I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. / I want it more than I can tell. / And for once it might be grand / To have someone understand / I want so much more than they've got planned... - Belle

Today is my birthday!  This day alone makes my heart smile.  But, I honestly had a super awesome birthday.  I got far more than I imagined I'd get, including some really great crocheting books from my sister that have already given me tons of ideas.  Also, we spent the day downtown watching Beauty and the Beast on stage. I have been dropping rather obvious hints that this is what I wanted for my birthday as soon as it was announced that it was coming on my birthday.  Hints such as stating that I'd be really upset if I didn't get tickets, sticking an advertisement for it on the fridge, and making a point of pointing out all of the commercials for it when it came on television.  It ended up being well worth it!  Fantastic show!  Afterwards I got my free birthday drink from Starbucks, nacho poutine, fantastic fish and chips, and birthday cake.

Suffice to say, I can't pick just one moment today that made my heart smile, it was all too good!

And just to make some more hearts smile, here's my favourite song from Beauty and the Beast:

A happy thought is like a seed that sows positivity for all to reap. - Miriam Muhammad

I'm going to do today's and yesterday's again.

After I finished work yesterday, I decided to head over to the Starbucks for the free drink they were giving out.  I got the Cool Lime Refresher, which was, by the way, amazing (and would've been my smiling heart moment if not for the second bit).  After I headed up to my sister's work, waited for her to finish, then we caught the first of two buses together.  The bus ended up being late and if we took it all the way to the station, we would have definitely missed our connecting bus.  So instead we got off a bit earlier, and made a run for the second.  We were cutting it tight and realized this, but we were both so hot and exhausted, that we figured it would be worth the risk if it meant we could be home half an hour earlier.

As we got to just across the street from the bus stop, we saw the bus.  My sister and I started waving frantically, hoping that the driver would not only see us, but also take pity on us being out in the heat and would wait for us.  Both of our hearts smiled when he stopped and waited!  I don't think people often realize how doing small acts of kindness like that can really make a person have an amazing day.  When we both got home, I sent an email to the bus company letting them know how much we appreciated what he did, and I hope that they put that in his file for him.

Today I was incredibly lucky to be taken to the ROM for my birthday!  I love dinosaurs, and the ROM has a special exhibit on for them right now, so Chris took me to see it.  We had a great day, checking out the temporary and permanent dinosaur exhibit, as well as many others.  It was just chilled, relaxed, and the air conditioning definitely helped.  After we went across the street to Gabby's for lunch/dinner, and I was incredibly impressed to see my favourite beer, New Castle Dark Ale, was on tap!  So I'd have to say that my whole day was a smiling heart moment and great start to my birthday weekend!

Being in a good frame of mind helps keep one in the picture of health. - Author Unknown

Today I went for a jog in the morning, followed by a quick dip in the pool.  While waiting to dry off, I sat on my deck, in the sun, and finished reading Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett.  I love the Discworld series, and recently decided to try and read all of them following this reading guide.  As you can tell, I'm not even a quarter of the way to the end.  Before I started this, the Wizards/Rincewind novels were never really my favourite, but they have definitely started to grow on me!

Anyway, my heart smiled when I finished the novel.  The weather was perfect, I was feeling cooled off after my jog, and most importantly for me, I actually went on the jog even though I was trying to talk myself out of it when I woke up.  It was a perfect start to the day!

Be happy. It's one way of being wise. - Colette

Today was pretty simple.  My heart smiled while watching Million Dollar Quartet.  It was amazing!

Laughter is the corrective force which prevents us from becoming cranks. - Henri Bergson

Before I write today's, I have to do yesterday's, which involves a bit of a back story.

About a month ago my mom bought a cat carrier for our one cat, Gump.  He's not the easiest getting to, from, or while at, the vet.  So we all figured this larger cat carrier would make the yearly visit a bit easier.  Just before his yearly visit, we brought up the carrier and placed it in the living room with a blanket nicely folded inside.  We were hoping that he'd go in and check it out, and make himself familiar with it.  Well, he didn't.  Forest, our other cat, has decided it's the perfect bed for her.

Every night I have a bedtime routine with the two cats.  I go into the kitchen, call them, and they get two cat treats each.  Forest eats some of the dry food, then we head upstairs.  Gump immediately gets two more treats in my room, and Forest gets her two when she's finished having a drink in the washroom.  Then Gump goes and does his thing for the night, and Forest sleeps on my bed.

Well, last night Forest quickly came out of the cat carrier for her two treats in the kitchen, but then quickly went back into the carrier where she decided she was not going to leave.  I tried calling her out, went upstairs and gave Gump his two more treats in the hopes that she'd get jealous and follow, continued calling her.  She was absolutely not going to budge.

So I sat down next to the carrier to decide what my next move was.  You see, you can take the top off of the carrier, so I considered just taking the top off and lifting her out.  But, when I thought about it, I didn't like doing that because I think she likes the carrier because it's really hard to get to her, and I didn't want to take that away from her.  So then I thought about just leaving her downstairs.  But, I'm going away for three weeks soon, so I'm trying to get all the snuggle time I can get while I can (plus, she'll just get even more mad at me for leaving if I don't).  So then I considered taking her upstairs in the carrier.  But, I didn't want to do that because I felt it would give her the wrong impression and potentially add another step to our already overly complicated and unnecessary bedtime routine.

After thinking all of this, I couldn't stop laughing out loud.  And I mean really laughing.  Here was this little cat with huge eyes staring at me from inside her carrier, daring me to make a move, and I was over thinking this situation as if she were an actual child and as if whatever action I chose would some how affect how she'd turn out in the future or something.  She can't even poop in the toilet for crying out loud!  Like it really matters how I get her upstairs.

So, while I was carrying her upstairs in her carrier, laughing the entire way at the absolute ridiculousness of the situation and the fact that she won, my heart was smiling.

Here's a picture of the spoiled princess:

Now, for today's.

I think I mentioned in here that I got into Teacher's College.  If I didn't, well... I got in!

Anyway, my school has different cohorts for the students, which kind of allow you to specialize in different things.  For example, there's a Multicultural and Multilingual cohort, an Inner-City Schools cohort, and then basic cohorts that just have to do with different school boards.  Everyone has to list their three top picks, and for all but the basic school boards one, explain why you feel you should be in that cohort.  From there, the school picks which fit is for you.

My first pick was the Global Citizenship and Sustainable Development cohort... and I got in!  So obviously my heart was smiling today when I opened the email that said I got my first pick.

Now I have to go and do the bedtime routine with my cats.  And yes, Forest is in the carrier, eyeing me already.