What’s Making Me Happy 2/28/13

Wow. Last day of February. Did that fly by, or was it just me?

I have a bunch of things that are making me happy, so here’s my list for you to read as February winds down…

Tomorrow is the start of “meteorological” spring! It hasn’t been a horrible winter, but winter always makes spring sweeter!
The SocialICE downtown Rochester was a hit, once again! It was the 4th year I’ve gone with the same crew and it is always a good time! It wasn’t quite as cold as last year, but it still was a bit chilly! The sculptures were fun to look at, the mulled wine was delicious to drink, and the night ended with karaoke at the Viking Lounge! What a hoot.
Keeping warm at SocialICE 2013!Icy Skyscrapers
I had another long weekend (around President’s Day), and I got a haircut, went to the Med City Mafia roller derby, had a delicious Indian meal with Deadra and John before seeing “Book of Mormon” at the Orpheum (so fun!), sang in choir, and then went to book club (The Great Gatsby was discussed for at least 20 minutes, but we met for 4 hours!). A great way to spend time off!
Following Col. Chris Hadfield on Facebook has been so fun. Marissa tuned me in to a Reddit conversation with him and then I’ve been following. He posts amazing things from the International Space Station. Look him up!
Astronaut Chris A. Hadfield Mission Specialist Canadian Space Agency (CSA) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Watching the Oscar’s was fun. I had a multi-media empire going on – TweetDeck with #Oscars and #nproscars going, watching MonkeySee live blog the madness and messes, chatting on the phone with Beth prior to the big musical numbers, texting with NYC (who was on tape delay!) and watching the Oscar’s app in my iPad! I mainly watched that when it was over, watching some of the big winners’ interviews and photo shoots off-stage. I know there were a lot of people slamming the host and the music, but I’m an easy critic. I loved the songs, even the throw-back to Chicago from 10 years ago. And I know that the host is getting a lot of flack for the sexist tone he set with the song “I Saw Your Boobs,” but I thought it was pretty funny. There was so much talk about formal wear boob coverage (or lack thereof) before the award shows, so it made me laugh.
Having an adult daughter is pretty awesome. She turned 25 last Thursday, which makes ME feel old, but I wouldn’t change anything. We have fun together and I can still keep up with her (most of the time). I can even outlast her, some of the time.
SocialICE 2013 with Marissa – a very coooool event.
Days off! I worked overnights last week (and survived) and had some of the weekend off, which was filled with birthday celebrations. DQ cake, BWW, GBB, and Wii. Good stuff. I also had a few days off this week (yesterday and today) and that has been great, too! Just getting stuff done at home (laundry, sheets, taxes (!) and food preparation for the weekend), watching TV and relaxing with coffee, and then getting together with friends for lunch today and drinks last night.
Days off! Smash and coffee!
Turning Broadway show pins into magnets for my refrigerator! I knew I would never wear the pins/buttons from Once when I bought them (it’s not the 80s anymore!), but nonetheless I had to have them. When we saw Book of Mormon last week (or so) the seller of the things said she turned her pins/buttons into magnets. How inspiring! I’m so not crafty, but I found the magnets at Michaels and bought a tiny bottle of glue. Job done!
I Love Magnets! Magnets Galore!

Up Close and Personal with My Magnets
I had my 1 year performance review at Mayo this week – and how refreshing! It was positive and meaningful. My supervisor gave great feedback, as did 3 of my colleagues. It just feels so great to have such support, from a supervisor and colleagues. Ah.
Talking about books always makes me happy! Whether it is in the middle of the night with an ED Nurse, while walking laps at the Mall or Mayo High School, having lunch at Mr. Pizza or Whiskey Creek, or over drinks at Chester’s, good books always come up! So now if only I could devote more of my time to reading books… I have so many piles of great books around me! Must read on!
And speaking of books, I finished A Week in Winter – Maeve Binchy’s last book yesterday. It was bittersweet and there were tears, not because of the content, but because there will be no more. This morning Cindy asked me to inform her niece where to start in the Binchy back bibliography, so I made her a little list – and said that I’d probably blog about it later! So look for that soon!