Joy Again and Again

As usual, I keep a list of my daily joys. Since covid my world is substantially smaller and the joys are smaller, but there are still joys to be found. The 17th week of 2021 is officially over and these are the joys. I almost typed "the joys I found", but maybe the joys (no matter how odd they were) found me__even on the one day I did not want to find them!

Friday: The day itself was pretty uneventful and I had my nose out of joint for no reason in particular. I was just generally pissed with the world. TheHub came home after working all week and having interactions with human type people every single day, to someone who only saw her sister (on account of the two of us being in the same bubble)  So, he walked through the door all chipper, ready to go and do something. To me, someone who just did not give a damn about doing anything other than sulking. (Remember the kids poem about the little girl "when she was good she was very, very, good and when she was bad she was_______" Feel free to insert whatever you feel like might need inserting). He finally guilted me into going on an outing with him__to Buc-ees.  

The gas station/grocery store/fast food place/gift shop/ travel needs/clothing/outdoor/overly branded store was on the other side of town from us and when we got there it felt like we were in a different world. The place was packed, mostly with folks wearing no masks, buying everything under the sun. I walked though quickly, picked up the chopped brisket sandwich (very good, I might add) and a fountain drink and got out of there about as quickly as I walked in. Since we wanted to eat our sandwiches while they were hot, we had a parking lot picnic. We moved to an uninhabited part of the lot, watched people scurrying in and out, and kept talking about the abnormal number of RV's at the gas pumps.

TheHub and I have RV fever because it sounds like it would be a lovely way to travel and see the sights once (if) he retires. As luck would have it one of the RV's was at a pump not far from our car and when the travelers who belonged to it came out of the store, we pulled up next to them to see if they would mind sharing their opinions about RVing.

 Remember, we do live in Alabama where you speak to everyone you pass whether you know them or not, so talking to strangers is not an oddity. I have even bonded with a woman buying cucumbers at the produce market ,and after talking about vegetables for a few seconds, realized we went to the same kindergarten when we were young. (That is another story entirely, but I digress)

It turned out the young couple was more than happy to share their limited knowledge of the RV since they were renting it go camp near the racetrack and watch the Talladega 500 (That is a car race of some sort, but I don't do races and have limited understanding of why anyone would want to go. However; I have been stuck in the race traffic on the way home for Atlanta a couple of times before and obviously thousands and thousands and thousands of folks do just that.)

TheHub and I had decided beforehand that we would rent one several times to decide if we were lunatics and it was the worst idea we have ever had, or  that it is not just some fantasy idea and is something we would actually enjoy. The wife was a wealth of information about local individuals who rent their personal vehicles, where to find them and who to call. We enjoyed our chat with them and I hope they had a great time at the races. (We will NEVER experience that!)

Saturday: The day came and the day went with very little fanfare until later in the evening when Son2 and DIL2 stopped by for a few minutes. Seeing them is always a huge joy.

Sunday  I have not been sleeping well and finally fell asleep about 3:30 Sunday morning so I slept through our church services. Fortunately I was able to see it later in the day, but I did wake before time for our Webex Sunday school class. The upside of having a class like this is being dressed on top and in pajama bottoms down below. 

Later in the afternoon TheHub and I went to Aldi and used a 60 dollar gift card from AT&T. They were not rewarding me for anything,  but had overcharged us and instead of just refunding the money in a check that would be easily deposited, they issue it back on a dated Visa gift card that could be easily forgotten. Since I spent hours of my life being transferred up the food chain from one AT&T employee to another there was no way I was going to forget to use it. Thank you Aldi for having low prices so I could stock up on some things and use every cent of the card. Take that AT&T!

Monday: My cousin who lives in San Antonio was in Huntsville to visit with my uncle. Another cousin had just moved to the northern burbs of Birmingham, on the Huntsville side of town. We all met there and my beloved sister and I stopped and picked up lunch for all of us. I can't tell you how much I loved being with all of them for the afternoon (And yes everyone there was fully inoculated) 

Tuesday:  I know something joyous happened besides TheHubs flight being on time, but I can't think of anything, so my joy is that he did not get held up or had to sit on the tarmac forever .

Wednesday:  Our yard as gotten a little out of control over the past couple of years. TheHub's work load has been overwhelming and I was doing things either caring for Mom or taking care of her estate while trying to move the lake place and having Son3 and DIL3 for a few months. In a happy coincidence I saw someone recommending a landscape guy on Facebook so I gave him a call.  My yard looks better than it has in years!

Thursday: I met my beloved sister at Mom's and we went over a few details about the house. One of my truest joys in life is having a sister who knows the best and worst parts of me, who loves me anyway, and who can make me laugh every single time we are together or on the phone. 

TheHub left work early for a change .( 5 o'clock, which is normal for most people, but, because he is in the office at 6:30 most mornings it was still a long work day)  We decided to run to Costco to stock up on a few items we use regularly then drove home quickly to watch the NFL draft. We were happy to see six players from Alabama drafted in the first round. Congratulations to Jaylen Waddle (Miami), Patrick Surtain (Denver), Devonta Smith (Philadelphia) Mac Jones (New England) Alex Leatherwood (Las Vegas) Najee Harris (Pittsburgh)  Roll Tide Roll!

So go out and look for your joys! They are out there every single day!