Random things that make me happy
By Liz Biggs
It seems like there are a lot of things to be sad about lately — politics, taxes, healthcare, wildfires, homeowners’ insurance, pet deaths and hurricanes to name a few. So, in no particular order, these are things that make me happy.
1. Jumping on the trampoline every day
2. The shredded beef, smashed bean burrito at Cactus Flower
3. My Wonderboom speaker
4. Joe Burrow
5. The countless “dollar bills” my daughter printed with her adorable face on them and hid all over the house so I would find them randomly and think of her after she left for college
6. Sending my kids hilarious IG reels, even though I know they are rolling their eyes when they get them and rarely send one back
7. Getting real mail: Christmas cards, invitations, thank you notes, and letters (not bills, lol)
8. Going to the mailbox in my pajamas and hearing my elderly neighbor (also in his pajamas) say “I’m glad you’re in your pajamas too; we’re living our best life!”
9. The grouper piccata at The Grand Marlin
10. Fun text threads with friends, ridiculous texts from my college girl and interesting phone conversations with my son who lives in the wilderness of Utah
11. Joe Burrow’s press conferences
12. Honey Crisp apples and peanut butter
13. Making playlists on Spotify, especially ones like “Fongs” (songs that begin with the letter F)
14. Taking a nap on the trampoline on a sunny day with a cat napping on top of me
15. Trying to use all the limes that our tree gives us. And the fact that our tree is still alive
16. Australian accents
17. NPR’s Terry Gross, Robin Young, sexy-voiced Kai Ryssdal, Ailsa Chang, Scott Tong, Ari Shapiro, Deepa Fernandez and Manoush Zomorodi. And Science Fridays!
18. Joe Burrow doing The Griddy dance
19. Hearing Fiest’s “I Feel It All” on the radio and feeling it all
20. Walking to Bayview Park (almost) every day and noticing the plants, trees, birds and homes in the neighborhood
21. Watching my son cook dinner for us
22. Realizing that my son is a better cook than I am
23. A dozen raw at Peg Leg’s downstairs, even better if there is live music
24. The cotton candy sky after sunsets at the beach
25. Dove dark chocolate
26. DJ Lagway
27. Ted Lasso, Fleabag, Bosch, Killing Eve, Loki and absolutely anything Tom Hiddleston is in
28. Sundays – the day all my kids call to update us on their lives and recent activities
29. Drinking “The Prisoner” red wine at my brother’s house on special occasions
30. Tennis – being able to hit the ball where I want to… after SO many years of that dang ball NOT going where I want it to. Still can’t place my serve, but Brian Sakey is smiling down from heaven when I don’t double fault and just get the Twinkie in the box
31. Cats
32. Dancing to Vince Guaraldi’s “Linus and Lucy” with our kids at Christmastime
33. Audible. And picking up a book on hold from the downtown public library
34. The fact that my parsley is still alive even though I failed at growing tomatoes
35. My Nespresso coffee maker. And the monthly Amazon auto-delivery of pods
36. When I’m out and about and people tell me they love reading my column!
