International Day of Happiness

Carter on his new ride. 

Happy International Day of Happiness!!  Years of study by really smart people shows that one thing is fundamental for happiness, and that's our connection with other people.  (As a mother and a grandmother, I could have told them that!)  So this year,  we are all being asked to reach out and make at least one positive connection with someone.  

As luck would have it, I get to spend the afternoon with my grandson, Carter, and that makes me really happy!!  That's an awfully easy one, though, so I would like to take it a little further.  I'd like to connect with some of you.  Yes, you.  Stop looking around for someone else - I mean you.

Carter and his great grandparents in matching Sponge Bob t-shirts. 

I want to hear about what makes you happy.  I love spending time with my family.  I love playing with my grandson and I love getting creative in the kitchen with my daughter (and it's even more fun when her friends join us).  Kittens and puppies make me happy.  Hearing a cardinal sing makes me happy.  Green grass and leafy green trees make me happy - and sunshine, well, don't even get me started on sunshine!  

Pretty new beads in my mailbox!

Other random things that induce happiness:  playful squirrels chasing one another through our yard (and up the trees and down the trees and around the trees...); visits from our neighbors' dog, Riley; unexpected messages from cousins who live far away (but still close in my heart); memories of my grandparents; getting beads in my mailbox... I could go on, but I think you get the idea.  I don't need big, expensive things to make my heart swell.  For me it's all about the little things.  The simple moments.

Fuzzy kitty feet make me happy.

Now it's your turn.  Tell me what makes you happy?