Happy Days 8-15

Day 8: Dinner at Friendly's equals many things to be happy about. Not having to cook or clean up the kitchen, happy memories of my high school friends and all the time we spent together at the Friendly's in our home town, and of course, the brownie sundae that I was so happy about, I forgot to take a picture of it until I was done!

Day 9: A beautiful, warm, sunny spring day watching my happy kitty soaking up the sun, and my happy boy enjoying some kitty cuddles. 

Day 10: Another beautiful day spent outside, watching my little man beginning to discover his yard. 

Day 11: Getting to the last line of a ridiculous spreadsheet of furniture items for my project that I spent three days checking. Pure relief!

Day 12: Looking at my toes when they are freshly painted pink always makes me smile. 

Day 13: Introducing my little man to the wonders of dying easter eggs!

Day 14: Picking up this guy from school on any old ordinary work day is always one of the best moments of the day. I especially love watching all of his good-bye high-five rituals with his buddies. And on this particular day, I learned that one little boy talks about L all the time at home. His mom was excited to finally see who her sone had been talking about. So sweet. 

Day 15: Making easter cupcakes to satisfy an urge for my favorite cake that I've been having since my birthday. 

My Little Bro

In case you haven't noticed, apparently it was National Sibling Day last week, or something. Yeah, I'd never heard of it before either, but if you were anywhere on Facebook in the last week, it was hard to miss. I find it amusing how quickly the Facebook herd takes over, how many people were posting pictures of themselves with their siblings just because everyone else was.

At first, I thought it was a little cheesy.

Then, I started to miss my little brother.

And when I realized that National Sibling Day lands exactly halfway in between our birthdays. It started to seem fitting to write a little bit about him. Especially since I haven't yet figured out what to send him for his birthday this year, not to mention the fact that he just moved, and I don't have his address, so I don't even know where to send it!

Baby Willy with my Mom

Willy with our Papa

For a good part of the last fifteen years, he's lived abroad somewhere, and I've been lucky to see him once or twice a year. He's lived a pretty interesting life, living in so many exotic places that Greg can't help but speculate that he's some kind of super-secret spy. Burma, Indonesia, Italy, Iraq, the Dominican Republic, and now England—most recently renting a house from Ozzy Osbourne. Quite a list, right?

On a Cruise in the Caribbean

Meeting up in Venice
(ordering squid in it's own black ink sauce just to gross out my overly picky friends!)

In Venice

At least I've had the chance to visit him in Italy and England. One of the best adventures we ever had together was traveling around Italy for a few days and getting in to a huge fight over who was going to carry all of my stuff while walking up a huge hill in Perugia. He won. He got to carry all my stuff!

My High School Graduation

Will's High School Graduation

Will's Undergraduate Graduation from Hopkins

Will's Masters Graduation from Hopkins

I love to brag about him with his degrees from Johns Hopkins and Harvard Business School. Oh, and he's quite handsome, and his wife is gorgeous. They're both brilliant, amazing chefs, and really fun to hang out with.

Will & Robin at their Senior Prom
(oh, did I forget to mention that they're high school sweethearts too?)

Robin, Will and Me on a 4th of July Hay Ride in the Mid-90s

Robin, Will & Me at a Family Wedding in 1997

Will & Robin at My Wedding in 2008

Having Leo has definitely made me miss Will, my awesome sister-in-love Robin, and my niece and nephew more and more every day. One of my biggest dreams is that They will move back here someday. I can imagine all the fun we cold have, watching our kids grow up together. One can only hope, right? I so so so want Leo to have a close relationship with his cousins and his Aunt and Uncle.

Leo and his Cousins

Uncle Will with Leo at Two Weeks

I miss you, my big little brother. I hope your birthday is wonderful. I'm sure it will be sunny. You are spending it in Spain after all.

My Wedding, 2008

You will always be my little brother. 

Days 3-7

A week in, I am enjoying the 100 Happy Days Challenge so far. I haven't missed a day yet on Instagram, but I am thinking that I will probably stick to a weekly (or so) recap here. So, here's what the rest of my first week looked like. 

 Day 3

We are on a bit of a spring cleaning kick, inspired by the 40 Bags in 40 Days that I've seen a lot of people taking on lately. Today, we focused on clearing and cleaning all the surfaces in our kitchen and dining room. We've had a lot of lost stuff hanging out for way too long. Prime example, my stack of snowflake plates had previously been taking up residence on this shelf in our dining room. It felt really good to see the house looking so nice and orderly. 

Day 4

Today, I was preparing for a big client presentation, and I fearing it was going to be a late night at the office. But guess what? Things went fairly smoothly, so I was thrilled to actually make it home in time for dinner. 

Day 5

Today, I travelled to Salisbury, MD, and back. It was a 20 hour day, and it was not easy. But, the presentation went well, and that is something to be happy about. 

Day 6

Leo ran a few errands with me today, and we found ourselves near one of my favorite places. He was kind, and cooperated while I shopped...unsupervised by Greg! Heaven!

Day 7

Today, I attended a lunch meeting, so I didn't make it outside to grab food like I usually do. After the meeting, I took a quick spin around the building. A few minutes to catch my breath, and take in the beautiful view along the river. 

Day 2: the aquarium

Today, my boys and I went on a birthday weekend adventure to the New England Aquarium. I haven't been there since I was a kid and today, I got to experience it through the eyes of my kid! 

First Annual 39th

Today is my birthday! I'm calling it my first annual 39th, because, yeah, I might just decide to stop here. We'll see in another year.

Anyway, life is good these days, so in honor of my birthday, I've decided to take on a little challenge. Have you heard of 100happydays.com? I've seen a few friends participating and have been tempted to join in. This seems like a perfect day to start.

The idea is to take a photo each day of something that makes me happy, and to share it via some sort of social media with #100happydays. I will be posting my pictures initially on Instagram, but I think I will post them here as well. After all, finding things to be happy about feels sparkly, doesn't it?

Here's the first of many happy moments to come.