A Few Small, Good Things

In the midst of disappointments, I'm not one to put my head in the sand and give up.  But I do think it's all right to take a moment and consider some simple pleasures:

1.  I finally finished the cable shawl.  Well, I haven't tucked the edges in yet, but I have finished everything else.  Aaah!
2.  I swam tonight -- 10 laps!  The fitness coordinator said it's actually better if I can swim earlier in the day, but I say, you have to take it where you can get it.   I don't know why this is, but swimming does seem to reduce my stress level.
3.  It was almost 70 degrees again today.
4.  Mark Ritchie is still the Secretary of State of Minnesota.  I love listening to him talk about how his loves his job and how he loves our state and our tradition of civic involvement.  I don't know where he grew up, but you can just tell he loves the electoral process.
5.  I am looking forward to attending a church "house meeting" tomorrow night with a group of amazing women.  I got some great feedback from the first one.
6.  Our confirmation  lesson tonight was the feeding of the 5,000.  At the end of the worksheet, there was a crossword puzzle.  Most of the answers were pretty easy, but I have to admit, there were a couple of clues that mystified even me:  1.  strange meal where rice and whipped cream may be served in the same bowl; 2. Jesus didn't serve this with the bread and the fish.  As I was leaving church tonight, one of my seventh grade boys came running up to me and said:  "I know the answers!  I know the answers!  'potluck' and 'beverage'."
And 7. (the number of perfection) the boys had their best prayer time ever, tonight.