Smile For A While

Bare with me while i babble - i'm just going to write, even though i dont have anything specific to say, because i want to. Need to, even. See in the wake of the personal tragedy unfolding in the blog world, and the devastation in Queensland ( and northern NSW and now Victoria ) and hell, the untold suffering the world over, i want to write, but i dont want to write anything sad, or sensitive, or sorry. I would love to write something extraordinarily uplifting, a post that would get linked to and Twittered about, that would be sent around the world to bring a smile to the face of people everywhere. Sadly, i dont think i really have that in me. At least not today. With that in mind, however, i thought i could at least bring a smile to one persons face, in the hope that smiling is contagious. And so, ladies and gentlepeople, here is a short list of 5 things that have made me smile in the past fortnight of gloom:

1. Flynn turning around and blowing a raspberry " pfft! " noise really loudly after his Daddy had...erm..."passed gas". Seems he is already, at one year and 20 days old, a typical boy who finds farts funny. Who am i kidding? Farts are funny to everyone!

2. Losing weight - i know, finally! For those of you following along with my Operation Slimdown, keep your eyes peeled for an official update next week.

3. Finishing two books inside of two weeks - its not a record, but i reckon its pretty good, especially with a demanding little person crawling around. I read " The Persimmon Tree " and " Fishing For Stars ", both by Bryce Courtenay, back to back ( you know, seeing as one is the sequel to the first ). I really enjoyed the " The Persimmon Tree " but felt that " Fishing For Stars " got bogged down a little too much in unneeded details, which made it a bit harder to get through.
 
4. Swimming in the afternoons. Our neighbour has gone away for a few weeks and granted us full permission to use her pool ( as long as we also clean the filter ). Its been nice just to be able to pop across the road for a quick dip when we get home from work, and Flynn is beginning to love the water. Ooh, and bonus smile: he looks so cute with his big fat tummy in his swimmers!
 
5. The idea of being able to go clothes shopping soon - not on a grand scale, but rumour has it that my mum and dad are going to give me some cash for this purpose for my birthday. I havent been able to go clothes shopping for a while - baby stuff and maternity-leave-without-pay put a bit of a dent in my clothes shopping budget - so the thought of being able to take a bit of time and find a few cute things has made me smile...