I’m a shoe-in for the “cutest thing that made me happy today” award.
One of my coworkers came into work today with 3 Labrador puppies, two chocolates and a yellow one, in a laundry basket. Another of the people in my office picked one out to bring home, and she was of course trying to convince us to take the others, as yet unclaimed.
Widdle wiggling puppies! 
I started my most successful thread ever today!!!
And I don’t have to cook tonight, either!!
DAMMIT!!!
I got out of work at lunchtime, so I got to browse at Barnes and Noble, where I got Airman some puzzle books and a crossword dictionary. I also went to the kids’ store and got a backpack for Aaron.
Then, I went to the doctor, because I’ve been having crazy pain in one arm. And there’s obviously something wrong with it! (Happy not because there’s a problem but because the pain isn’t coming from nowhere. The doc has no clue what it is or where it’s coming from, but there’s a problem, which means it can be fixed!)
Robin
I went to the chiropractor – yay for insurance coverage for chiropractors! – and for the first time in three years, can bend my neck to the left pain-free – or, for that matter, bend my neck to the left.
I took my itchy golden retriever outside into the bright sunshine and brushed him till he gleamed. I’m not sure which one of us was happier after that! And I threw the kong for my labrador retriever, and he RETRIEVED it! Again and again! Like he does 100 times a day!! happyhappyhappyhappyhappy!! (etc.)
And last night at 11:30 pm, I finished an 822-page transcript that I’ve been typing up for the last week, and managed to not wake my daughter with my screams of anguish when I discovered that on page 820, they settled the case!
I had cream of wheat with cinnamon and raisins for breakfast. It made my tummy feel all warm and happy. 
I bought my lovely and gracious wife a single red rose on my lunch hour today. Put it in a vase, set it on the kitchen table. [ I eat lunch @ home ] She called me about an hour ago, she was really happy!
But it is funny, Shirley Ujest, the mention of Hot Wheels. I am a junkie! I collect them! It is a disease! I chase them daily, mostly twice or three times to the same stores. The walls of my garage are wallpapered with them, seriously! I cannot get enough of them!
YEAH, I KNOW…I need to get a life! But these 'lil cars make me happy!
So there!
The same thing that makes me happy every day since we moved back to our house…coming home!
Discovering my daughter had all but one of her chores done (a rare, rare thing) when I walked in the door.
Not having to gripe at kids (they both were excellent today!) as soon as I got in.
These three things alone made for a wonderful Thursday, even if work was a PITA today.
What a great thread! I got my carpets cleaned today for free. After the kids go to bed tonight I’m going to mop the kitchen with my brand new mop.
I wrote two final exams today, and I actually think that they both went pretty well, despite the fact that I slacked off all semester in one course and had to work really hard to make it up. So now I only have one more final, on Monday, and I like the couse material and am doing well in the course, so I feel pretty relaxed and confident.
My cat, who can be picky about being held, let me hold her for a good 20 minutes when I came home, and she just sat there and purrrrrrrrred…that made me really happy!
I had to return a book to the library, and it was a couple of days late, so I was kicking myself about having to pay a stupid late fee - and it was only 50cents, except that I only had a 20$ on me, so that made for a couple of laughs with the library lady.
And right now, for some reason beyond my understanding, “Candy Girl” is playing - but its not the Archies. It’s funny to listen to, though.
“Honey…sugar sugar…you are my candy girl…and you got me wanting you”
We got a new washer and dryer today (Kenmore HE3). Normally I don’t get excited about appliances, but these kick ass. They even hauled away the old set!
Watching the terrible voice dubbing in an episode of Monkey, right now, while on night shift.
AHHH PIGSY!
I had a completely unexpected moment of serenity while on my way home from work. I decided to stop at Trader Joe’s to pick up some stuff for dinner, and while walking up Lincoln from the El it suddenly got very quiet. There was no traffic coming from either direction, no trains went by overhead, I was the only person walking on my side of the street, and I was able to hear birds (other than pigeons) singing nearby. I had just enough time to register the silence and enjoy it before the traffic started up again and I was overtaken by two people having a loud conversation. Living in the city it is very rare to have such moments of nearly complete silence, especially since I work downtown, and it was both startling and exhilarating.
Another thing that made me happy today is finding out that the upcoming ChiDope will be taking place at my all-time favorite pub. I’ve been going to The Grafton since shortly after they opened, and have fallen in love with the place. (I also have a bit of a crush on one of the owners/bartenders, but the way things usually go for me he’s probably married. Or gay. So the crush will most likely remain unrequited, but it provides the extra added “zing” to my excursions there. ) I just have to check my schedule and find out whether I’ll be able to make it.
Engel
**Modro ** and **Kraig ** You are welcome. I love the cars.
I have my own super duper ultra cool collection ( just a handful of cars) that the kids are not allowed to, never ever, not in a million years, touch.
But, I break down when they give me big cow eyes and ask if they can play with Mama’s cars in the flour. ( Flour is mucho fun around this asylum.) So now my three Mini’s, two Econolines, a cord and a very vintage Lesney Ford Pickup, are all floury.
I think we should have a Dopers HotWheels party.
Except we’d all end up fighting over the cool cars and who we’d think would win in a head on collision.
I had a really crappy day today–just about everything went wrong. I hit the house trying to park the car and bent up the drain pipe pretty badly.
But I got an onion ring in my french fries from BK.
AND I got to watch Forever Young. I came >>>this<<< close to hugging the screen everytime little!Lijah Wood was on screen. His early works always brighten my day, and I had no idea that movie was going to be on. I love his work as a young 'un (he was twelve in this one) --it always makes me smile.
I got an email today from a guy that I met a year ago, and we have only been able to talk over email since I have known him. He has been home in Romania for a month and not been able to email me, so it was really good to hear from him today.
Although, because of the war, he will not be able to come visit me in Michigan (tourist visa stuff). He is working on getting me a cruise on the ship he works on so I can see him. Hopefully, I will get to see him and get a really nice vacation out of the whole thing.
Any day I hear from him makes me happy.
So technical that if I related it in detail y’all’s eyes would probably all glaze over, but suffice to say a few major details that have gone perpetually overlooked due to a lazy and/or incompetent administrator that have my it impossible to do my job correctly my be fixed in the near future. Hooray! And how’s THAT for a run-on sentence!
My happy-today stuff started last night, actually. My husband’s RC flying club meets at my house, and last night, for the first time since November, my favorite little old man was able to come - he had a knee replacement just before Christmas and hasn’t been out much since. He’s one of my favorite people, because he is always a gentleman, he makes these woefully corny jokes (“My folks told me all about the birds and the bees when I was just a nipper. Too bad they forgot to tell me about girls! Hohohohohoho!”) and… and… well, he’s just like a little picture-perfect Grampa. I totally adore him, and it was SO nice to see him up and about.
Today I took my car in for a number of minor repairs and one major one - I needed a new ignition (that’s the major one) and I had a hinky trunk latch, a sticking door lock and a dashboard light out. They fixed everything in less than an hour, changed the oil, washed it, and told me it was a good thing I’d brought it in today… my warranty expires tomorrow! Total bill: $25 for the oil change.
I bought two awesome Italian designer summer dresses today, just exactly the style I’d been slobbering over from the magazines. Plus a cool costume jewelry bracelet to match one of them. Tried the dresses on at home and they fit perfectly. Couldn’t find a bracelet to match the other of the dresses, nor could I find earrings ( I was in search of big white plastic Carnaby Street Mary Quant-looking thingies ), but that will give me an excuse to go shopping again over the weekend, now, won’t it?
I heard “The Safety Dance” at work today. I had a terrible day at work, though. I just felt bad and was very busy. But I got to go home an hour early and when I finally did get home, I got a hug from my Mom and a BBQ dinner from my Dad. Then ABC had a Whose Line is it Anyway? marathon.
So my day wasn’t too bad, all in all.