Smile!

Good ol’ Mr. Webster defines the word smile as “a facial expression in which the eyes brighten and the corners of the mouth curve slightly upward and which expresses especially amusement, pleasure, approval or sometimes scorn.” Wikipedia reminds us that “smiles can communicate feelings as different as love or contempt, pride or submission, flirtatiousness or polite tolerance.”

In my book, a smile is just an amazing thing.

Baby’s first smile at her mother; that flirtatious grin from across the room; the smile as you see your bride for the first time; the look on your grandparents’ faces as they celebrate their 50th anniversary. It is the first thing we request the moment a camera is whipped out. We text the image to one another and email with it every day. :)

You all know how much I like reading blogs on the Internet. I recently came across a blog that follows the life of a young single mother who often has trouble finding things to smile about. She has begun to make a list for the days when she needs “her frown to turn upside down!” It has inspired me to start my own. Not every day is a happy one; sometimes you need a little reminder. I’m not the most positive person. I’m not a negative person ... it’s just that I instantly see both sides of the coin. I have been accused of bursting a bubble or two in my lifetime. Some days, I have a hard time finding something to smile about. It’s at those moments when I discover more things to add to my list.

I challenge you to begin your own list for the days when the sky is gray and you need a helping hand. These are some things that make me smile:
• Reading a good book. Then reading it again and again.
• Watching “Jeopardy” and getting most of the questions right.
• Terry bursting out into random song and, if I’m lucky, dance.
• Stalking around the house, imitating a T-Rex to make John smile.
• That first sip of coffee on a lazy Saturday morning.
• Country music and Lola. I swear that kid knows every song!

Back-to-school Time!

Back to school time. I swear I can actually smell it in the store. Pencils, crayons, backpacks, lunch boxes, loose leaf paper, sticky notes, erasers, highlighters, folders ... I’m getting excited just thinking about it! I want to stock up on everything, and I haven’t been a student in years! I’m a sucker for general office supplies to begin with, so back-to-school supplies are like Christmas for people like me!

There is still an amazing feeling that comes from breaking out your bright yellow, just-sharpened No. 2 pencil and cracking open that brand-new notebook—all those blank lines staring back at you just waiting to be filled with endless knowledge or equally impressive doodles.

Despite my love of the supplies that made learning easier, I never was that great of a student. I wasn’t big on the one necessary part of learning––studying. One semester when my college report card showed three less-than-desirable grades and one A, my dad very wisely suggested to my not-so-happy mother that I was simply concentrating too hard on one subject. As you may have guessed, that one A was for a class in my favorite subject, English. It was my freshman writing class and because of that class, I was completely sold. I loved to write.

My love for writing carried on through the years. I was that odd student that loved term papers and such. I just wanted to write. Married to that was an equally strong passion for reading, which ended up serving me well when I finally figured out that studying equaled good grades. And as life carries on, my love of reading and writing helps to ensure that I never stop learning!