Happiness

Today was one of those days where things started off just dandy. Outside my bedroom window the sky was bleak and gray. I smiled, hoping this meant a day full of rain and puddles and coziness. I checked the weather on my phone, I was going to be oh so prepared for this day. The forecast more than promised rain, so I added a jacket to my ensemble and headed for town. Clouds had gathered by the time I found myself on West Main. I stopped for coffee that somehow managed to taste something like what I'd imagine an ash tray might taste like ...

Nevertheless, in a matter of hours, my grandma and I had finished cleaning two houses. When a dog went the bathroom on my shoe, I thought "Ewww. Eww. Ewww! THIS isn't going to go over so well." But my grandma helped me find some sense of humor to the little incident and soon I forgot all about it.

We grabbed lunch -- a two for one deal from Arby's that made me kind of really happy, cause the girl really loves deals and um, curly fries too. * winks *

My cousin had been telling me about the Habitat store, and after seeing all these really neat ideas on Pinterest , I realized that it would be the perfect place to go look for some things I needed. Not having any idea where it was -- being on the backside of Charlottesville -- my Grandma volunteered to go with me. I thought it would be fun to have somebody go with me anyways, I didn't want to be walking around a big wharehouse by myself.

I found a few things that delighted me beyond measure, and then I saw this sweet little couch that my fingers itched to recover in some homey design. My momma and I could work miracles with such a neat little piece of furniture. I asked the man how much it was, a woman appeared and slapped a sticker on it for a ridiculous amount. I came looking for deals -- not even for a couch, really -- and this woman had just rained on my sunshiney little parade. Thanks, Pony-tailed worky lady. * sigh *

Sighing, I turned to find my grandma struggling not to smile. It wasn't working suddenly, and I smirked. "What? You think I'm crazy huh? Why did I just even think about buying a couch ... my father would kill me, right?"

She nodded. And I knew she was right ... still, I had great plans for some of those things I'd found upstairs. Only, I'd get them someday soon. Not today, it wouldn't fit in my car.

We cleaned another house, and set the stupid alarm system off. This didn't make the girl very happy, she thought how she might lose her hearing and be one of those pre-maturely old deaf people. For 45 minutes the homeowner couldn't figure out how to turn his own alarm system off and my opinion of him lessened considerably. Terribly human on my part, I know.

Finally, I found this place called Circa which creeped me out considerably. I promised myself I would never step foot in there again, so help me. And then something happened that kind of upset me and suddenly, God reminded me to be happy | be thankful ... regardless. To trust | to love | to grow even though things weren't going as I wanted.

It made me feel SO much better! And when the sun began to peak through the little cloud that had crept over my heart, the Lord had already cheered me up and made me glad. It was so amazing what having a good response regardless did. I  am so very thankful for my God! * smiles *