There are times when the seemingly mundane takes on a whole, new perspective!

Today was a day of errands and chores, which, on the surface, seems pretty mundane. Sometimes, it’s not so much what you do, but how it makes you feel!

Sure, there’s nothing extraordinary about the fact that I get my nails done every other Wednesday morning (this time, a marvelous, sparkly red!). What makes it extraordinary is the people I meet and the hour I get to spend with the delightful woman who does my nails. Sometimes, our conversations are pretty benign, and others, we might be solving all of the problems of the world. But it really doesn’t matter what we talk about. I enjoy the hour every couple of weeks that is all about me. She puts me back together when I’ve had a couple of casualties, and just having nice hands makes me feel that much better about myself. Sure, it’s a little thing, but isn’t most of what makes us feel good just a compilation of little things?

Shopping for decorations and a gift for my daughter’s birthday is definitely extraordinary. It wouldn’t matter if I’d done it twenty times, or a hundred and twenty. Labors of love are like that, you know! How can you feel anything but happy and joyful while shopping for a gift and the accoutrements of celebration for someone you love with all of your heart? Add in shopping for the ingredients for the filling and frosting for a new cake I helped her brainstorm last weekend, and the day just got better and better!

But it didn’t end there! I also checked out a new sushi restaurant for lunch. Though the food was pretty good, it paled in comparison to the place my daughter found near her house where their all-you-can-eat menu was more extensive, containing a few things besides sushi, and they had the wonderful, marinated cucumber salad I love (the new place didn’t even sever it as a side with some of their rolls!) The service was quite a bit slower and they tried to charge me for a soda when all I ordered was a glass of water! Needless to say, I won’t insult my daughter by offering it up as an alternative to the place she already likes near here.

As if the day couldn’t get any better, I indulged myself in a Nora Roberts book I picked up while shopping for my daughter, stopping only to warm up leftovers for dinner.

As the day winds to a close, I have everything I need for the birthday party on Saturday, clean clothes, scooped sand boxes, a clean kitchen and clean bedding. The only thing left to do is to get a good night’s sleep so I can finish tomorrow’s chores before going dancing, and my daughter’s arrival for a weekend of celebration!

There are times, and if you ask me, it’s most times, that the simplest things are the ones which bring us the most joy. When things get too complicated, it means a whole lot of extra effort had to go into making them happen in the first place! So this is me, keeping it simple, and loving every minute of it!

My gratitudes tonight are:
1. I am grateful for simplicity.
2. I am grateful for labors of love.
3. I am grateful to be celebrating the birth of my daughter again this week.
4. I am grateful to be able to find joy everywhere I look.
5. I am grateful for abundance: Joy, love, simplicity, health, harmony, peace, motivation, creativity and prosperity.

Namaste