Keep smiling!

Great plans don't always come to fruition, do they? I had hoped to be able to post more often here this week, but what with one thing and another, I just haven't had the time. As I have said before, reality has to come first!

I was delighted to read a list of the top 30 things that research has found make us happy. I want to share the list, so I have it here to come back to now and again. I am also really pleased that a lot of these things are cheap or even free!!

1. Finding a £10 note in an old pair of jeans (well, I went one better the other week and found a £20 note in the pocket of my bodywarmer but made a note to be more careful with my cash!)
2. Going on holiday (roll on next June)
3. Getting into bed with freshly washed sheets (totally wonderful!)
4. Swimming in the sea (not sure about that one - perhaps abroad but not here...)
5. Waking up on a sunny day :-)
6. Sitting in the sun (yep - even in the winter it's good if you are in the verandah)
7. Being surprised with a gift of flowers (just last Friday!)
8. Getting a nice message from a loved one
9. Cuddles (All the time )
10. Receiving a thank-you card in the post (sent my dad one last week for the lovely Sunday lunch)
11. Seeing an elderly couple holding hands
12. Driving a car with the window down on a sunny day
13. Winning £10 on the National Lottery (well, you have to be in it to win it..)
14. Booking your holiday (done that!)
15. Hearing your favourite song
16. Finding a bargain (my favourite sport)
17. Seeing an old friend
18. Picnic in the park
19. Getting a promotion
20. A romantic night out (must have a word with the FH about that)
21. A song that reminds you of your past
22. Looking at old photos
23. Making a new friend
24. Having a quiet moment to yourself
25. Walks in the country
26. Hearing a baby laugh (26/30? This one should be Much Higher on the list!)
27. A girlie/lads night out
28. Waking on a Saturday morning and realising it is the weekend (yes, but I still have to get up...)
29. Chocolate
30. Eating cake

Not sure how many women they polled for this research, but perhaps there were more men than women or else why was chocolate so low on the list?? This list was published in the Daily Mail today on p11. Worryingly, it says, "The hustle and bustle of everyday life means that the average person is only happy for half the week." I don't like the sound of that!

We have had a good week: the girls have each had a friend round on different nights for sleepovers, and one brought along a boxset of Merlin DVDs so they had a massive Merlin marathon! The YFG has been to the cinema twice, once with a birthday party gang, and the other with just one friend. She has seen Dolphin Tale and Monte Carlo, and reports enjoying them both. I think that Dolphin Tale is quite a tearjerker though. We have had some time at home, but the culmination of the week's activities for the girls must have been last night's Guides sleepover - I dropped them off at 5.30pm at a church hall in a neighbouring village, and collected them this morning at 11am. They have done an incident hike, apple bobbing and all sorts last night and then had a campfire this morning and toasted marshmallows. We have a closed Guiding group on Facebook so the leaders were able to share photos of the events as they progressed - they look like they had a load of fun, but they are shattered today. And we have a party to go to tonight, so they will have to find their second wind before 7pm...a friend in the village turns 60 so she is having a wee hoolie, and we are invited!

My achievement of the week has been completing a piece of knitting - a twirly scarf. I am quite pleased with it, but I did it in a multicoloured yarn and with hindsight I think it may be better in a solid colour, so I might do another one...so wish I had a camera working so I could show you!!