"Brown paper packages tied up with string, these are a few of my favorite things!"

Regardless of the sad state of the world in which we live, there are a few things pleasing me right now.

Things making me happy this week:

This. (As in, there are none, yes.)

This is making my boys – and therefore me – very happy right now.
The cold makes it impossible for them to go outside for any length of time, and this was the solution. The attic playroom has been cleaned and straightened beyond recognition and is now home to my mini-Marc-Andre Fleurys and Sidney Crosbys (Crosbies?). Primo likes to holler running commentary a la Mike Lange (which also makes me strangely happy).

Books I am involved in and enjoying right now include The Inheritance of Loss (lovely writing but not a fast read), Birds of a Feather (the second Maisie Dobbs, which I find interesting enough to pursue, regardless of their flaws), and this just came in for me: The Nazi Officer’s Wife, requested on the recommendation of the friend who led me to The Sparrow and Thread of Grace.

These. And it’s all Carolyn’s fault, you evil enabling woman! (I mean that lovingly.) She sent me a package once with a bag of the mini caramel wafers in it, from Trader Joe’s. And now? When they are in stock? I BUY THEM. AND EAT THEM. And therein lies the problem.

This on baguette rolls (which provide better crust-to-cheese-ooze ratio than a regular baguette). Mmmmm. It’s even perfect for breakfast, with a nice mug of strong, sweet tea.

My new teakettle. I wanted this one, but I bought this one, because I was physically at the store and didn’t feel like waiting one second longer for a new kettle. (Besides, is it a little...twee...to have all cobalt appliances?) The past three weeks have been a combo of microwaving water (heresy! AND disgusting as it never gets hot enough and leaves that whitish scum on top of your mug) or using a saucepan which takes FOREVER to boil.

These, the fitted sheet in pale yellow, the top sheet in pale green, and the pillows a mix of the two. Very pretty, and very cozy.

Blogs I am especially digging right now include Gray, which features a serial story in the making, and Comics Curmudgeon, because Josh is finally back from vacation!

Every once in a great while Giant Eagle will have these. Since Dunkin’ Donuts stopped making them, they can be extremely hard to come by. This morning Giant Eagle had both vanilla AND chocolate. I bought four, two of each. Breakfast for the next two days, with a cup of hot coffee. Yum.

H got a promotion, and while his new title sounds remarkably similar to something like Monty Python's "Minister of Silly Walks," he has worked very hard for this, and I am very happy for him.

I have a date Saturday evening with half a dozen friends, to celebrate another school mom’s anniversary - of her husband announcing his departure, a decision in which she had no say, but she has landed on her feet and persevered, even prospered, and so we celebrate. B promised she’d buy, but I think it’d more appropriate to buy her drinks, and so I shall.

I found out my boyfriend’s name last night. (Ok, so I am old enough to be his mother, it doesn’t mean I can’t be appreciative of cute, sweet, charming eighteen-year-olds, does it?) And it makes me happy to know his name. (It probably made him pretty happy to have me locate resources for him, and proofread his APA-style citations.)

So, I'll let Maria warble about girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes, and any kind of winter at all, but I am - oddly enough - fairly happy.