A particularly happy word

Now, if you're not a journalism major like me (or maybe an English major), you may assume I'm just a little bit odd, and that's fine. But every once in a while I run across an interesting word that fairly dances across the page (or screen, in this case).

Today I was reading a New York Times article that contained this delightful word: gamboled. It's a verb meaning "to leap about playfully; frolic" according to the American Heritage Dictionary. (And, if you care, it can also be a noun, gambol, meaning "a playful skipping or frolicking about.")

Anyhow, I was filled with little bits of delight. I can't wait to use it in a sentence.

How about now? Life is short. I feel like gamboling because of this happy discovery!

How wonderful!

This is one of those crazy, girly things I've always hoped would happen. I randomly set up my friend with a coworker's friend who just happened to be in town and they hit it off—and are even going on a second date.

So now I'm giddy and giggly and girly as if I were the one with that long-awaited wonderful date (though I do have a smashingly wonderful husband who really makes me giggly with joy every day).

More sunshine! How splendid.

September sunshine

For me, September is a happy month. And this year, it will be even more joyous. First, you can hardly go wrong when you start a month with a long weekend. Then there's my birthday, my husband's birthday, and birthdays of a niece and nephew.

The start of fall is simply glorious. I love digging out sweaters and long-sleeved favorites and seeing leaves begin to change and breathing in the sweet smell of autumn.

This year, it gets a lot better. A new little nephew will be born. I have pre-teen and teenage nieces, so it's been a while since I've been related to a tiny newborn. I'm so thrilled to meet him and be his aunt and watch him grow from rattles to blocks to bikes.

Ahhh...the joys of September.

A first for everything

I've edited blog posts and commented on them and browsed them—but I've never actually wrote one. I've been procrastinating because I was hoping I could come up with something particularly inspirational or brilliant, but nothing has come to me. So, it's high time I wrote something and at least put keyboard impression to screen.

I plan to write about things that bother me, drive me crazy, and get me down. That's the mud. And I plan to write about sincere joy, little sources of delight, and life-is-beautiful moments. That, of course, is the sunshine. A little random, yes, but a small reflection of what's truly important: hard times and good days, laughter and tears, harsh words and warm hugs. Without the full picture of life, we would not develop into the people we were meant to become, and not have the influence we were meant to have.