Spring forward, lovely read and beauties

The sky never seems to disappoint at this little corner of the world in northwest Atlanta.  The week after daylight savings time sprang to be, I left for work in the darkness and arrived to work to these pink puffed beauties.

Leonora wrote about her latest good reads in a recent blog post.  I'm listening to this one during my commute.  I told a friend at work this morning that I'm smiling during the drive and not obsessing about traffic.  It's a  lovely story about a widower who finds a charm bracelet that belonged to his late wife and embarks on a journey to find out more about her past and even more about himself. 

It was a chilly morning last Saturday when friend Laura and I walked in the park and caught up with life.  She never questions why I stop to snap photos with my phone and encouraged me to get this close up of the buds of this flowering tree.  We dropped into the 20s (f) this week - so cold.  I hope these lovelies survived.

Spring is around the corner.  Sigh.

The beach, porches and the finish

Seagrove beach in South Walton County, Florida last Friday.  Sigh.  The six hour drive down is worth it when this sight is waiting. 

One porch after another. 

Dunes in the state park nearby.

A moody sunset.

Grits à ya ya at Great Southern Cafe in nearby Seaside, Florida.  Sunday morning brunch.  We always participate in a walk for charity (the real reason for the trip) and then celebrate the finish here.

And a final walk on the beach the last morning.  It was a lovely time with good friends.  It's always good to get back home, but I do love this serene place.

Hope you have a great weekend, my friends!

Traveling flowers, Live your life and Happy day

My 10-year Blogoversary was on February 19.  I almost let it get by me!  I've spent a little time going down memory lane looking back at old blog posts, so I chose a photo from 2007, another from midway in 2011, and a new one from February 2017 - a card from a special friend.

A photo I call "Traveling Flowers" from the first year of Good Things Happened in 2007.  My friend Ginny picked these flowers from her garden one day, when I was visiting her family, and presented them to me.  I was leaving for a few days at the house by the river in the mountains, so I tucked the vase in the cup holder of my car, and off we went.

From December 2011:  This barrel outside a recovery shelter for men reminded me of an important lesson I often forget for myself: "Live your Life" - enjoy it, be happy and love whatever it is you choose to do.

I wish just that for everyone.

Great Niece Kloie made this card for me, in the shape of a butterfly, on my birthday last month.  I adore that at age 7, she knows that there is always something to smile about.

Here's a quote I like, spotted this morning on the Mozilla Firefox home page:

"Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it. Don't wait for it. Just let it happen."— Dale Cooper, Twin Peaks

The best part of blogging has been meeting all of you!  Thank you for coming by - I appreciate your friendship.

They're heeere!, not camping and smile

The Girl Scout cookies arrived!  I couldn't say no to the delightful Brownie Scout who gave me such a good sales pitch.  (She had tried the new S'mores cookies at a troop meeting and liked them very much.)  I'm supposed to be on a diet, so took the S'mores cookies to my volunteer organization, but the Thin Mints are all mine.  Currently in the freezer at home - just waiting for a rainy day.  :)

Were any of you Scouts?  I was a Brownie Scout and went on to be a Girl Scout, finally dropping out when I was 12 years-old or so.  I hated camping and that's what did me in with the Scouts.  So when I saw the magnet on the lower left (that lives on my fridge at home), I laughed out loud and had to buy it.  

And I love that a fellow administrative volunteer at my volunteer organization always draws a smile on the back of envelopes that she mails to me.  I hope she does that for everyone.  It never fails to make me smile.

Could it finally be the weekend?  Halleujah!  I hope you have a wonderful weekend, my friends.

Drama queen, happy tune and so thoughtful

Having a belated birthday dinner with some friends yielded some very nice gifts, an "Espresso" orchid (hope it lives!) and a bottle of Middle Sister wine.  I'm a middle sister, as is friend Janice, so it's OK to be called a "drama queen."  :)  I think. 

 The plants are hanging in there - the temps have been mostly above 32 degrees, so I'm thrilled they are surviving the winter and will be able to grace the front porch in the spring.  I loved the cardinal who visited the feeder and whistled a happy tune.

A friend who has been very ill left this belated birthday gift of kitchen candle and birthday cake chocolate bar at my front door on Valentine's Day.  So thoughtful!  It had been a long day of work, and then volunteer work.  I was very weary and this perked me right up.

And - I finally got to this book, but actually listened to the audio version in the car during the last few days, finishing yesterday.  It was worth it to hear Reese Witherspoon's lovely voice reading it, but I still wish this book had stayed dormant.  I need to go back and read To Kill a Mockingbird again in order to shake this one off.  So I guess the good thing about it is - I finally got to it.  :)

Hope you have a great weekend, my friends!

Fresh and lovely, serenity and in residence

I often end up standing in this spot at my sister's home in northern Florida.  It's where my car is parked and I was getting into it last Saturday morning.  The morning was fresh and lovely - I couldn't resist.

We were heading to an event place in their sleepy little town for a bridal shower for niece Amanda.  I loved the serenity of the blue bottles in a window.

Great nephews were in residence for the weekend, too, as you can tell by the lone tricycle left standing.  I managed to capture a photo of my brother-in-law with the two little ones on the golf cart - you can see them there beyond the tree with BIL's dog Moby leading the way.  And a few minutes later, I was heading north home.

Hanging out, the little things and looking up

I believe this might be a landscaping truck my car was sitting behind yesterday morning a little after 7am on the way to work.  If you click to enlarge, you can see that it has a monkey hanging on the back of it.  It made me smile, which is a good thing for the early morning like that.  :)

Later - a nice customer came into the printing company and we talked about liking "the little things" - the smell of coffee, drinking coffee, the rustle of the newspaper, reading the newspaper.

And later still, my friend Erica posted on facebook, "If you haven't already, take a minute and go outside and look up!  The sky is absolutely gorgeous tonight!  The sliver moon and planets are playing peek-a-boo in the clouds!  Simple pleasures!"  I didn't see her post until this morning, but it made me wish I had had a peek of that beauty.  I like that she did.

Have a lovely weekend, my friends!