220. Walking the dog to music

I have never really been an animal person, but walking along plugged into my ipod next to an animal that obeyed what I said was quite relaxing also she got excited by my running even though it's pretty pathetic (I got beaten by my 7 year old cousins in a race down the road) I also did a little dancing with the dog which was nice. I did make me smile. (If you were wondering the dog is my aforementioned Aunt and Uncle's whose house we were staying at).

219. One disaster after another ending in peace and a strange tea

As previously mentioned we were staying at my Uncles house which is in the middle of nowhere pretty much and so when my Best Friend came to visit she had to take two trains. This all went well and I walked to pick her up from the station we had a nice chat decided on tea and a film. As we were having a girly night in a trip to the shop was called for to get ice-cream Ben and Jerry's was conveniently on offer when we got back we decided to order our tea. This is where disaster struck as we were in a small village there were no takeaways and although Domino's had said they would deliver to the village when we told them our address they said they could not deliver there and it just kept getting worse. Little Sister and Practically Sister turned up by this point we were starving and we had no food it was not a happy place to be. Eventually it was decided me and Little Sister would go down to the shop (for me it was the third time that day) and get some food for tea. We bought an eclectic mix and by the time we got back Best Friend and Practically Sister were laughing at something on the computer and had cheered up. The food was beautiful and we ended it by watching Dragon Heart and wonderful childhood film of Best Friend that was the cherry on the cake. After a bad start the day did get better that always makes me smile.

218. My Grandpa's fondness for hot chocolate and marshmallows

I love my Grandpa there are so many things that make me love him, his ability to fall asleep anywhere, the fact that he knows how to work computers better than I can, the stories he tells about his mens group and other things at unrelated points in conversation, his comfortable silence, I could go one... What made me smiel the other day when we were sat in a cafe was the fact that when all the other adults were drinking tea or coffee my Gpa was sat with his hot chocolate with marshmallows and whipped cream and he is not ashamed of it. I know where my love of hot chocolate has come from and I'm sure when I am his age I will do just the same, it made my day.

217. The joys of briefly having a hot tub

We are staying at my Uncles house in between houses (we're moving house an are homeless and they are on holiday) on of the reasons this appealed to me was the fact that they have a hot tub, what could be better. Just before we moved in so to speak we found out it was broken however after some amount of pressure my Aunt got the hot tub man in and he fixed it. Best Freind, Little Sister, 8yrld Twin Cousins and I spent a lovely evening wallowing in the lovely warm water it was a beautiful evening. You cannot help but smile when you are lounging in a hot tub in the English countryside.
The briefly in the title refers to the fact that (possibly because of the excessive spashing my cousins created) the hot tub promptly broke again after we got out and the man is not around to fix it again, it was good while it lasted.

216. Reading the last two in a trilogy

In trilogies the first book is usually the best it draws you in, compels you and the sequels have to mess things up to fix them again. While this is so, reading the last two in The Hunger Games Trilogy (Best Friend Lent them to me) in one day was brilliant. I had really enjoyed the first one, snatching every minute I had to read it it was enthralling. The second and third I had the time to read them all at once I was totally buried in the world created in the novels and there were two of them making it even better. It helped me escape for a while which did make my day.

215. Being in Best Friends house alone

On this morning I woke up at Best Friends house just in time to hear the door shutting and the car driving away. On the sofa was a note along the lines of 'Gone to hair dressers back in a few hours Castle is on the TV just press select and help yourself to food'. It was very strange having free run of her house like that I had a shower then got myself some toast and settled down to Castle. There was something quite exciting about it I can't quite put my finger on. It did make my day.

214. When the cashier asking for my ID says awesome when I have it

This has happened a couple of times and it never fails to make me smile.

213. Watching the workman get the cone my Mother ran over out from under the car

We dropped Long Distance Friend off at the train station the other day and as there was some work being done nearby my Mother had to park between some cones. This all went well until after Long Distance Friend had left and she started driving away we heard a scraping noise and Little Sister gets out to investigate but doesn't properly look and so Mother drives a little further. The noise brings out the workmen who get Mother to reverse a little and then all stand on the edge of the cone that starts to peak out to get it fully. The moment they pulled the crushed cone out from under our car was hysterical it really made my day.

212. Obscure tours

I met a Friend in Bristol for a hot chocolate as he was late I got to experience Temple Meads Station for half an hour or more (it is a beautiful station and the hot chocolate is quite nice). After he arrived we sat by the river that smelled like the seaside (if only it was) with a beautiful hot chocolate (better than the station stuff by far) and then we wandered seeing some boats a couple of gorilla's (not real ones), a sculpture that looked like a spine, a piece of equipment that points out planets current locations and tell you how far away they are, a lovely park, we walked under a huge teepee being dismatled (I have to admit I felt rebellious) etc. It was more an aimless wander during interesting conversation than a tour but most of the time I enjoy them more than tours and this one gave me a chance to take my shoes off in the park so there is no beating it really. Made my day.

211. Having a girly chat with someone not well known

It was my Mothers Best Friends birthday and so we went on a trip to Bristol to see her. She has a very individual character (I say that with utter sincerity) and decided to lead a sermon in her garden for her party combining that with tea and scones then red wine and cheese it was quite and interesting day. At the party there was mainly adults only a couple even approaching my age excluding my sisters and her offspring which is possibly why I ended up in a girly chat with my Little Sister, a younger girl I had met at a different party and Mothers Best Friends Son's Girlfriend. It was really nice and although it didn't start being about girly things after a mention of the fact we were all girls having a conversation it did move onto that territory. There is something soothing about talking to people you hardly know, your stories are once more original. Really made me smile.

210. Watching Long Distance Friend while sleeping in the car

This does sound a little sinister but it isn't stick with it. We were driving down to say with Mothers Best Friend and Long Distance Friend fell asleep in the car leaning on Little Sisters shoulder. This would have beeen a perfectly normal incident if he hadn't have had his head tilted slightly backwards and his mouth wide open, I wish we had had a camera because it was a wonderful moment. It got added to when we made jokes about how he was preparing to kiss her and he (while still asleep) licked his lips, we were in hysterics, it definitely made up for the very cramped car journey, really made me smile.

209. An impromptu family reunion (sort-of)

It was a call by my Mother the day before telling us there was going to be a BBQ at my cousins house and my Grandma had realised it would be the first time in years she would concievably be able to get all 7 of her Grandchildren together in one place (one set of cousins live in America and the others until recently have lived on and off in Australia). The ball was set in motion and we all bowed to her will, it was really nice to see the three generations in one place, although the only husband able to attend was my Grandpa but that didn't really matter as the women are the more sociable anyway. My American Cousins (twin 7 year old boys) were a great laugh running around and using people as climbing frames and we also managed a photo where everyone is smiling which will decorate my wall nicely. It did make me smile.

208. Being homeless

There is something refreshing about having no home little baggage and nothing much to do the first day of homelessness was spent on Practically Sisters sofa watching rubbish TV. You can't help but think 'this is the life' after an indulgent trip to the local supermarket. Made my day.

207. A goodbye hug

You can't help but smile when hugging the house that nurtured you for most of your life goodbye (I may have given it a little kiss as well).

206. Goodbye rituals

Saying goodbye is difficult in this case it was a house. On it's own a house is just a pile of bricks, tiles, etc organised to protect the dweller from the world, to provide shelter. In this instance it wasn't just a house we were saying goodbye to, it was a home (I can't really write this post without being cliche, I feel cliche), it was a feeling of belonging, it had the ability to conjour up memories good and bad. Of course our new house will be filled with some of the stuff in the old but we gave away the piano I attempted to learn on, the sofa's which have in them a bunch of memories etc. We left behind the trampoline friends used to lie on legs tangled so you couldn't tell one from the other, the doll's house where many a family was dreamed up, the radiators I used for comfort when cold or sad, the bookshelves once bearing my collection and much more. On the last night in our empty shell of a house we bought a pizza, drank champagne, let of a lantern bearing our goodbyes up into the sky then sat in my Mothers bed drinking Rose wine and watching the only film left in the house, 'The Breakfast Club'. It was in most ways a very sad night but it felt nice to be just the four of us sharing in those rituals done to make us feel better. It made my day.

205. A pile of boxes signifying progress

Packing was for days the bane of my life and having a pile of packed boxes in the middle of my room and very little stuff left to pack was a glorious feeling almost made up for the pain and it quite made my day.

204. A bag of charity shop donations

I buy quite a lot of clothing from charity shops if you look hard enough you can find some great stuff which is cheap and guilt free as your money is helping people. However until moving I have never really given stuff to them as we are downsizing getting rid of stuff is a necessity and it gives me joy to know the stuff I haven't used in years is going to a good place where the money they get from it may help someone. I have given away loads of books, some clothes and lots of random stuff that has sat in boxes or on shelves for years. It makes me smile.

203. The last chinese in my old house

As a goodbye to my old house we had over a couple of people for a little goodbye a few nights before leaving, since we are moving away from our town we are leaving behind the local chinese, the chip shop, the supermarket ect. On this last night we decided to get our last chinese from our favourite chinese. As the plates were packed away we had to eat from the tub and it was beautiful, really made my day.

202. Packing away my books

After the one day of slight room packing my drive came to a standstill until forced back into a few days before the dreaded date my bookshelves were the thing I was dreading packing up. If I had not have had help with the sorting out of which I was going to keep and which I was going to charity shop I don't know how I would have managed. It was a tough job in the end I managed to narrow myself down to three boxes of books to keep even that was tough on me I sent bags and bags to charity shops and I hope the next owners appreciate my sacrifice. Having someone to talk to while I was doing it, someone I could pass the books to made the job a lot easier on me. Getting that job done really made my day.

201. Being suspected at a murder mystery when not the murderer

Attending Murder Mystery parties is always a laugh and I have a Friend who throws them regularly I have been two characters on occasion even a triple murderer one time, this time I was told in the booklet at the beginning I was not a suspect I was just an extra character that didn't even need to be there. Part way through I was suspected of being just an extra but my dramatic speech at the end threw people off and I was under suspicion once more and more than one of the guests put me down as there main suspect for the murderer, there is always something brilliant about fooling people into believing that you have 'dunnit' at a 'whodunnit' and to be under suspicion made up for the fact that in the booklet I was told I was not a suspect.

200. Throwing my first dinner party

This reason relates to reasons 35, 64, 115 which are all meals Literary Friend has cooked for us on this day as our moving day loomed ever closer I decided it was time someone threw him a dinner party and that person would be me. The guest list basically contained the people living in my house at that point (Mother, Little Sister, Older Sister, Long Distance Friend, Trini Friend) plus Best Friend and Literary Friend as I thought even eight was pushing my skills as a first timer. For starters I made a salad with bacon and parmesan, for main a chicken pie and for pudding elder-flower and rose wine jelly. It was a lovely evening and as I pre-prepared everything it wasn't as stressful as it could have been. I don't feel I can give an objective view on the food but everyone seemed to enjoy it and now I can add chicken pie to my repertoire. Making a three course dinner for eight by myself was quite a nice experience also getting flowers and bread from Literary Friend as a thank you was wonderful. It really made me smile.

199. Decorating cupcakes with the Rainbows and not having to clear up afterwards

It was my last Rainbows session the other day as after the holidays I'll be off to university (hopefully) and as it was also some of the rainbows last session we had cupcake people in who brought in proper cupcake decorating stuff in and let them go wild. Some weird and wonderful cupcakes were made and us helpers even got to make some. It will be sad to no longer go weekly to a place where I am known as Butterfly and I will miss all the little Rainbows immensely I'm sure I will visit them with Dragonfly (Old Friend, a fellow young leader). Not having to clear up the mess they made while decorating the cupcakes was pretty liberating and it did make my day (along with the multitude of hugs I received and the beautiful Butterfly necklace).

198. Hugs at the train station

I love train station moments they only happen occasionally but when they do they're wonderful. There was the time Long Distance Friend almost fell over his suitcase as a result of a rather violent hug, the time Long Distance Friend almost hugged the old man in front of me as he got a little overexcited, running to meet someone as they get off a train (happened on more than one occasion), the time when the girls sat down in front of me started talking about how sweet it was The Ex (obviously not then) ran along the platform to wave me off when my train was leaving, running along the platform myself when his train was leaving. This event was another involving Long Distance Friend I walked into the station slightly late and there he was with Trini Friend standing next to him and he dropped his bag and just hugged me. Made my day.

197. The last Harry Potter for the second time

As part of the Harry Potter generation the films have to be seen as many times as possible (the count now is three but it could go up) on this day it was my second viewing. Watching it for the second time you do notice more things and it definitely reaffirmed my view that of the films this was possible one of the best and most true to the book (although there were a few discrepancies).  Films you can go see again and again always make me smile.