Happy Things

No, I didn't die. I've just been busy. But the happy things are still happening, so time to update! These are from right before our trip in April to the present, compliments of Matt, Ruthie, Danielle E., Jamie, Nina, Brian, Benjamin, and moi . . . (You should get a prize if you can guess who said what!)

• Finding a sign on a broken chair that read, "Special needs (oviously)"
• Grey days
• Hearing about the ITC First Ladies meeting the "other" first lady!
• LIT smiles
• Secretaries' day
• Kendra, referring to her different personality switches: "I can't tell which part of me is which, but I like all of them." (Matt's interpretation=vehemently denied by Kendra) (must be an opposing personality)
• The response I got from Nina and Alison when I told them that one can get paid for testing new drugs--pharmaceutical drugs
• People who threaten to post full page ads for me in "Raising the Standard" and sign me up on a Christian singles web site
• Joel asking me if my Crafting and Executing Strategy text was the Amplified Bible
• Jonathan complimenting me on the smart design of Jamie's and my egg drop project. If it was smart, it was mostly by accident!
• Jamie--the assistant boss!
• "I don't lie" --LIT comment. A few minutes later, "I am telling the truth for once."
• Red, smiling faces!
• David, the afternoon that Matt, Rachel, and I were all in Learning Center: "What is this--the monitor all-star team?"
• Danielle telling me that she never used to have problems staying up at night . . .
  "Until you had kids?" I asked.
  Gina (incredulous): "When did you have kids?"
• Kendra to Alison: "You won't be single forever."
• "LIT Conference" meeting at the Judays'
• David's depiction of what he remembers of Character Suite
• Snipe hunting
• Jessica, getting up her courage to swim: "I'm afraid that the fishes will bite me because I smell so good. . . . Oh my lands. . . . oh my lands!"
• Mr. Grose announcing to the kitchen that every time he sees me he thinks, "Hmmmm . . . I haven't been to Red Lobster in a while."
• Punkin' Paine
• Calamity, Trouble, and Turmoil hangin' out
• Making up a song about fixing a toilet
• Playing volleyball
• Shopping with friends
• Having good friends come and visit
• Sunshine
• Driving by people and making their day when you smile and wave at them
• Medium, rare, well done, and raw people
• Just being able to hang out with friends
• Kendra picking up "male" for Tiffany
• "I'm about ready to sit on you. If you weren't my supervisor, I would." --Tiffany to Kendra
• The flowers in the greenhouse at South Campus (and the utter delight that beautiful flowers gives me!)
• Fireflies and watching them with drop-jaw wonder at God creating such intriguing creatures
• Memories of the pleasure and awe of watching glow-in-the-dark jellyfish from the Demmes' boat. I must like glow-in-the-dark things--my God makes glow-in-the-dark animals!
• When people give me chocolate
• Working with Dan Grose in the kitchen again!
• Gina being so excited about going to the park and singing "It's just like Jesus to roll the clouds away . . ."
• Gina calculating how much late stay time she can knock off this evening before curfew
• Matt hyper
• New people writing in the Happy Book
• Free weekend cell phone minutes
• Ruthie making me lemon meringue pie the day before she left
• A walk and talk with Mary
• Adding people's pictures to my cell phone address book
• Jessica thinking she was scaring Sadie and Tony walking around the corner instead