I am feeling cheerful today. I credit many things, but here are a few things I’ve thought of today with particular cheer:
1. Bird earrings. I got these at Target back in August. I wasn’t even going to buy them, but I had William with me and he was making the bird be all cute and hop around and look me in the eye and so forth, so I bought them. The next day I went back and bought more pairs to give as gifts.
hop, hop |
buy me |
2. Store-brand Moose Tracks ice cream. I was complaining on Twitter that I was disappointed in all the Breyer’s specialty flavors that looked so good but didn’t measure up, and Doing My Best said her store brand’s Moose Tracks was really, really superior. I have enough faith in her ice cream judgement to get a box of my own store-brand Moose Tracks, even though it was unlikely to be the same store brand. (But I remember reading somewhere that a lot of store brands are filled by the same manufacturer, so I had hope.) IT IS SO DELICIOUS. I’ve had two boxes of it now, and I didn’t buy more on this last shopping trip because I’d made myself feel sick having “just a little more” of the last box—and now I regret not getting it. I could be making myself feel sick RIGHT THIS MINUTE on tiny peanut butter cups and fudge (not fudge SAUCE, but FUDGE).
3. Pink zinnias.
A patch of some vegetable in the garden failed to thrive, so Paul pulled it up. Then he impulsively put a pack of zinnia seeds over that patch, and they succeeded to thrive. GOODNESS, didn’t they! And they seem to last way longer than they should in a vase. (That “vase” is an empty bottle from one of those frappuccino drinks they sell in four-packs. They make great vases.) Next year we’re going to grow assorted-color zinnias.
4. Snyder’s Chedder Cheese Pretzel Pieces.
It’s like someone broke a bunch of big pretzels into chunks and pieces, and then dusted them with an intoxicating cheese powder—similar to Cheetos powder or Kraft mac-and-cheese powder, and just a LITTLE bit spicy. SO YUMMY. Paul wrinkled his nose at the sight of them; then took one and ate it suspiciously; then took several more and watched the bag longingly as I took it away. MINE.
…I’m going to have to get a little bowl of them to eat while I write the rest of this.
5. Light pink Converse One-Star.
They are looking kind of grubby because I wore them pretty much every day all summer. They were an impulse purchase (70% off at Target, should I get them?, no, yes, no, yes, no, well I’ll just put them in the cart and think about it, okay I can always return them) and I LOVE THEM. I bought a second pair in orchid (a medium-light purpley color) but I haven’t worn those yet.
6. Prell.
Paul was out of shampoo, and he was trying very hard to work up the enthusiasm to respond to my incredibly boring questions about whether he’d been happy with that kind or did he want to try something new. He said the only time he’d ever had any sort of shampoo preference was when it was Prell, and that was just because it was fun to watch the bubble go up and down in the bottle. Good enough for me, and I enjoy a quest.
Target didn’t have it, so I checked our grocery store, which seems to cater to “people complaining that they can’t find such-and-such anymore.” Sure enough, they had it. I think it’s amusing that there’s a picture of a bubble on the bottle, like Prell KNOWS that’s how we all think of it. It’s fun to be using the same shampoo we both used in our childhoods.