Friday, November 04, 2011
Bacon Before Husband
Do you have a daily list? I don’t mean tasks for work or chores for home, I mean a Happy List. I have a Happy List running through my head most of the time. This list tends to be fickle and definitely changes with my mood. It is rare that something gets crossed off of it but I get immense satisfaction from my list just the same. My list makes friends laugh and strangers think I am...stranger.
I have a lot to be happy about. My husband John and I have great fun slogging through daily life together and he is an incredible gift to me. I get to stay home with our two beautiful daughters; Portia who is two and a half years old and Libby is nine months old. They turned me from a Reluctant Mama into only a Somewhat Bewildered Mama. I am healthy enough to run (very slowly) and I enjoy exploring new recipes fatty enough to keep me running! We live debt free except for our home and work really hard to live a richly simple life. I have a great network of friends and I am living in a town that offers lots of interesting things to do with my time. So I have a lot to put on my Happy List.
Here is an example of today’s Happy List: 1) WVPE Radio, 2) bacon, 3) haiku, 4) my husband John, 5) bacon*, 6) fresh rain, 7) my girls and 8) bacon*. ("Not a typo, bacon should always make the list at least twice.) Sometimes God is first on my list. Sometimes bacon or blue cheese gets that holy and coveted spot. Many days my girls outrank my hubby, but like today they are sometimes in the middle. So this is my Happy List. Do you have one in your head too?
I have this kind of list in my head as a personal reminder to enjoy all the facets of daily life. There are lots of little joys to sink our teeth into and celebrate. The big hurrahs are not so plentiful. Since we can never know what our lives will be like in the future, I have learned to live each day of my life to the fullest. It is also why I called my blog “Live Your Love Out Loud.” When we love, we are so purely optimistic, foolish, joyful and real. I want to remind others to live their love, and to do it OUT LOUD! I often need to remind myself to do this too. My Happy List helps me live well.
Early in my marriage I would get so filled up with the simple joys in life I would rattle off my Happy List to my husband quite often. He would smile and shake his head. Later after we had been married awhile and were used to each other, he told me it really bothered him that he was often outranked by food. OOPS. So nowadays I throw him towards the top as sort of marriage insurance. (But you and I know where bacon really belongs.)
What is on your happy list today?
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A random pick from more than 460 Michiana Chronicles -- refresh the browser to see another set:
April Lidinsky -- More essays by April
Joe Chaney -- More essays by Joe
Ken Smith -- More essays by Ken
Jeanette Saddler Taylor -- More essays by Jeanette
Heather Curlee Novak -- Bacon Before Husband / More essays by Heather
David James -- More essays by David
Elizabeth Van Jacob -- More essays by Elizabeth
Jeff Nixa -- More essays by Jeff
Louise Collins -- More essays by Louise
Jonathan Nashel -- More essays by Jonathan
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About the series
Michiana Chronicles is a series of radio essays by Jonathan Nashel, Louise Collins, Joe Chaney, Jeanette Saddler Taylor, Jeff Nixa, April Lidinsky, Ken Smith, Heather Curlee Novak, David James, and Elizabeth Van Jacob.
Michiana is the region of north-central Indiana and southern Michigan roughly centered on South Bend, Indiana.
Michiana Chronicles airs on Fridays at 7:35 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on WVPE (88.1 FM), the home of public radio in Elkhart / South Bend, Indiana.
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Bacon Before Husband -- Do you have a daily list? I don’t mean tasks for work or chores for home, I mean a Happy List. I have a Happy List running through my head most of the time. This list tends to be fickle and definitely changes with my mood. It is rare that something gets crossed off of it but I get immense satisfaction from my list just the same. My list makes friends laugh and strangers think I am...stranger. By Heather Curlee Novak.
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