Welcome to Friday Fives, the weekly meme where I post a list of five anythings! This week, I’m making myself think of five things that make me happy because I had a bad day yesterday and want to embrace the positives. Feel free to play along with Friday Fives by posting your own list on your blog, on your Facebook wall, your Google + stream, on Twitter – or even by leaving your list in my comments!
FIVE THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY TODAY:
1. My real-life and Facebook friends. I had a bad day yesterday, starting with a huge fight with my husband and ending with the realization that I had FORGOT that I agreed to co-host a Twitter party with Megan Calhoun of SocialMoms on behalf of Together Counts. I was devastated. I posted about it on Facebook (a/k/a my personal therapist) and had 19 friends, most of whom I personally know, shower me with all kinds of lovely and kind words. It was like getting a big group hug, and there’s no feeling like knowing that YOU ARE NOT ALONE. And also? That you aren’t the only one that occasionally f*cks up. So once again, thank you thank you THANK YOU all my wonderful friends.
2. International Delight Iced Mocha, which I discovered when an opportunity came up to review it through Collective Bias/Social Fabric. If you are a fan of those fancy iced coffee drinks at coffee places and take-out restaurants that cost four or five dollars each, you really need to head to Meijer or Walmart or Kroger (put in your zip code at http://www.internationaldelight.com/Where-To-Buy to find stores close to you) and pick up Original, Vanilla or Mocha. It’s $3.99 for half a gallon which is eight servings! Sorry Biggby Coffee, Starbucks, and McDonalds, but I’m on a budget and quite frankly, International Delight’s Iced Mocha tastes EXACTLY THE SAME AS YOURS. p.s. posting this is not part of the compensated campaign I’m doing for CB. I swear.
3. My daughter teaching herself to tie her shoes. Kaitlyn requested her first pair of “shoes that tie” a couple of months ago, and as Chris or I tied them for her in the morning, we explained step-by-step what we were doing. And then about two weeks ago, she came running up to the front door off the bus and said “Mom, guess what? I tied my own shoes today!” She decided she was going to do it by herself and so she just put her mind to it and did it. Her feet did one of those I-swear-they-grew-overnight things that kids’ feet do and yesterday I realized she had little red marks on the tops of all her toes where the shoes were rubbing, so last night we stopped in at Payless and she requested “shoes that will help me run fast AND that tie.” No more velcro for my girl!
4. My kids finishing up Freshman year, Seventh grade, and Kindergarten having kicked butt in all their classes. Ryan has a 3.89 GPA that would have been higher but he chose to take Sophomore math instead of Freshman math. And I am very happy with 3.89! And Nathan, my sweet son with the math learning disability, is getting a B+ in Math, a B in Science, and A’s in everything else! Kaitlyn was a model kindergartener, and loves school so much that when her teacher told the kids to practice math, reading, spelling and writing over the summer, she set up a “desk” in the playroom by turning a big cardboard box upside down and setting out paper, crayons and markers. She’ll probably know all the 1st grade skills before the new school year even starts. We always end the school year by going out for ice cream, and I am happily spending that money because all three of them deserve it!
5. New seasons of some of my favorite TV shows. Summer used to mean endless reruns of sitcoms and not much else, but thanks to cable, networks like HBO, TNT, and USA now have shows that start in the summer, and there are some really good ones. Last week’s Friday Fives was Five TV Shows I’ll Be Watching This Summer, all but True Blood had their season premieres this past week, and I was once again reminded why I love summer TV! One show I didn’t have room for in that post was Franklin & Bash, which airs Tuesdays at 10 eastern on TNT. Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Breckin Meyer play old friends and lawyers who will do anything to represent their clients, while also being hilariously funny and sometimes naughty, not to mention gorgeous. I have had a huge crush on Breckin ever since “Clueless”, and he just gets hotter every year. Mark-Paul’s not too bad either. Malcom McDowell plays the head of the law firm they technically work for and he’s brilliant. A good hour of TV makes me happy, six good hours of TV a week makes me even happier 
So there you have it, this week’s Friday Fives. Have a great weekend everybody!
I'm Elizabeth, a 40-something Michigan wife and mother of three. I created Table for Five in 2005 as a way to connect with other Moms, and I've been blogging ever since. Please click the About tab at the top of the page to read more about me and my family! email: table4five@gmail.com
I now want to get more of the Iced Coffee! And I agree. FB Is a great place to get a big group hug! Your kids rocked this school year! I hope they continue to do so next year.
Nice article, and great list! I’m happy when I get a shoulder rub. =) Thanks for sharing.
“My real-life and Facebook friends” – I’m wondering if all your facebook friends are your real friends, I mean how many of them you’ve seen offline?
My essay on evolutionwriters.com.
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