Hugs and Happiness

   Those of you that really know me can get up off the floor now. Yes, I really am writing this post and I do know the definition of both words. Granted, I am perceived as a skeptic and I often come off as less than positive but that doesn't mean I don't have my good days. Unfortunately, this isn't one of them.

    Sorry, it's Monday, cloudy, and I slept poorly last night. Since there is so much on our plates right now, I decided to practice feeling good and engaged. You know, fake it til you make it.  The easiest way for me to do that is to start looking at pictures. When I started the day I felt like the guy on the right in the picture below.

        I'm not sure even a mother can love that face. It looks like his mother rocked him to sleep every night and used really big rocks. I wondered how often this poor guy was hugged in his life. It got me looking for hugging pictures.

    This one made me laugh. Yes, it is a live alligator and, yes, I was afraid. Two women had held him before I worked up the courage. He also had his mouth taped shut or I wouldn't have been within 20 yards of him.  The alligator made me think how great it would be if we could tape shut the mouths of those difficult people in our lives so we could hug them without risking injury or bloodshed. No doubt there are many that feel that way about me as well.

    Some hugs are fun but messy. This one is from a local Dirty Girl mud run to raise money for cancer research. Little did we know that we would soon have a deeper connection to breast cancer. Tee and Lisa were two of the friends that participated and then made sure I got muddy at the finish line. Next year I'll be wearing sweats. It was a fun event and Joy and I were there as cheerleaders and photographers.

    This may not be a hug but there is no doubting the love a dog can add to anyone's life.  If I could be 1/2 the man my dog thinks I am, I would be a great guy.

    Whether it's a picture from Tommy and Elizabeth's wedding with all the family but Josh and Angela,

    to the photo booth pictures of Josh, Angela, and Thurston at Brooke and Thomas' wedding this past May.

    These are the things that keep me going and cause me to smile more often than I'm likely to admit.  Ok, I'm ready to face the day again and thankful for the family on this journey with us. Even though all our kids live quite a distance away, Joy and I are blessed to live in an age with Skype and FaceTime so we can keep up often.  We're ready for where we're headed. Thanks for walking with us.