My day

194. Spring popping up like a crocus
195. Noodles
196. Making progress organizing
197. The cat thinking his new bed is in the bathroom (on top of towels that allow us to shower without having a flood in the dining room)
198. Little kids reemerging from their homes now that it is warm and sunny
199. Knowing that, though it IS Sunday, I do not have to work tomorrow
200. And therefore taking a nap. 'Cause I can : )

Catching up

181. The first graders dressing up like their favorite characters
182. And their teacher dressing up like Mr. Slinger
183. And numerous little girls dress up as Lilly (and carry her famous, purple, plastic purse.
184. Kevin Henkes Mouse Books: Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, Sheila Rae, The Brave, Owen, and all the rest
185. Reading aloud (especially these authors)
186. Sandra Boynton (especially But Not the Hippopotumus)
187. Todd Parr
188. Mo Willems
189. Jon Scieszka
190. Judy Blume
191. Roald Dahl
192. Doreen Cronin
193. Vera B. Williams

Weekender

161. 10 hours of sleep (soooo lucky)
162. Long, easy, relaxing breakfast with a good friend
163. Domku
164. Salmon Pyt i Panna
165. Abelskiver
166. Big cups of coffee and half and half that I don't have to make
167. Accessories making an outfit
168. Springtime noticings of the day- new green lambs ears appearing
169. My parents' pleasure at seeing their copy of the wedding album
170. How my wife looks in running clothes
171. Hot afternoon showers
172. Looking forward to my birthday
173. Knowing the appraisal is done and that the house will soon be ours (phew!)
174. Going through last year's seeds to see what this year could offer
175. Putting away the snow shovel (for good, I hope)
176. Knowing that there's only one more week until Spring Break (woohoo!)
177. Tiding up
178. Getting a haircut when you really need/want one
179. Getting an eyebrow wax when you really need/want it
180. Green polish for my toes just because it makes me feel pretty

School Daze

152. My little German student loving the #9 because it's Birgit Prinz's number. (No offense to the other #9s, Mia and Heather O, but this is very cute)
153. Writing tankas with six graders
154. Playing hide-and-seek at pre-k recess
155. The way textbooks smell
156. Recommending a book
157. Friendly teachers who share their birthday popcorn (Thanks Courtney, I NEEDED that.)
158. Blogging these things right after the kids leave so I am awake enough to remember how good the day actually was.
159. Thursdays
160. That I'm cute enough that when I have no money on my metrocard and no cash AND am nowhere near a metro station (where I can reload on a credit card) or ATM, the bus driver still lets me on (PHEW! That would have not been something to be happy about otherwise)

Catching up

127. Wanderlust
128. A package (any package) waiting for you when you get home
129. The wonder that is bison meat (sorry formerly-vegetarian self)
130. My big red chair
131. Sucessful lessons
132. Watching kids grow
133. Spring rain
134. How, just before the cherry blossoms bud, the cherry tree branches look red
135. Comet Pizza and Ping Pong
136. Alpaca yarn
137. Dogs who love tennis balls
138. Popcorn popped in a big pot
139. The Takoma Park Farmer's Market
140. Being outside
141. Listening to my bamboo wind chime in the breeze
142. Dishwashers
143. Writing with chalk on the sidewalk
144. Carmelized onions
145. Dirty hands from working in the dirt
146. Spring rainstorms
147. The first daffodils
148. The Washington Post
149. The Washington Post Express
150. Taking the train

Playing

126. Sasha and Malia's new swingset

Just a few

114. Being able to open up the windows
115. How much the cats love being able to sit on the windowsills (especially Rosie)
116. The sight of a first grade class at P.E. trying to hop around cones while holding a kickball. This was quite a challenge for these guys. And quite entertaining for me (the bystander)
117. Having lots of weekend plans
118. Grapes
119. The smell of roasting marshmallows. Though I'm not sure why I am smelling them right now...
120. Spring Training
121. Sitting in my big, red chair
122. Watching 4th graders learn choreography
123. My nightly cooking ritual
124. Shabbat dinner at home
125. Shabbat dinner with friends

Tonight's

102. The smell of fires in fireplaces while I'm walking home
103. Brown rice with butter, salt and pepper
104. The Northwest Current Newspaper
105. Mint Tea, Morrocan-style
106. Talking gardens with the science teachers
107. My wife's excitement over the amount of "nifty containers we have for leftovers!"
108. 30 Rock on Netflix "Watch it Now"
109. The fact that my "big kid" (he's the 6th grader I see this year) listened to the stern lecture I gave him yesterday, did what he was supposed to and apologized to his teacher. Phew!
110. Remembering funny dreams
111. Working in a school where a simple coffee run can turn into a serious and passionate discussion about school reform policy. Ahhh. I love my school.
112. While waiting for the bus, some kid or another will stick their little heads out of their car windows to say "Hiiiiiiiiii Ms. T!!!!!!!"
113. Learning something by teaching it

This made my afternoon

101. The comic above

Nightly Comfort

91. My relationship with my friend Steph
92. A warm cat curled up on my toes
93. Watching the cat fall asleep (still on my toes)
94. Comfy quilted throws
95. Wedgehead
96. No matter how late it is, the moment my wife walks in the door
97. Flannel PJs
98. The feel of newly washed sheets
99. Reading a few pages before going to sleep
100. Closing my eyes for the night with the knowledge that I tried my best and that tomorrow is another day.

Some of the Books I LOVED as a kid (Stay tuned for books I love to read to kids)

Please add your happy kid books in the comment section!

56. Corduroy by Don Freeman
57. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
58. Strega Nona by Tomie De Paola
59. Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs (This one makes my Gramma happy too)
60. The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
61. The Ramona Books by Beverly Cleary
62. The Mouse and the Motorcycle Series by Beverly Cleary
63. The Frances Books by Lillian Hoban
64. The Arthur Books by Lillian Hoban
65. A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams
66. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
67. Witches by Roald Dahl
68. Matilda by Roald Dahl
69. The Twits by Roald Dahl
70. The Little House on the Prarie Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
71. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
72. Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
73. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O'Brien
74. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
75. Super Fudge by Judy Blume
76. Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
77. Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
78. Ms. Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard and James Marshall
79. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
80. Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
81. The All-of-a-Kind Family by, Sydney Taylor
82. Betsy's Little Star by Carolyn Haywood
83. Homesick: My Own Story by Jean Fritz
84. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstien
85. The Book of Three Series by Lloyd Alexander
86. The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
87. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
88. Encyclopedia Brown Series by Donald J. Sobul
89. From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
90. Five Beds for Bitsy by Ian Munn and Elizabeth Webbe

More randoms

41. Being on the same wavelength as my Karen
42. Getting a ride to Friendship Heights with my fabulous and hysterical co-worker Kate
43. Wearing long underwear for two days in a row
44. Trying harder to understand a particular kid and actually finding out some revealing things
45. Taking off my shoes and socks after a long day
46. That Holly will be home from Iraq in 2 and a half weeks
47. The feeling I get when I do a bit more than is expected.
48. Aha! moments
49. Teachable moments
50. How making a stirfry always reminds me of the kitchen of the Keehn Vegetarian Coop at Hamilton College.
51. Spending time teaching a class I've seen grow from tiny little kids into giant tweens.
52. Reading One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish with two of my buddies
53. The miracle of reading
54. Watching someone learn to read
55. And knowing that your hand is in it

From One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss (Happy Belated!)
Today is gone. Today was fun.
Tomorrow is another one.
Every day,
from here to there,
funny things are everywhere.

In no particular order

21. The return of Women's Professional Soccer to the US
22. And to get it out of my system: Abby Wambach
23. Being called the "Creative Queen"
24. Being called "a kick in the pants"
25. Nice Jewish Girls DC (aka The Jewbians)
26. Freecycle
27. A woodpecker outside my window
28. Taking my shoes off at the end of the day
29. Doing something just because I want to
30. How much my mom loves her bike
31. And how her love for her bike made me want the same bike
32. Looking forward to things
33. Like taking bike rides when it's warmer
34. Like the first cherry blossoms of the year
35. And planting my new garden

Things I noticed today that cause happiness...

2. 2 hour delays
3. A teacher friend who was so excited by the snow that she kept waking up last night to see if it was still snowing
4. Having breakfast with my wife (thanks to the 2 hour delay)
5. Hot black tea with milk
6. Kashi U with Black Currants and Walnuts
7. Chatting with my mom on my way home
8. Telling people that we bought a house
9. Cheering up kids (especially small boys) by giving them a "special job"
10. Being able to fix small problems
11. Getting gardening catalogues in the mail
12. Seeing the neighbor-baby gigantic and running
13. Making dates with friends
14. Coming home to a nice warm house.
15. Waking up after enough sleep leading to a generally cheerful day
16. Realizing the water leaking into your closet hasn't overflowed the pots containing it
17. Remembering that we have two more months in this rental, our first home together, and then we move to our own place
18. Remembering to look on the bright side
19. Deciding to start a blog about looking on the bright side
20. Actually doing it

Number 1

Picture Credit: CBinDC
My goal in this blog is to post 1,000,000 things to be happy about. Riding the bus this morning I was looking out the window at Rock Creek Park, frosted by 4 inches of fluffy snow. I sighed. I looked some more. And then I remembered a project I had in high school. My, I wish she was my sister, best friend Karen gave me a book called 14,000 Things to be Happy About. After reading through the book (and checking off all the things that actually made me happy) I decided to keep my own list, and did for the remaining years of high school. And now it's time, I believe, to restart this list. And to challenge myself, and you, if you choose to participate, to list one million things tha make us happy. Please don't judge my happy things, and I won't judge yours- all happy-makers will be accepted. I'll post my numbered list, and you can continue on the number I left off on in your comments. We'll keep a running tab. Oh dear. I just did the math. I'm going to need a lot of help.

Get your happy on folks.

1. Taking the bus through the snowy woods.