today marks three years since i began blogging. three years ago, i had this idea that i should start keeping track of the good parts of my day instead of always getting bogged down in the bad bits and that if i kept a record of the good things, even if i had a totally rotten day, i could go back to my list and it would remind me of happier times. i thought about keeping a paper notebook list, but then decided that keeping it online would be easier to access and harder to lose. i didn’t know much about blogs back then, but i thought that maybe a blog would be the right format for this kind of happy list. i’d enjoyed reading the online musings of my friend, blogapotamus rex and so i decided to try it for myself. i wasn’t sure if this was a list i wanted strangers to just stumble upon, so i buried it “deep within the bowels” of the household, all-purpose website where we dumped all sorts of things. there was no link to it from the homepage of this website and for awhile i didn’t tell anyone about the site. i don’t remember the first time i shared the blog address with someone, but i started getting regular comments about a month after i started writing. i soon learned what great motivation comments can be. i also realized pretty quickly that the blog itself was a good incentive to find… well, happy stuff. if i hadn’t blogged for a few days, i began seeking out happy experiences–if i was waffling between watching tv or going outside, i’d make it a point to go outside to enjoy nice weather, which would make me realized how much i enjoyed crickets chirping and that was so much better than old re-runs. is it possible that this blog has actually changed my general outlook on life?  well, if there’s a story that i’d like to share with you (dear readers) and it could swing either moany and groany or i could look at the humorous side of things, well, i’ll look for the lighter side. and in re-framing the story for the blog, i find myself in a better mood about whatever happened in the first place.  your positive feedback in the comments always puts a smile on my face (and sometimes causes me to squeal with excitement, just a little).  thank you for reading my blog.  thank you for leaving comments (and for giving me feedback in person too!).  it makes me so happy to know that my blog can be a bright spot in your day too.  i’ve made new friends through my blog and strengthened existing friendships and faraway family ties.  i think it’s a keeper.

i’ve missed my first two blogiversaries, so i thought i’d celebrate this one in true blog style with my very first giveaway!  here’s how it will work:

–leave a comment on this post telling me about something that made you happy today, or tell me what your favorite thing to read on happy stuff is.  this can be either a specific post (i.e. i liked the post where you curb-shopped that credenza), a specific topic (i.e. i like the stories about your great aunt bess), or one of the categories in the sidebar (i.e. i am especially fond of your “stuff that makes me smile” posts).

–i will draw a number at random (based on the number of comments) and that person will receive any or all* of the following:

1.  a jar of my homemade rhubarb sauce.

2.  a few sheets of moo stickers made from some of my favorite photos

3.  my most recent original needlepoint piece, made either into a pillow or a totebag pocket (or i’m open to other suggestions if you prefer!)

4.  [not pictured] a set of 5 greeting cards created from your favorite of my photos (here are some of my favorites to browse, but you can choose others).

–the deadline to leave your comment will be midnight, friday, june 6, 2008.

–good luck everyone!  (lurkers, be brave!  comment for the first time and learn the joy of de-lurking!)

*i say “any or all” because, let’s say you hate rhubarb–well, i’m certainly not going to force you to take the rhubarb sauce.  if you’re opposed to (or just not particularly interested in) any of the other prizes, you are welcome to refuse them as well.

this evening, we shared an alfresco meal with friends and afterwards, one of my friends borrowed my camera and took some fun pictures.  does this photo bring back memories for anyone else?

when i left home, i had this vague idea in my head that my vacation would consist of sipping fresh, home-brewed mint tea on my parent’s porch, watching my nephew toddle around being cute and maybe getting some good reading done (me reading, not my nephew).  however, when i arrived at my parent’s house, i had a project brainstorm!  here’s a little background.  a few years ago, my parents moved from their home in texas to a farmette in (very) rural kentucky.  there, they work for a non-profit organization that builds and repairs homes for people who can’t afford them (correct me if i got this wrong, mom).  needless to say, this organization puts most of its funds toward helping other people.  they also own the house my parents live in.  what this all boils down to is that since they’re working on other people’s houses all day, and since the things in their house generally work fine and don’t neeeeed to be replaced/updated, there hasn’t been a huge effort on their part to do unnecessary cosmetic improvements on their own home.  they’ve painted a few rooms and hung some lovely paintings and added some more cabinets and counter-space to the kitchen, and added a very nice closet to their master bedroom, but that’s pretty much it.  my dad almost always ends up doing some sort of “project” whenever he comes to visit me, so i thought i’d return the favor and re-do their small bathroom.  here’s a before picture:

this picture doesn’t quite do it justice, really.  can you see the sponge painting?  from this far away, the morning glories look almost cheerful, but in reality, since the door was also covered in morning glories, when the door closed, it got rather claustrophobic.  you can also see in the mirror’s reflection that the cabinet door on the back wall was partially open.  mom said that she didn’t like to keep the doors closed all the time because she stores all of her cleaning supplies in there and the fumes got worse if the doors closed it all up.  you also can’t see the bare bulb light “fixture” in the ceiling, but if you look closely, you can see the string they used for a light pull.  when i took this “before” picture, i had also already removed mom’s ironing board that she stored on the wall beside the toilet when not in use.  now, there is nothing really wrong with this bathroom.  everything works.  but i thought it could use a little updating.

so…. we bought some paint (matched to one of my mom’s arucana eggshells)

and we bought a light fixture, new faucet, new toilet seat, new flooring (the easy sticky vinyl tiles that sort of look like slate) and … a few other little things.  as much as i wanted to do everything on my own as a gift to my parents, dad did have to help with a few things — replacing the light fixture, measuring where to lay the first tile, replacing the wax seal under the toilet, cutting a few of the trickier tiles, painting some of the more fiddly bits of trim (because he can do it a little more perfectly than i can) and helping with a special woodworking project.  see, i decided that there were more attractive ways to vent a cabinet than leaving the doors open, so i sketched a few designs and had mom pick her favorite.  then, dad drilled and jigsaw cut the doors according to my pattern (i did help with the project, but even dad was struggling with some of his power tools (his best tools were at the worksite), and i didn’t want to mess the doors up, so i just provided auxillary support where i could).  All in all, we spent a little over two days (with generous breaks) and a little over $125 (which i helped to finance) and ended up with a bathroom that looks like this:

ahhhhh….. i love a good feeling of accomplishment.