Writer’s Workshop: Joy

Yay, time to get in on another workshop.  I chose the topic of joy because the other’s had to do with Santa and we don’t DO Santa and then one about an outfit….but I recently gained a few pounds SO SCREW OUTFITS!!!

OKAY the top 9 things that bring me joy…because 10 is just too many.

1. My kidlets.  Yup.  I can’t even stand it.  They are everything to me.  I love listening to everything they have to say.  I would sit there and stare at their faces all day if I could.  My kids are the epitome of joy.  And they’re DARLINGS.
2. A fantastic cup of coffee – like the one I am drinking now.  It’s delicious.  It has notes of cocoa.  It’s perfectly brewed, perfectly creamed, perfect temp.  None of this Folgers crap.  Yum.
3. Cooking in my momma’s kitchen.  If you ever saw it, you would agree it’s a kitchen dreams are made of.  I love cooking in there, especially with my sisters.  We just have this amazing dance where we don’t even discuss it hardly at all…we just go in and soon this delicious Christmas dinner appears.  I love it.  I need a nice kitchen.
4. Playing with my family.  Yayaya….not my kids…that brings me joy too but I mean my brother and sisters.  We all have the same idea of play and not many people I know “get it”.  That sometimes means playing Dutch Blitz in the dark with a strobe light or having an impromptu dance party.  Sometimes it’s Juliet and I trying to both sit on a log in the middle of a lake or exploring the shore of the ocean.  Sometimes it’s going sledding and trying to all go down at once…holding hands…standing up.  Even though us siblings are all spread out so far in age…we know how to play together and when it happens, it’s sooooo much fun.
5. Being in nature.  It’s funny that I don’t do this more.  Perhaps because I feel suffocated living in a rainy urban area where it’s impossible to get away from the sound of tires on concrete (why do I live here again?).  When I get out in the gorgeous forests here…I feel at peace.  I need to do it more.  I love being in nature.  Fishing, hiking, backpacking, cross country skiing,  snow fort making, etc etc etc.
6. Swimming in a lake.  Oh how I love this.  I love lakes.  I don’t just mean going for a dip either, to get the most out of my lake experience I usually like to swim across the whole thing.  I love being in the very middle and just floating on my back.  So amazing.  I also love being UNDER the water.  When I’m in a lake I usually spend most of time time under the water and not above.  So amazing.
7. Singing.  I don’t talk much about music…mainly because I don’t do it so much anymore.  There was a time where I did, a lot.  Singing has brought me many things, it gave me confidence, it taught me how to graciously say thank you, I even got a husband out of it!  I love soloing but I also love singing in choir, REALLY good choirs.  I got to tour Germany with this amazing choir…it’s also the same choir where I got to know my husband more…and our love then blossomed.  I used to write lots of songs, my teenager angst was great for putting into song.  I wish I felt like I could still do it.  The urge has never left.  Here’s a sample of a not so good recording of a song I wrote with a friend.  I changed the words a few years ago to these. (shameless plug)…if you’re low on time…just listen to the end…at like 2:00…it’s the best part anyway.

Crap I lost my numbering thing when I did that.  It won’t be so pretty.

8. My dog.  She’s soft and squishy and snuggly and cute and floppy and warm and she makes me happy.

9.  I guess I need to mention my husband 🙂  He’s annoyingly perfect.  I know in sitcoms it’s usually the man screwing up.  But in our marriage it’s often me who’s the token idiot.  He’s so open minded and forgiving.  He’s the kind of man who you can crash your car into and he’ll forgive you before he gets out of the car and be all like “we all make mistakes” and then he’ll feel bad for you.  He’s really smart and confident and everyone loves him.  He even does the dishes.  Having him as my husband (I still don’t know how I nabbed him) has brought me a lot of joy.  It brings me joy knowing that I have a peaceful marriage, that I’m not married to a total douchebag, that I have someone who treats me and the children right.  OK enough making you barf….That song you listened to was about him BTW.

That’s it!!  Happy last day on Earth everyone!!