Skittles, Alf, and Ecclesiastes

Here's my list for today. I just decided that because this day is such a beautiful, sunny, warm-winded fall day, I may as well think about my favorite things, because days like these are some of my most favorite days.

Another reason I was thinking of my favorite things was because I’ve been reading Ecclesiastes for the past three days, and I’m really enjoying the book. Most people when they read it see it as a really depressing book because everything Solomon talks about is “meaningless.” If you really read it carefully though, yes, a lot of things are meaningless, but his conclusion is that we should eat and drink and work hard (celebrate) because we are doing it all in Christ! We can’t eat or enjoy anything apart from Him. That’s the message I’m getting from the book anyway. Read it. It’s a great encouragement for me to just enjoy little things and thank God for them, because without Him, as Solomon would say, “Life is meaningless, like chasing the wind!”

These are a few of my favorite things… (in no particular order)

• Nathan
• warm wind
• long, hot showers
• sneezing hugely after needing to (but not being able to) sneeze for a long time
• the smell of apples (but NOT apple breath)
• hugs from my husband
• catching up with friends either face to face or through email (but I don't really like phones at all)
• getting to know new friends when it's as though you know them already
• getting presents, especially on my birthday (quick trivia question: what day of the year is my birthday...?)
• writing notes and letters and sending skittles through the mail
• decorating the envelope when I send a letter (because then the recipient doesn't have to wait until they open the letter to be excited)
• watching movies and waking up just in time for the last few credits
• reminiscing about childhood sleepovers
• thinking about what my kids will be like (though this can be kinda scary too...)
• sudoku (how did I let myself get hooked???)
• in winter, when the afghan I'm crocheting gets big enough that I can sit under it as I'm working on it
• naps
• Alf re-runs
• heart-to-hearts
• holding newborn babies
• going out on a beautiful day with an SLR camera and a couple roles of film
• walking by the river back home
• being able to hide and knowing that nobody but God can find me
• hearing when someone I haven't seen for a long time just randomly thought of me
• dates at home that don't cost anything
• dates in the city that don't cost too much
• dates in the city that cost a lot but are sponsored by a third party : )
• buttons
• notes from friends
• pictures of people I love
• sun tanning on a barn roof reading Archie comics and eating spitz
• skinny-dipping ( I don't recall ever doing this, but I've been told it's a wonderfully freeing feeling
• being considered an adult by society's standards when I still feel like a kid inside
• living in a house (not an apartment, cabin or dorm)
• warm chocolate chip cookies
• frozen French fries
• shadows (because in spring, this is the first sign that there is a bit of summer sunlight breaking through the winter clouds)
• Real Simple magazine
• Scrapbooks (when they're done...working on them is just something that needs to be done to enjoy the finished product)