What made you smile today?

The posts have been wonderful today.
Makemeshiver, loved the camo paint--reminds me of #2 son about 20 years ago.
Jewish jokes are always the funniest--I wonder why?
The magical sozlet, as always.
Mikey, even when they are grown (or almost there) they can still stun with their absence of knowledge about some chunks of the world.

y'all made me smile.

I smiled when I asked Rae if it was OK to turn on the air conditioning, it was humid. She didn't care. Here we are in the middle of December, sweating, and it feels good:)

waking up at 11 because I have nothing to do :-)

Today....?
I can honestly say...just about EVERYTHING!'
Ain't that cool? It's been a L O N G time since I have been able to post here......And now what a mighty post it is : )
happy, happy girl.
And I hope that I have shared that with anyone and everyone I could. ; )

This doesn't quite fit into this category but...I was at the grocery store today. Long, long lines after Sunday's ice storm disrupted normal shopping routines. The lady ahead of me had two items and waited five minutes or so to get her turn at the checkout. I know this lady from somewhere. We chatted mindlessly.
It turned out the lady was RETURNING the box of crackers and the small can of peanuts because she discovered she already had a sufficent supply of them in her pantry. $4.87 was the amount involved, but the clerk had to call a manager to help her run the transaction. I bit my tongue pretty hard. This lady isn't rich but, as far as I know, isn't destitute. Why would she do that rather than, say, put the items in the local Food Bank donation box?
When it was my turn I said to the clerk "I've never seen people return groceries before." Perhaps she didn't hear me or perhaps she did and couldn't think of an appropriate response. Or perhaps she was just damned tired after dragging a mind-numbing number of items over the scanner. She said nothing.
Please smile and try to say something nice to the retail clerks you run into in the next week or so.
We're trying hard. -rjb-

RealJohnBoy, grocery clerks must have the best store of stories about strange people one can imagine. I've heard a few from a retired teacher friend of mine. Some are truly mind boggling.

Your advice about being nice (and patient) with retail clerks this season is very timely.

I smiled today, this morning actually, as I looked out the window--this is a morning ritual--seeing the Rocky Mountains starts my day better than anything else I can imagine.

This morning, it was dark, the snow was blowing wildly in the wind and all I could see was the snow swirling under a street light. It was like one of those little globes that have swirling snow if you trun them upside down. It was a small world, lonely and beautiful in the light of the lamp, with snow in patterns and swoops as the wind changed directions and again whenever a gust came by.

The mountains were invisible in the snow, but as the sun rose and the snow stopped, there they were, with Mt. Evans massive in the background, covered with snow--morning light giving it a pink tinge. For me, that is all the religion I need.

Ahhh...

Very nice. I want to go back to the Rockies. (E.G.'s family has a cabin there.)

Sozlet likes the ornaments on the tree, takes them down a few at a time and creates scenarios with them. For a small brass bell, she posts herself someplace, clangs it around, and says, "SCHOOLTIME! SCHOOLTIIIIIME! SKOO-WULLLLL TIIIIIIME!!" over and over again. I have a signaling system in my house, so when she does this she sets all the lights flashing frantically. This is not a deterrent. At all.

I have been going through and collecting my sozlet-related "What made you smile today" comments (which of course is the vast majority) and am collecting them (with name changes) to give to grandparents. Re-reading them made me smile. I don't keep up with my journal the way I ought, and she seems so present at every moment, so herself, that it's hard to remember how much she changes. Nice to have this record.

when my friends said they liked my christmas gifts for them! i always get worried that people won't like my gifts, lol... so that was good!

Christmas has come early for me !!!

India beat Australia on their home ground in the second test match after 22 long years !!! I just cant stop smiling

Bleeeaaaahhhh!!!!
But smiling at Gautam's excitement - Aussies are just soooo blase about winning!

Two grocery store related stories courtesy of one of my employees. His dad spent his entire working career in that industry, starting out as a bagboy and retiring as a regional manager for a large chain.

#1: A lady comes in and begins complaining to the teenaged checkout clerk about the cat food she'd bought. By the time he intervenes, she is loud and angry: she had put it out dry, she had mixed it with water, she had warmed the water and then had tried milk and warm milk. By this time she is very loud and very angry. The cats kept her awake all night.
He asks her if she still has the bag. She goes out to her car, brings it in and slams it down on the counter, spilling out the remaining contents.
He turns the bag around so that he can read the 6" high letters: KITTY LITTER.
He opens the cash register and gives her back her money. She leaves, triumphant.

#2: When he was a store manager he would not tolerate shoplifting. When the person left the store he would follow them out. Once a week or so the culprit would take off running. If it was a male and younger than Andy's dad, he would take off after him. He would catch him and tackle him and perhaps throw an elbow to the jaw or ribs in the process. He was proud to be a "big, honest, redneck."
He would return to the store with the purloined goods and a souvenir: a shoe, a shirt or a hat.

Sorry for the digression from sozlet, India and Oz.
When I hear what seem to me to be stories with a good twist, I can't resist trying to write them down.
-rjb-

RJB, I wonder strange retail stories would work as a thread of its own--I bet it would.

What made ME smile today
This new post by Vivien is full of smiles, oohs and aahs.
Adorable Pets

Two of our kids arrived home here in Arizona for Christmas yesterday. My parents arrive today, and our youngest son arrives tomorrow. It's been a long time since we've all been together.

Jim
A Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones, peaceful at home!

Shopping with my #1 grandson, who moaned and groaned all the way, while I was having a ball just being with him and helping him shop for his mom, Rae!!!

Aw.

Sweet new pic!

Went to the mall today... WHOA! I actually went for an optometry appointment (finally getting contacts again), expected it to be busy and all, but the sea of humanity was quite startling. Some great people-watching. Had lunch while watching an unlikely quartet, three black kids (13-ish, two girls and a boy) with a white adult. The adult just didn't fit with them. Everyone's body language was strained. One of the girls kept making kind of sly jokes (I couldn't see the content of the joke, but body language was clear) and the adult was kind of looking off into the distance, possibly straining not to acknowledge what he felt was inappropriate behavior, I dunno. He seemed to be in some sort of position of authority -- teacher? Minister? Out with three kids on a Saturday afternoon? I spent a while trying to figure them out, never did.

So I came home, and E.G. said, "Did you get me gloves for Christmas?" I had, hidden in the closet, and I expected he would say something about accidentally coming across them. But no, sozlet told him that we'd gotten gloves for him for Christmas, AND that it was a secret. This is sort of like playing hide-and-seek with her friend Jack -- both of them spend the whole time saying, "I'm going to hide in the basement!" and "Hey! I'm in the closet!!"

Dianes post made me smile....thinking back to our vacation in YellowStone and how I loved it in Wyoming. In Arkansas...August is humid, hot and down right ugly.

But Wyoming.....AWWWWWW.....how I'd love to be there now, seeing what Diane is seeing in Colorado!!! We don't have many white Christmas's here....

This thread was the first thing that came to mind when Karma made me smile today. Because I work in a mall, I generally pass by the Salvation Army bell ringers without making a donation. (I'd be broke if I dropped money in the bucket every time.) Anyhow, I was on my way out of the grocery store this afternoon with a couple of heavy bags and I was debating whether to take the bus or walk the short distance home. I stopped for less than a minute to wrestle with my wallet and pull out a dollar to throw into the red pail. Just then, one of my coworkers who happens to be a neighbor came out of the store, followed my lead, and offered me a ride.