We get so caught up in the drama or some might say lack of drama in our lives that we miss out to appreciate the wonderful things or moments in our lives. Like you said Tammy, it can be just the small things that can make us smile. I'm smiling right now because I don't have work tomorrow :)

breckster said...

You always inspire me with your desire to smile and be a happy person. I am glad that Reuben can add to the things that make you happy, because if I can post videos and make you smile all the way across the world then I won't have to feel so bad about frowning in the grocery store, because I have to push all those groceries home in a cart, up a very steep hill, and it is not something to smile about... I can't wait till I have a car like Tallulah to help me smile, that would also mean I wouldn't be living in NYC anymore, and shock of shocks that would make me smile too. I know, I'm ungrateful and not a good new yorker.

Speaking of groceries we are out...and I really really don't want to have to frown. Cause I do a pretty good job of smiling when I am sitting at home watching Reuben run around in circles.

That was very Breckencentric, but that proves my point, I'm not selfless enough to have the desire to smile to strangers... and plus that is just not something you do in this city. You only make eye contact if you are dieing for the kind Hispanic man to give up his seat on the subway.

emilysuze said...

You and your blog make me smile. :)

I'm so glad you decided to finally join us on the web!

Sandy M. said...

Tammy, I made a comment on the last one - wasn't sure what to do..
(Is there blog etiquette I should be aware of? Don't those two words make an interesting coupling - 'blog etiquette'- you just know her father is not going to approve. I'm just saying.)
ps Brecken, I loved New York when I was there and could very happily live there for a while - which completely took me by surprise, as I always thought that I would hate it. I think I was probably smiling at everyone. I really did love it. The snow, the sleet, the wind! the Egyptian man in the deli who never stopped talking or selling or flattering your money right out of your wallet.. I loved Central Park, the architecture, the cultural diversity, the river, the subway system, the books, the neon signs(!) Most of all I loved the walking.
Of course, I never had to push a cart laden with groceries up a very steep hill.. :)

Tammy Lorna said...

Welcome Mum!

No blog etiquette as such, you just have to say nice things about me, because it's my blog :)

xo Tammy

Jessica said...

Reading everyone's blogs while I'm supposed to be working makes me happy. I liked the picture of the tree truck. It made me smile. And I've decided you should name your car "tryptophan" after my favorite amino acid--and don't even ask me how to pronounce it.

Sandy M. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sandy M. said...

Tammy - you have very nice..
punctuation!

Tammy Lorna said...

Well done Mum - you've got it.

And Jess - I like it! We could say Trypto for short. Maybe I'll add it to the poll...

xo Tammy

Anonymous said...

Tammy - I never remember seeing you when you did not have a smile on your face!

Keep smiling! Love, Carolyn

Tammy Lorna said...

Hi Carolyn!
I hope you're enjoying life and that everything is going really well for you and your husband :) How's the (not so new anymore) job going?
xo Tammy

Anonymous said...

Hi Tammy, trying to enter my vote for naming the car..
Gran, xx

Tammy Lorna said...

Hi Grandma!
What name did you vote for?!
xo Tammy