It's the little things

On this (snowy) day, I am feeling blissful. My husband returned safely from his business trip, so avoiding widowhood is always nice. I will say, however, that I feel some joi de vivre when he's away. I don't feel the need to cook dinner, to clean up, to shower, to shave my legs. The joy comes not only in ignoring usual hygiene and household routines, but in getting to do what I want, when I want: reading, writing, reading some more, eating popcorn for dinner, surrounding myself on the couch with a cocker spaniel to one side, an enormous mutt to the other, and a Himalayan at my head, the four of us being lazy and indulgent, watching three episodes of Dr. Phil back-to-back. The remote control under my control.
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Year ago, when I still had my weekly newspaper column, I wrote about ordinary days, and how it is the ordinary that makes up our lives. The big things ~ the weddings and baptisms and house fires (ohmygod) and divorces and graduations and car wrecks (ohmygod) are few and far between.
Let me share some ordinary stuff that is making me extraordinarily happy on this cold and snowy February day.
1) Daughter's gluten-free cookies baked last night have softened to an applesauce-y texture. I can eat three and not bloat up like that fish that kills people over in China.
2) I have, for the first time in months, assorted K-cups to fuel my morning coffee ritual. Dark roast? Sure. Decaf blonde roast? Uh-huh.
3) The yoga pants I got on sale (but was in a hurry so I bought them without trying them on) fit me like a comfortable glove. The Spandex contours me in all the right places. I feel young and somewhat lithe and flexible if I need to be.
4) The teal cowlneck raglan-sleeve pullover I snurched from the rack next to the checkout ($8) as I paid for my yoga pants looks better on me and is more comfortable than three-fourths of the items in my closet, shirts and tops and sweaters that I paid ten times the amount for and agonized over buying.
5) I'm having a good hair day. Excellent blow-out.
6) I have bright yellow and red flowers in a vase on my writing desk. Cheerful. (Thanks, honey.)
7) My Gold Canyon scent pods are perfuming the house.
8) My Indigo Wild frankincense and myrrh laundry soap is perfuming the house.
9) Damn, it smells good up in here.
10) I have a brand new Cover Girl powder compact. That smell. So nostalgic and eighth-grade. Love it.