Monday, May 20, 2013

5 Things That Make Me Happy!


I got tagged, which is almost as cool as an award, so I'm a happy camper. JoJo of Tahoma Beadworks and Photography tagged me in this "5 Things That Make Me Happy" thing. Yes, you recognize her name, she is one of my Tina's Terrific Team members. So here's my 5:

God, family, friends are a given, and I love them immensely. However, I'm going to share five less obvious choices, because that's the mood I'm in.

Knitting
This is my current project. 





It's a baby blanket for my cousin, GorgeousGirl who is having her first baby. She's a Patriots fan, which I tolerate, and her husband, who has very good taste in football teams, is a Bronco fan, as we are trying to convince her is her logical choice. She (wisely) choose two skeins of Bronco yarn, a skein of Patriots yarn, followed by two more Bronco ones. This yarn is really fun, as you can see, because it makes the same side look like both inside and outside - not the proper terms, but Farmor taught me knitting, and that was in Swedish and I don't know the proper words...  

I love knitting because it totally relaxes me. I can zone out (except on row three...) and watch TV (great excuse, eh?) without feeling guilty that I'm not cleaning up the clutter which constantly plagues our house. But you've heard all about that before...

Sunflowers
I've written lots of words about them, which you can read here, and see lots of pictures of all my sunflower stuff, including my ankle tattoo.


October
I'm always too hot, so I HATE summer. Autumn is my favorite season, and October is the best month of all. Here in Colorado, we get an amazing variety of colors when the leaves change. The sun slants differently, giving afternoons a special glow. Leaves crunch under your feet. The weather becomes bearable! Campers become more scarce, so we have more privacy when we head for the hills.

Flamingos
I know it's almost cliché, and that it's a polarizing “like” but THEY MAKE ME HAPPY. I have flamingos in my car, because The Engineer has slowly, over the years, convinced me to remove other flamingo decorations in the house by just plain wearing me down. 





I'm not proud of it, but some battles aren't worth it. Save your ammo for the biggies. Like he cooks on weekends. Period.

These Shoes



Yes, they are ugly. I don't care. They are the most comfortable shoes on the planet and because of them, I can walk and hike and do stairs and be a mobile person. I have severe arthritis. I was supposed to have a hip replacement. I refused. I searched for another solution. I tried Feldenkrais Therapy, which is curing me, and my practitioner recommended these shoes.  

They line up your feet as if you were barefoot, which is how our bodies were designed to walk, and in turn that lines up all the knee-bone connected to the thigh-bone stuff and your hip stops hurting. Seriously. Magic shoes.

***

I'm tagging these bloggers, who are encouraged but not forced, to mention their own 5 Things That Make Them Happy.


What things make YOU happy?

26 comments:

CA Heaven said...

We lived , in Colorado for a year, and enjoyed all seasons. I agree that summer was sometimes hot, but the rest of the year was great. The only thing I missed in Colorado was to see the ocean >:)

Cold As Heaven

Suzanne Furness said...

I love sunflowers too, they are so cheerful. I have a huge painting of a field of them in my kitchen.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Tina .. thanks for reminding me re the shoes .. I'm investigating as my back is not good.

Re the knitting - wish I could wear, touch wool .. as I'm sure it's therapeutic ... I do usually do other things if I watch tv .. but I love the colours ... lucky Gorgeous Girl + baby to be ...

Flamingoes - they are beautiful ... but I might side with The Engineer on this one! Still it provides much amusement all round ..

Sunflowers - aren't they wonderful to see - I loved the fields of them in South Africa .. as they waved in the wind, and turned their faces to the sun as it rose and sank ..

Some of your tagged bloggers I don't know .. must get on that road trip ... cheers Hilary

S.P. Bowers said...

I love October and I'm going to have to look into those shoes.

Jeremy [Retro] said...

i hear a bit of happiness and a good amount of smiles. October brings yellows and oranges. flamingos brings the pink and you with the grin from ear to ear... it's going to be a good day.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Foot gloves!
And let's hear it for October. Cooler weather and the great sports overlap.

Brian Miller said...

i have a friend that swears by those shoes....have yet to try them....i love october for sure..i t just doesnt last long enough you know....i like my sunflowers as well...

happy monday tina

Jo said...

I need to look into those shoes too, I already had one hip replacement.

Help, you tagged me. Gotta think up 5 things.

JO ON FOOD, MY TRAVELS AND A SCENT OF CHOCOLATE

JoJo said...

Great list!!! And what do you mean you 'tolerate' her love of the Pats? HMMM?!?!?! lol Like you, I'm always hot too so I dread the humidity of summer. Love the fall!

Andrew Leon said...

Do the shoes have nanobots in them? I don't want any unless there are nanobots.

Does everyone live in CO? My gosh!

Notes Along the Way with Mary Montague Sikes said...

Really interesting to know about those shoes. They make sense and who cares about ugly if they make you feel good? Comfort is really important when it comes to feet! Hadn't heard about the Feldenkraus therapy.

Mary Montague Sikes

Carol Kilgore said...

Great shoes! I go barefoot almost 12 months of the year. If I'm not totally barefoot, I'm barefoot with socks. I only wear shoes if I go someplace or off the patio outside, and I take them off as soon as I get inside the door.

Love sunflowers and autumn light :)

Hart Johnson said...

Oh, see I LOVE summer... but I could definitely use some comfortable shoes! Glad the therapy you're doing is improving things!

LD Masterson said...

Lovely knitting but that poor flamingo hanging from your mirror looks like he just committed suicide.

Rachel said...

Those shoes would probably make me insane. They remind me of toe socks, by the looks, and I cannot stand the way they feel between my toes. I think I'll just stick to walking without shoes.

October is one of my favorite months too, but mainly because of Halloween.

Philip Verghese 'Ariel' said...

Hi Tina, Very interesting list here. I like the Sun flower, I think this is the only flower always looks towards the sky/heaven LOL
There is a song in Malayalam “Sooryakanthi pushpamennum sooryane nokkunna pole njaanumente naathanethaan nokki vaazhunnu” The meaning goes like this: Sooryakanthi pushpam (Sunflower) always looks at the sun likewise I too look at my Lord at all times”
And the knitting part: OMG!!! For this I think one needs to have lot of patience, Am I correct! I wonder how you manage all these even in spite of all the other problems, and works etc,,, LOL
Keep going my dear friend,
Best Regards
Phil
PS: As Hilary said, some of your tagged friends are new to me too
i will check them out in the road trip Cheers!!!!

Silvia Writes said...

So talented ... wish I could knit.
I love those shoes. I've seen them in specialty running shops (used to do 5K races) and always thought they look comfy.

Andrea said...

Ooooh, love the knitting! Hmmm...5 things...

1) pizza
2) my children's faces(oh, these are clearly not in order of importance...although I do enjoy pizza)
3) 70 degree days
4) the ocean
5) my irises in bloom (they went from my great-grandmother's garden to my grandmother's to my mom's to mine...now THOSE are perennials)

Unknown said...

I love knitting too!! The cool thing to me is that you love it for the same reason I do...guiltless TV watching while the house stays dirty! So you know you're close with the inside/outside...most of us call it right side/wrong side. :)

Tammy Theriault said...

i go running...in skeletoes! they are AMAZING!!!!

jenn said...

i hadn't realized you'd posted this, m'dear. but apparently, our subconsiouses were in tune. i will most certainly--and happily--put a link on my post to yur page. thanks for thinking of me.

Kate @ Another Clean Slate said...

I attempted knitting but it didn't quite go my way- no patience here!

klahanie said...

Yay Tina,

I love your shoes! Your shoes make me extremely happy. If they are helping you, then I'm even happier than extremely happy. I think sunflowers escaped from a cartoon. October makes me happy because my son's birthday is in October. I always want to pronounce "Flamingo" as 'Flaming o' :)

I love knitting. I really did go to the "Comedy Knitting" workshop. Yep, had me in stitches....

What makes me happy? Knowing that my discreet background work in the world of blogging has had a positive impact without the fanfare.

Be well and keep smiling, Tina.

Gary :)

Lucy said...

Thanks a bunch for tagging me, I will get to it!!
I must try those shoes :)
I have many blankets that others have knitted for us, I love KNITTERS, those blankets are awesome.
October is one of my favorite months too, it is a beautiful month and my birthday is in October.
Lucy from Lucy's Reality

Anonymous said...

Very cool baby blanket! And those shoes - I want to get me a pair! October is a fabulous month. I think I'll be happy when I feel a little more caught up. The month of May's been doing quite a number on me so far...

Annalisa Crawford said...

A great list, and great shoes if they mean you can be mobile. A couple of people wear them at the gym I work in - they run in them.