50 Things that make me happy

50 Things that make me happy

This is it – the final 5!!!

5.  Monday 7/7 – Today I am happy for go-with-the-flow people, especially at work.  Most of you reading this probably know that I am not very go-with-the-flow.  I hate playing things by ear, I love to plan and be prepared.  Well we all knew today would be a manic day at work, with tons of stuff due and things having to go perfectly just to get it done.  Things did not go perfectly.  But everyone’s attitude stayed positive and it reminded me how much of a difference that can make, especially on a day like today.

4. Tuesday 7/8 – On the drive home from work today I saw a company (I think it was Safe Auto) flying a HUGE American flag.  There are a few select places on I-270 that have giant flags, and it just makes me smile when I see them.  Today in particular, the sky was bright blue with cotton-white clouds, and the red, white and blue just popped against that backdrop.

3.  Wednesday 7/9 – Today Anissa and I hit the moment in wedding planning where we actually felt close to completion.  The wheels are in motion and we are so relieved that it’s all coming together.  We went out to eat without even worrying about getting any tasks done.  It’s been months since we’ve been able to do that!

2.  Thursday 7/10 – Today has been fun – left work early and don’t return for 18 days!  Both the Casciato and Kent parents made it in town (and so did my little sister Laura who is just following my mom everywhere she goes – seriously, get a life Laura, you’re 24).  We were able to relax in the early afternoon and then get in some quality time with our families. 

1.  Friday 7/11 – So here we are, the end of my 50 days of happy.  And I am so happy because today we officially kick off our wedding events.  Everyone gets in town, we have the rehearsal followed by dinner, and then we get married tomorrow.  And I am so excited I can hardly contain myself!

50 Things that make me happy

50 Things that make me happy

On to next 5…These are going to be short and sweet.

10.  Wednesday 7/2 – Listening to Pandora again today at work.  They played some old Blink 182 – took me back.  Good stuff!

9. Thursday 7/3 – Left work at 3pm today.  Those 2 hours make such a huge difference – love the gift of time!

8.  Friday 7/4 – Ah, Independence Day!  What a great holiday!  Tonight, Anissa and I lit sparklers and literally ran up and down our street with them.  It felt good to act like a kid!

7.  Saturday 7/5 – All morning and afternoon on the 4^th, Anissa and I were re-staining our deck.  Today I was so sore it was actually hard to walk at times.  It felt good, though.  I like the physical reminder that I kicked some total ass the day before!

6.  Sunday 7/6 – We hit up church early this morning.  Every time we go to the 7:30am mass, we see this very old couple.  The woman has a hard time walking, and they always walk up to Communion arms linked.  It’s really touching.  

50 Things that make me happy

50 Things that make me happy

On to next 5…

15.  Friday 6/27 – My mom and youngest sister Laura came into Columbus for the weekend (and my dad arrived later this evening).  The three of us plus Anissa and Maddy went to BJ’s Brewhouse for dinner and just pigged out (and were later joined by Carolyn and Michael).  We got the super huge appetizer platter plus the corn fritters appetizer.  I indulged in some brews, followed by deep dish pizza.  It was gluttonous and delicious, and we had a great time just shooting the shit.

14. Saturday 6/28 – Almost every year my dad and I play in a golf scramble in Cleveland to raise money for a charity in honor of a deceased friend and former colleague of his.  It’s been a couple years since I’ve been and boy did I have a good time today.  I love the outing because the competition isn’t super intense; it’s just fun!  This year my younger sisters Amy and Laura joined our foursome and it was a lot of fun playing with them and my dad.

13.  Sunday 6/29 – My parents stayed at our house this weekend, and we all got up around 9am today.  We bummed around a little bit, and then kicked ourselves into high gear around 10am.  My mom helped us make some great landscaping changes that we’ve been wanting to do (mind you, she also stripped and cleaned our deck BY HERSELF on Saturday – thanks mom!).  We then piled in the car for 12:15pm mass at St. Paul.  A good morning I’d say – productive AND relaxing!

12.  Monday 6/30 – I had a new analyst start on my team today.  When I was an auditor for KPMG I really enjoyed onboarding new staff – I loved the teaching and mentoring part of my job.  This was my first taste of it at Victoria’s Secret and I have really enjoyed getting the new guy up to speed.  I can tell he’s going to do very well in our group.

11.  Tuesday 7/1 – Anissa and I have been having some troubles with our lawn mower (among other things – check out her blog about it here: http://sciatosrunningrecord.blogspot.com/).  We went to Lowe’s last night in a bit of panic as our lawn has become unsightly, at best.  You see, what happened was that yesterday we went to the gym and on the way called Lowe’s maintenance.  By the time we were parked at the gym, we were convinced we needed to go to Lowe’s right away and just fix the damn mower.  So we went in our work out clothes and just skipped the gym.  Regardless of how gross you think it is, we both wore the same workout clothes to the gym this evening because they were still clean.  Our next stop after the gym today?  Lowe’s, again.  To pick up more shit to try and fix our mower.  And yes, we saw the same guy we chatted with the day before.  And yes we were wearing the same damn clothes he saw us in the day before.  But you know what?  We both got a kick out of it.  There we were, pretending like there’s nothing weird about wearing the same clothes 2 days in a row, or the fact that we couldn’t solve our problem the first time into the store.  Cheers to laughing it off!