As I got ready to leave work yesterday, I was quite excited with the thought of the maple sweet mashed potatoes I would be making as my dinner side dish. I thought of how awesome this simple food dish is, which got me thinking of all the little things I love. So as an exercise in gratitude, I made a list of five “small things” I absolutely love and make my life that much easier/enjoyable (I didn’t include family, friends, or God because I think those are implied. They are also not little ;-)).
1. New Book Smell – I know the world is moving to e-books and, to be honest, I may go that way someday myself. But nothing can replace the awesome smell of pages fresh from the press. As a kid, I loved smelling books. To this day, I still smell the pages when I get an order in from Amazon. I know, I’m weird.
2. Baby Laughter – Seriously, how can you not hear them laugh and keep a straight face? I don’t have a kid and don’t want kids for quite some time. But when I’m out and see a little munchkin in her stroller, I always smile. The heartiness of a baby’s laugh provides a bright spot on even the most crap-worthy day. Case in point:
See? You couldn’t keep yourself from smiling could you?
3. Tabbed Internet Browsing – I’m really ADD when I surf the web. The ease of pressing CTRL + T to get the information I want is such a fabulous convenience. Every now and then, I’m on a computer that isn’t mine and isn’t equipped with tabbed browsing. The clutter of all those windows brings about my sad panda face 😦
4. Bobby Pins – For most of my life, I had super long hair (mid-back length). I cut it short when I graduated college in 2008 and haven’t looked back since. For a while I looked like Posh Spice with the short back and longer bangs. Then I cut it even shorter. Now I have a pixie cut with long-ish bangs. This is when I became fond of bobby pins. I can’t put my hair in a pony tail, but I don’t like having bangs in my face most of the time. Bobby pins are a simple wonder that I am infinitely grateful for. Eating my bangs doesn’t sound pleasant.
5. Maple Sweet Mashed Potatoes – While the thought of eating my bangs is unpleasant, I could eat sweet mashed potatoes every day! And they are so simple to make. I use the recipe found in Jae Steele’s book “Get It Ripe.” She adds a bit of maple syrup to her mashed ‘taters and I have to say it’s a delicious addition! Here is the batch that I made last night:
Om nom nom!
What’s one “small thing” you would add to this list?
Roaring Out 
The night sky when lots of stars are visible, especially if I am on my own on a beach or in the country. Although can be great to share too.
Oooh yes, I love a star-filled sky! I also love an early morning sky, when no one’s really up yet and cars aren’t on the road. It’s the most blissful silence 🙂
Yeah me too! especially an nice autumn morning, fresh and crisp 🙂
Very good point! I love Fall mornings!
Mmmm…I love the smell of secondhand books, actually. It has a certain musty smell that gives the book a more classic feeling, no matter what year it was published. And it is said laughter is contagious, but baby’s laughter never fails to cause a small chuckle from me as well. Nice post on gratitude for the simple, random things part of life.
Hey Frances! I also love secondhand books, the smell definitely adds character! Thanks for stopping by and commenting 🙂
I love getting snail-mail. Which happens maybe 5 times a year, but I love it anyway!! I keep sending cards to my friends in hope that people will catch on and send something back, but to no avail. People are just so attached to email!
Oooh, that’s a good one! I love getting snail mail also. I really do wish people would drop away from e-mail just a bit. A friend of mine from Maine and I tried corresponding regularly via snail mail about 3 years ago, but it dropped off. Though we did manage a bunch of letters and I’m convinced they will be collected in an anthology when we become famous poets!
I will fight with you to keep postal letters and “just because” cards going strong 🙂
Also, I’m pretty sure I order things from the internet mostly because I want to receive a package in the mail!
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I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was great.
I don’t know who you are but certainly you’re going to a
famous blogger if you are not already 😉 Cheers!
Thanks so much for your kind words! Haha, I am not yet a famous blogger, but I hope to be at some point. Glad you liked the post and thanks for stopping by! 🙂