Low day on the bliss-o-meter

Today wasn't necessarily a BAD day, it just wasn't great. BUT the goal is to record the happy moments, even if they're small and seemingly insignificant.

Today's moment of bliss were two: Talking to my friend J, who I'm taking a weekend road trip next weekend to Santa Barbara, CA (I've never been, so I'm very excited, and J lives in NYC so I'm also super-excited to spend a couple days with him), and starting my mother's day cards. Unfortunately, My idea didn't work out so I have to toy with it a little more... and I wasted 2 pieces of cardstock trying to figure it out. ARGH!

Either way, still glad for the two good moments today. =)

Daily Bliss - 5/1/10

This is, like, crazy birthday week. As I mentioned before, last night was The Hubs' birthday poker night, where we also celebrated a friend's earlier birthday and another friend's upcoming birthday. Today we celebrated the earlier birthday friend - he wanted to have sundaes at his house, followed by Monster Mini-Golf . So we did that today! It was actually a LOT of fun, and I did pretty darn good at the mini-golf for once. After the golf, we went to dinner with another friend and his wife at the Old Spaghetti Factory next door, which was also a nice time. =)

So to ADD to the birthday craziness, my baby brother turns 18 today! He's a legal adult! It's INSANE to me - I'm over 10 years older than him, so I literally wiped his butt and fed him bottles, helped him learn to walk, taught him how to swim... I mean, he's my brother so he's not my CHILD, but I remember all of this. I'd post pictures of how adorable he was as a baby and shit if it wouldn't embarrass the shit out of him. (Might do it on Facebook, though, haha.) I tried to call him, but he's a dork and doesn't have his voice mail set up, annoyingly. Meh. Still awesome and amazing that my youngest sibling is an almost-fully-legal adult. I'll be more excited when I can take him to a bar for his first drink - well, legal drink, anyway. ;p

Daily Bliss - 4/30/10

Today was a GOOD day. Granted, most of that is due to:

• not having to work so I could focus on prepping for poker night (I felt like June Cleaver! I just needed the crinoline to wear with my one 50's-style dress, haha)
• baking cupcakes, making homemade garlic dip (Good, but OMG GARLICKY - thank god everyone had some!), and making mini biscuit pizzas that were quite tasty!
  
• The apartment being clean. Man, I love how nice a clean home is! Makes me wish I didn't just clean for company (but it also motivates me to have company over more often, lolz)
• We had company! Bobby's friends came over, and there was lots of laughter (including a 3-minute session of friendly teasing my ninja-like poker skills - I tend to sneak up out of nowhere and win monster hands, and they were mimicking me saying things like, "Oops, did I flop a royal flush? Silly me!" You had to be there, but it was so funny my sides hurt.) Everyone seemed to have a good time, and I made sure that each of the birthday boys (we had two this week and have one next week amongst our guests tonight!) had a cupcake with a candle to blow out. It's my firm belief that everyone should hear "happy birthday" and get to blow out a candle on their birthday (or soon before/after).
  

All in all, a GOOD day. I love these kind of things, where the night wraps up and we're just pleasantly full of cheer after hanging with our friends and/or family. =)

Daily Bliss - 4/29/10

I said this was DAILY bliss, darn it! Unfortunately, I passed out before I could post.

The highlight of my day yesterday was lunch with a friend, who called me out of the blue to see if I wanted to hang out, which was nice. Other than that, it was a pretty uneventful day - not bad, but not amazing, either. :)

Daily Bliss - 4/28/10

Today was a nice day. Mellow, relaxing... and stomach-churning. NOT in a bad way - it's The Hubs birthday, and his bday wish for the actual day were to sit around the house, watch the SF Giants game, and pig out. We're working on changing our eating habits around - cutting out processed food and junk food, eating better foods (and smaller portions), and basically just improving our health for ourselves and for starting a family soon. (NO, I'm not pregnant, but we're... hoping for an accident.) So today's indulgences have made me a little queasy. Ick.
Not only was it nice to just hang out at home with my husband (who took the day off from work), but our dog was feeling better today. She was acting sick last night, and like she was in pain, and it freaked us out a bit. We suspect that she ate an errant pinto bean that fell on the floor while cooking - internet research showed that it can cause gas in dogs like it can in humans, so since she appears to have made a complete recovery, we suspect it was her tummy being bloated from the bean that made her so low-energy and sad last night. She was her happy, spritely self as soon as we woke up this morning, so we were relieved! She's acted like nothing's wrong since - ate her breakfast and half her dinner, happily ate some treats, jumped up and down from the couch... she's good!

This picture wasn't taken today, but it shows one of my favorite views: Her face when we're playing tug-of-war with her toys.
See why I love her so? That face just kills me.

Daily Bliss - 4/27/10

Today was not a bliss-filled day. Which is to be expected... most days aren't full of happy moments. The purpose, though, is to find that one moment where I did smile or feel a flash of joy. So while today wasn't exactly full of sunshine (LITERALLY), there were a few things that made me smile.

• Grocery shopping for my husband's birthday dinner and birthday poker night. The Hubs turns 27 Wed. (I'm 1.5 years older - yup, cradle robber), and I was HOPING to surprise him with dinner tomorrow, but then the jerk had to change his mind and consider going out to dinner instead of lunch... so I had to tell him I'd bought dinner stuffs. I'm making him steak and shrimp, baked potatoes, and I bought chocolate lava cakes you heat up in the oven from Trader Joe's. I also bought the ingredients for recipes I'm making for his poker night on Friday. It makes me happy to make my honey something special for his special day!
  
• Actually, Trader Joe's is always a joy to shop at, so let's throw that in, too.
• I also love planning parties and being the hostess. Granted, my husband's poker night isn't necessarily a "party" because the guys he plays with have a fairly regular biweekly poker night, and it just so happened to conveniently fall after his bday, so I offered to have us host it. =) BUT since it's for GUYS, and they're a fairly mellow group, I'm keeping the snacks minimal. Garlic dip, chips and veggies for dipping, mini-pizzas made on biscuits, and cupcakes (for my hubby and for 2 of his friends, who also have recent bdays). And, of course, beer. It IS a poker night, after all. ;p

So while today hasn't been a GREAT day, it still had its moments. =)

Daily Bliss - 4/26/10

What was blissful about today:

• A nice, cool morning to take my dog Daisy around "the loop" we take (which means I didn't get a work call that woke me up and made me rush to get to the job). She frolicked and was adorable, and I was happy to watch her frolic.
• I DID get a substitute job, a half-day assignment (with enough notice to still get some stuff done and not have to rush) - bonus that of the 3 periods I was there for, it covered a lunch period AND the teacher's prep period! I basically got paid $16-17/hour to sit and play on my iPod for 1/3rd of my "shift". Can't complain! (There were some buttheads, but nothing too bad.) More (and better) substitute teacher hilarity can be found at ellemennoppee's blog. She works with elementary school, so her tales are infinitely more adorable and funny. I deal with surly teenagers most days. xD
  
• I'm making a quick and easy spaghetti and meatballs for dinner tonight, which I'm sooooo looking forward to. I love me some spaghetti and meatballs! I got the idea to make easy "meatballs" by just squeezing the meat out of sausage and rolling it up in balls - the meat's already seasoned and mixed! Fry them for about 5 minutes, then let them simmer in your sauce on medium heat for about 7 minutes. NOM. That will make me have a happy tummy tonight. =D

Pretty blissful day!

Daily Bliss - 4/25/10

Today's moment of bliss brought to you by the insanely long carrot strings in my salad today. Yes, that's CARROT, not spaghetti! Picture taken by my lunch companion, Holly - meals with friends is always a little bit of bliss, too. :)

I had a daily bliss

120.
I had a daily bliss
I half indifferent viewed,
Till sudden I perceived it stir, --
It grew as I pursued,

Till when, around a crag,
It wasted from my sight,
Enlarged beyond my utmost scope,
I learned its sweetness right.

- Emily Dickinson