12 Reasons to Love My Life

#1 - Our cruise leaves in 152 days.  If it left in 2 days it might seem even better.  But, I am really, really, really enjoying the planning and the countdown.  We get to have discussions on the virtues of doing a wave jet tour over parasailing and whether or not we should have a cupcake from the Cupcake Cupboard every day of the cruise or only some days.  So I'm okay with it being 152 days away.

#2 - We have a big bowl of leftover Halloween candy.  It's not as much as we had left over last year, but it mostly all Reese's and Kitkats.  After loosing a hard fought 9 pounds, I don't need that much candy to make me gain it back, though.  So that's why it's good that I don't have as much as last year.

#3 - It's November.  Of course, it's November for everyone, but we have lots of fun things planned.  We have the Alzheimer's Walk, a trip to Atlanta, lots of church events, a progressive dinner for MSA, Thanksgiving, and a trip to Albany.  Plus, daylight savings time ends, and we'll get an extra hour of sleep!

#4 - Christmas is only 54 days away.  I actually listened to one Christmas song last night.  It was mostly because I had just received my free download of the Veggie Tales Incredible Singing Christmas Tree album, but I loved it.  I'll probably wait a couple weeks until I make the music a habit, though.  Unless I'm shopping for gifts...or wrapping presents...or just feel like it...

#5 - Our utility bills were AWESOME this month.  Seriously, we have managed not to turn on our heat in the mornings yet.  It's pretty darn cold when we wake up but soooo worth the savings.  We had planned to try to make it halfway through October without the heat and are now just trying to see how long we can go before turning it on.  We also never need the air conditioner any more.  And, our water usage was half what it was this summer!!

#6 - We have a porch swing.  When we were dating and just married, we had plenty of access to a porch swing.  Then, we moved to Augusta and had almost a year without one.  Now, the weather is perfect in the evening for us to sit out on our swing and talk and talk and talk.  I. Love. It.

#7 - Blue is the most entertaining dog there every was, and he is ours.  We rarely get through a movie or a tv show without having to pause it to watch something adorable he is doing.  Right now, he loves catching flies.  I hope to be able to catch it on camera soon.

#8 - There is grass in our back yard.  Sure, probably everyone reading this has grass in their backyard, but we didn't a month ago.  After the grass grew and then stopped and then grew and then died a little, it is finally enough to call a lawn.  Granted, it is not a super think or super plush lawn...yet.  But, it is well on its way and is looking fantastic.

#9 - My wonderful husband did all the dishes today.  After falling behind with our crazy Halloween weekend (think cupcakes + multi-colored jell-o cups + everything else we used), our sink was full.  We planned to do them together yesterday but kept finding better things to do.  So, he did them all before I got home from work.  And, he cleaned other parts of the house too.  Like I said, he is wonderful.

#10 - Amazon.com is entering you in a drawing for a $100,000 shopping spree just for adding an item to a wish list.  How easy is that?!  I love to shop on Amazon and am especially good at picking out things to buy.  Because it's a wish list, I can add and subtract all I want, too.  I currently have 3 different lists going, I think (what I want for Christmas, what I'm buying others for Christmas, what I want to maybe buy someday).  Every week that you add an item between now and Christmas, your name gets entered in again.  Awesome.

#11 - My pants were too big when I put them on this morning, and I had just taken them out of the dryer.  (see #2)  They weren't just big in the waist, though.  They actually look big on me.  When I wore them for the first day at my new job in June, they were a little tight.  I'm happy.

#12 - Devin discovered today that I have an unopened box of Chocolate Cheerios.  I had completely forgotten.  While he teased me about it, I am excited!  It's almost as cool as finding money in a pocket of clothes you haven't worn in a while.  And, if you didn't know, it's one of the best cereals ever made.