good things that happened today.

"oh, what a day it's been."

i'm listening to Dear Reader (if you haven't heard of them, i'm scolding you soundly in my head right now!) and Cheri just sang that line from "Great White Bear" to me through my computer's speakers. and it was so apt to how i'm feeling right now. hah!

sometimes there are just those days when everything just seems bad bad bad. today wasn't really one of those, but it puttered along in that direction. i've mostly been stressing because i have good friends in Brisbane and the flash flood business going on there is scary. i also read the speech that Obama gave at the memorial service for those who died in Tucson... which was amazing, but put me in a bit of a melancholic mood. and just... other lame stuff.

so, in an effort to rally myself back to a happy place (!) i've decided to draw up a little list of all the GOOD things i witnessed and took part in and enjoyed today :) here goes:

* making birthday plans! i have a week to go before the Big Day, and so far i've deduced that i'm making what sounds -and looks - like the most amazing chocolate cake in history, and plonking magic re-lighting candles and happy "18" candles on it. aaaah, i'm already salivating! recipe here, courtesy of the amazing Judy.

i'm also planning fun things to do, like going to the beach and playing Apples To Apples and Scrabble while eating at The Fat Cat. and then going to watch Tangled the next day. sounds good, huh? i'm excited :)

* really, really good music to sing along to at my mom's school

* reading and finishing The Horse and His Boy - i love C.S. Lewis, and i'm happy that i'm finally making progress through the Narnia series!

*this quote from the book:

"But of course," he thought. "I was quite safe. That is why the Lion kept on my left. He was between me and the edge all the time."

i love it. it feels so true to many situations in my life, where i look back in shock and amazement that i've made it through something which seemed insurmountable, only to realise that my Guy was with me the whole time, keeping me from so many pitfalls and heartbreaks, so many cliff edges.

*watching Big Bang Theory with my mom and sister :)

*hearing from my Tee... which basically means that she's safe. now i'm only worried about Shaw. (these are my Brisbane peeps, in case you're wondering.)

*chicken nuggets for dinner. oh yes.

*cell group, and Joe & i for pwning everyone else at Trivial Pursuit. our end percentage was 81%... impressive, huh?

aaaand...

*reading Jon Acuff's Stuff Christians Like, which kills me.

so there you have it! and now i must sleep.