7 Quick Takes Friday

1. Joy. What a simple thing that can do so much good. Why do we not take more time to be joyful, share joy and encourage joy? I have been reading about the subject in two different books (Between Heaven and Mirth by James Martin, SJ and Small Steps for Catholic Mothers) and had never really thought about the impact of my joyfulness on both my spiritual life and that of others. Just the simple act of always having a smile on my face. One day I was encouraged to try to smile all day. It was actually hard which I decided was very sad. It should not be that difficult. What in me was making it that tough? Since then I have tried to look at each situation as how it could go differently if I smiled. We are talking simple things like discipling a child, paying for groceries at the store, waiting at the stoplight. Just having others see you as joyful makes them wonder, why? And what a witness it is for them to find out its God. WOW!

2. I was joyful about something simple today. A new favorite yogurt - AE's almond creme greek yogurt. I am going to freeze it next time and eat it for dessert. It is sort of healthy for me, right?. Hey, its gotta be better than Cold Stone Creamery. Hmmm...wonder if I could smash some cookie dough into it. Wait, wasn't I talking about healthy?

3. I am already in a slump when it comes to my 2012 goals when it comes to eating more healthy. Not dieting but trying to fit in more fish, fruits and veggies. I am bored with lunch and breakfast and am really trying to find some new inspirations. I did find one this morning. I made an egg white, spinach, sundried tomato breakfast sandwhich with turkey on whole wheat. Oh and with dill. (How can I come up with a short name for all that?) Seriously, it was good and it had to be good for me with the veggies, protein and whole grains.

4. Who needs snow? This week my boys and I had an indoor snowball fight and snowflake storm. Logan thought it was the best invention ever. We get to stay inside and be toasty warm but still throw snowballs (crumpled up paper balls) and we even used laundry baskets as our snow forts. For the snowstorm, we cut up paper snowflakes and laid them in Logan's blankie and then tossed them in the air. They fall down ever so softly. To make it educational, I wrote numbers from 10-20 and had Logan identify them as we placed them back in the blanket. So much fun!

5. Hot water. Yes, its back and I have taken 2 very long showers to make up for it. Maybe a bubble bath is in order.

6. I am a nerd. I am addicted to Ken Burns documentaries. I watched The War in December and am watching The West right now and have Prohibition on my shelf. I cannot believe what I did not listen to in school. Or maybe I am just old and have forgotten it all.

7. I have entered the world of couponing but I would not define what I do as extreme, maybe just enhanced. Today I was excited to buy a 12 pack of play-doh for $8 when its usually $15. Its the simple things that make you smile. (At least until I see the mess they will make with all the play-doh).

Check out Conversion Diary for more quick takes.