8/14: more good than bad

I ran into two unpleasantnesses today, and the second one definitely bummed me out (more than it should have). But then I made myself realize that far more than two pleasant things occurred today, so today's good thing is that the day is a net gain of goodness. Particularly happy things:

- After eating breakfast on the porch with Chris and the cats, I went swimming with my neighbor on a calm lake in crisp, almost autumny air.

- Chris identified a tree in our woods as an Autumn Olive, and its berries are now ripe so I got to try a new-to-me fruit.

- I received four beautiful cards via postcrossing plus one great, quirky "found object" via sendsomething.net.

- A photo-swapping friend complimented a picture I recently sent her. (And I was really hoping that she'd like it, so I was grateful for her response.)

- One of my colleagues wrote to ask me about the reading quizzes I give in my Myth class because one of our shared students mentioned to him that they work well. Hearing that a student finds quizzes helpful makes a teacher's heart sing.

- Spending the evening making two batches of cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. We're having a family of 6 over for dinner tomorrow, so we have a chance to bake on a different scale, and it was fun, especially because Chris and I used it as hanging-out-together time.

- And, with a celebratory nod to Barbara (who's been visiting the blog), it's her birthday today and, as she says, she's beaten the odds. Hurray to that!