15 : sun (again)

(actual photo i took!)

sorry for the hiatus . . .

today's joy came early, yet again, on my drive to work this morning. i am one of the few people on earth who absolutely loves to have the sun in her eyes - i don't know where that love comes from, but when that bright shining light is directly in my eyeballs, i just can't get enough. this morning; however, it was more than a little bit inspiring, because the sunshine literally seemed to be burning through the clouds - it so desparately wanted to be a part of my day that it was showing those clouds who was boss. when that light pierced my eyes this morning, i knew that it was going to be a great day. bonne journee a tous!

14 : toasty deliciousness

today’s joyful moment is a small one, but a perfect one. bagels, to me, are one of the hardest food items to perfect, and this morning at work, i made the most absolutely pristine and, quite frankly, gorgeous bagel. when it hopped happily out of the toaster this morning, it was the most deliciously enticing shade of golden toasty brown . . . the cream cheese spread evenly over each half, warmed up just enough for a smooth coating on both surfaces. no edge burned, no spot left un-browned – a flawless specimen almost too delectable to eat . . . almost.

13 : brains

on the way home from a road trip yesterday, i discovered a few old mixed cd’s from my high school and early college days. needless to say, i could not wait for my 20ish minute commute to work this morning, because i knew that i was going to have an extreme musical flashback to years long passed . . . and oh man, did these cd’s pull through. although the music entertained me because of its incredible randomness and nostalgic quality, the joy that i felt from this experience came from this: it has been most likely four or more years since i’d heard most of these songs; however, i felt myself singing the entire songs, start to finish, without (very many) mistakes. it made me realize and appreciate once again the insane power that the brain has to hang on to ridiculously trivial and non-essential information – how is it possible that it can remember and conjure up every syllable to gerry rafferty’s “right down the line” but it cannot seem to dredge up the time of my hair appointment tomorrow? it truly baffles me . . . but in a this-is-so-awesome type of way. happy monday, all – make it a joyful day.

12 : the (dreaded) workout

i KNOW you know the feeling . . . lethargic, exhausted, altogether blah-to-the-extreme. there is NO way, not way in a million bazillion years that you are going to get your lazy butt to the smelly, mean, out-to-get-you gym. you are going to turn a blind eye to the fact that you have been on a roll lately and you are definitely going to ignore that devil (angel) on your shoulder who has been pestering you to tie up your sneakers and drag yourself off of the comfy, deliciously snuggly couch. you simply will not budge to the point of an almost toddler-style tantrum of refusal.

but then. in a wave of something close to divine intervention, the rubber band ball of guilt, inspiration, desperation, energy, stubborn-as-an-ass-ness rolls itself together and bounces you off the couch. you jump into your workout clothes in record time, hoping like crazy that you don't lose this little spark of motivation before it goes away as quickly as it came. you get to the gym and once you're down there, you realize that you completely don't remember the process of getting there - you've been so focused on clasping tight to your inspiration that you've auto-piloted yourself onto the treadmill.

however many minutes later, you've had one of the best workouts to date - you have outsmarted mr. lethargy and mrs. blah, and have kicked that workout's bum. YEAH! now, time to shower.

11 : when it hits you, you feel (no) pain . . .

sometimes i do feel pain when it hits me . . . occasionally it hurtles me back in time, other times it propels me years into the future with visions of what could be. this, to me, is the power and the palpable joy of music. songs have the ability to etch memories and dreams into my unconscious, fighting their way to the surface of my mind and my heart when i least expect it. tonight, it was 'sounds of silence,' by none other than the irreplaceable simon + g.

: dancing (with wild abandon, naturally) in a sun-filled living room, tiny feet barely touching the plush sky-blue carpeting, white-blonde hair flying in carefree splashes, tiny young voice singing words she can't possibly understand :

: teenage spirit flowing through the newly-hers car, sunlight streaming through the open sunroof, smiling cheeks bellowing out the still-misunderstood words :

: night-before-college-graduate, sitting indian-style in her empty room, words finally piercing her heart with more power than she ever expected . . . shivers, brushes the tears from her hazel eyes, and rushes down the stairs to find her "family" :

for all of you who find music so startlingly memory-jerking, i hope that my little memories help you to conjure some of your own.

10 : mother's day

occasionally, i wonder if i'll turn out anything like my mom. however, most of the time i realize that i'm already exactly like her. it's something that use to unnerve me as a teenager - can anyone else relate to that? i wasn't sure i wanted to become a second version of her, what with her silly habits, phrases, and slightly embarrassing tendencies. these days, i realize that there would be no bigger blessing than to become a second-generation anna. she's guided, shaped, and pushed me into the person i am right now, and will continue to do so throughout my life. i look forward to when i can follow in my mom's footsteps and shape my own daughter into a second-generation of me. i love you, mom.

9 : MB

my moment(s) of almost-to-the-point-of-tears joy came from one song, one love:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICDTVunkf6I

thank you, KD, for showing me this.

happy weekend, everyone.

8 : ears

my ear un-clogged in the car today. i realized at that precise moment that there may not be a better or more satisfying feeling in the entire world - especially if you weren't aware that your ear was clogged in the first place. the unexpected squeaky little pop of liberation = pure joy.

*note : i googled ears in hopes of including a visual for this post, only to become completely overwhelmed by how much i dislike pictures of ears. so, too bad so sad, no visual today. shudder.

7 : yellow on the inside

i've been grappling with how to put this moment into words since it happened earlier today - i haven't completely pieced together the ideal verbiage; however, it is something that truly fills me to the brim with contentment each and every time it happens, so i feel compelled to pass it along in a timely manner . . .

the most treasured moment of my day occurred at about 1:00, as i was leaving work for lunch. i pushed open the glass door of my office building and was greeted by a vast and uninterrupted blue sky, accessorized perfectly with an enormous canary-yellow orb of sunshine. i stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, turned my face upward, closed my eyes, and inhaled. at that moment, it felt as though my entire insides had been filled with a warm, yellow, healing glow - i was yellow on the inside.

i hope this is something that others have experienced - i believe, and always will believe, that sunshine is medicine.

6 : WD

this snippet, sent to me by my best friend hally, had to be shared:

"The other day one of my students, Adam, and I were walking down the elementary hallway. He poked his head into the 1st through 3rd grade room and called one boy over to the door, much to the chagrin of the teacher who was rudely interrupted by MY student. To make matters worse, when Reggie, the 3rd grader came to the door, Adam asked him, loud enough for their entire class and myself to hear, to bring in the "you-know-what" tomorrow. When Reggie responded only with an inquisitive look, Adam gave him a friendly elbow nudge and said, (again inconspicuously), "remember Reggie...it starts with a w and ends with a d!" At this point I grabbed my 6th grader and swooped him from the doorway of an elementary classroom, horribly annoyed and embarrased at his not-so-slick encounter. I spun him to face me and gave him my best mom look--the one that screams "you better tell me what you're talking about right now or else!" I told him I'd give him a choice. He could either tell me right now what Reggie was planning on bringing him the following day or we could go to the office and call his mother to let her know we'd be searching him for weed upon arriving at school the next day. His reluctance to tell me what scandalous item(s) would be awaiting him at school on Friday only made me suspect drug-use more. After much prodding, he finally agreed to tell me what Reggie was bringing him, accented by his insistence that I ruin everything. After pinky-swearing that I wouldn't tell anyone on his bus that I knew, he confessed. With his head barely visible underneath his hood, he whispered the illusive item. The treat: a white doughnut!

Wow, I was duped by a sixth grader who can't tell me the beginning letters of the words 'white doughnut'. Ah, life!"

thanks hally :)

5 : minute to win it

if you haven't watched this show, you NEED to. there's no two ways about it. the contestants on this show are the essence of childlike joy - playing silly games with household objects to win money . . . what could be more fun!? guaranteed smiles. http://www.nbc.com/minute-to-win-it

4 : weekend

my big moment of joy this weekend was glorified (and drunkified) karaoke - we were asked to sing "take me out to the ball game" during the 7th inning stretch of the iowa cubs baseball game . . . we, of course, obliged, and made sure to do our liquid warm-ups. if i can get a hold of the video, i'll post it asap. just you wait, i'm next on american idol! hope everyone enjoyed a joy-filled weekend . . .