Happy 101 Award, Just What the Doctor Ordered

Ya, know, I am a firm believer in that things you need will come along WHEN you need them.

Carol has been a bit down about the mouth, sometimes life has bumps in the road. I spent part of the week learning about "sploggers".  Not how I would choose to spend my time or my ole brain cells.  Thanks to Thomas MacEntee of Genea-Bloggers, I do understand it better now.  Thomas is a nice dude and has a bucket of patience.  Thanks Thomas!!

My heart has been heavy with the news that dear friends John and Donna lost their best friend Bea this last week.  Loss of furr kids is so hard.

I HATE HATE HATE being cold.  I mean, Man and I drove Big Butt and Tana 1000 miles to spend some time in a warmer clime.  Last night it was 24 here, and a wind chill of about 17.   Yes I am FULLY aware that many of you have even colder temps, oodles of snow blowing around, some of my friends have had trouble just getting OUT of their homes, making "snowed in" have a new meaning, a scary meaning.  Thing is, see, I don't just hate the cold, I HURT from the cold.  And, with this weather, I have been hurting quite a bit. SIGHHHH  I mean 17 is 17 is cold, no matter where you are.

My knees are particularly sore, not from the cold, but from all the prayers for friends and family that are dealing with illness or injuries.  The list is so long that I am sure I forget someone every day in my prayers.  My wish for 2010 would be for my friends and family to be healthy, at this point I would settle for healthier.

But, this AM, well, this small thing, it really kicked me down.  Our coffee pot died!  (All please -- a moment of silence for the departed.)  Now, those of you who know me, know that, well, Carol does NOT do mornings.  Unlike my cuz Karen, I don't pop out of bed, cheerful, bubbly and ready to kick the world aside.  I sorta roll out of bed, stumble around trying to not fall or trip, and go for my COFFEE!  I drink strong German coffee we buy at Aldi's.  One mug will usually do ya, go juice of the most delightful kind.  You do not want to see what I am like without my German coffee.  UGHHHHH.

So, this AM, still worried about the splogger, heavy of heart over Bea, knees sore from the praying, COLD and COFFEE-LESS I open my email to find the most delightful note from Karen over at Ancestor Soup.  She said, in part, "I always enjoy your blog, Carol, and all the encouragement when I first got going with my blog. I've selected your blog for the Happy 101 award. Looking forward to your 2010 posts!"

Now, how is that for a dose of good medicine??  Just what I needed when I needed it! WAHHOOOOO!!
 
So, we are supposed to list 10 things that make us happy.
 
1.)  Family  -  the twins, my 3 sons who are happy and get along so well, and brew the best beer together.
 
2.)  The yorks 
 
3)  Friends -  My RVing friends over at the MOC (Montana Owners Club), my genie buddies and cousins, and all my blogging friends.
 
4.)  Days spent in Tana  (yea, even the cold ones are better than none)
 
5.)  Blue skies and abundant sun
 
6.)  Ponds, lakes, rivers, streams, the ocean.  Mountains are pretty good too!
 
7.)  Volunteers who give so much.
 
8.)  Researchers who thank the volunteers that give so much.
 
9.)  Good indexing on my favorite Genie-sites. (I can take LOTS more happy of this kind.)
 
10)  And, specifically this AM, breakfast buffets and new coffee pots.

We are also supposed to pass it on to 10 of my favorite bloggers, who haven't already received it.

1.)  kathy's kampground kapers, who had a rough 2009, but is overcoming, and whom I admire because she is.

2.)  Flipside, Linda and I have become friends via blogging.

3.)  hummer over at Branching Out Through The Years, who did some research for me after I wrote the post, Belva - Ada - who are you really, and where did you go?  and Belva - Ada update, thanks mostly to "hummer", fellow blogger and very kind soul. 

4.)  Cousin Anne over at Gene Notes and Generational.  Partner in Relatively Speaking - Cousins that Blog.

5.)  Cousin Karen over at Genealogy Frame of Mind.  Partner in Relatively Speaking - Cousins that Blog.

6.)  Gini of Ginisology, I always enjoy her blog posts.

7.)  Joan Hill  of  Roots'n'Leaves, wow, new to the blogging world, you need to go read her suff, she can really write.

8.)  MOC friend Nita over at Al and Nita's Travels, another new blogger, a special lady and good friend, doing a nice job.

9.) Becky over at Kinexxions, a gal after my heart, she is traveling around the US, writing about her genealogy and WOW, she takes wonderful photos! 

10.)  Jennifer, over at Jennifer's 365 Project, who takes great photos and writes short exacting descriptions.  Some of her nature photos are soooooo good!!

Yes, I could list more great blogs, there are so many out there.

Thanks to Karen, you helped me take a lemon day and make it into a lemonade day!

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