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.

Laughter is an instant vacation. - Milton Berle

Back in 1997 a movie came out that I instantly fell in love with.  Now, 15 years later, the third of the series has come out and today I got to go and see it.  My heart smiled, and I laughed, while watching The Men in Black III today.  The only thing I missed was the dog.

Also, my heart smiled even extra harder when the person I was with unexpectantly mentioned how one of the characters reminded him of the idea of time travel in Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, which happens to be one of my favourite novels.

It is strange what a contempt men have for the joys that are offered them freely. - Georges Duhamel

Today is stupid humid.  The humidity had managed to seep it's way into my work, making it really uncomfortable during my shift.  I was sweating even when I was doing nothing more than shift from one leg to another.  So when I finished work and walked into my cool air conditioned house, my heart was smiling.

Start every day with a smile and get it over with. - W.C. Fields

I got home late last night, so I wasn't able to post for yesterday even though I really wanted to.

Last night I went to Toronto to see the Toronto Symphony Orchestra's free concert where they performed Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture.  1812 Overture is the first classical piece of music I really got into back in grade nine music class.  I was quite obsessed with it, to be frankly honest, especially of a recording that I have with actual canons.  While the TSO didn't have actual canons, they did have fireworks instead.  It really made my heart smile to be able to see this song finally done in person (and they did a really awesome job!)

For anyone interested, here is a recording of 1812 Overture.  You should really listen to the whole thing for the full impact, but for those that have little patience, the canons come after 12:20 when Russia is officially kicking Napolean's ass and continues intermittently from then till the end.

As for today, I woke up exhausted and hot.  I hate humidity.  I figured whatever, put a smile one and get it over with (hence why I picked that quote for today).  I got to work, was almost done my shift (the end was in sight!) and was asked to work for four more hours.  It was one of those situations where I really didn't want to say yes, but the logical part of me knew that I need the money.  So I said yes.  And you know what made it all worth it?  A father and daughter.  Cutest little couple ever, she was six years old, incredibly shy, and her dad was so intent on buying her some dresses and skirts.  Working in retail, sometimes you can see the real ugly in people.  People who are rude, disrespectful, and just all around unpleasant.  So it's always a breath of fresh air to have people who are the exact opposite of that in the store.  Watching the two of them interact brought a smile to my heart.  

Anywhere is paradise; it's up to you. - Author Unknown

I think that somewhere along the way I forgot what this blog is about.  So here's a reminder to myself: It's about the small stuff.  It's unrealistic to expect everyday to have a big wow moment, but everyday does have a smiling heart moment.

Today, my moment was pretty low scale, and hopefully with the summer weather coming in, I'll have more moments like this in the upcoming months.  There was a lovely breeze and lots of sun outside, so I decide to read my book out there on the porch.  It was the perfect temperature and incredibly relaxing.  My heart was smiling the whole time.

What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul. - Yiddish Proverb

I have two things that made my heart smile today.

After writing a long email to my lovely friend in Australia, I went to go get the mail.  To my surprise, I had a package in the mail coming from the same friend in Australia!  My heart immediately started smiling then, because who doesn't love getting international mail?  When I opened the package, my heart was smiling even harder when I saw that her husband had sent me a baseball cap and scarf from his favourite Aussie Rules Football team, the Hawks.  The scarf is already joining the other Aussie scarf I have for the Bombers.  I'm pretty sure I have more Australian sports memorabilia than I do Canadian!

This is so simple, but I have to post this anyway.  One of my cats, Gump, used to be an outdoor cat but is now an indoor cat.  The transition started a year ago and has not been easy.  So on nice days, he is normally sitting at the front or back door watching as the outside world goes on without him and waiting for the perfect opportunity to slip out.  Normally when he is doing this, it's impossible to get his attention.  But today, my heart smiled when I called his name, and not only did he come to me, but he ran to me.  He just seemed so happy to have someone call his name, it was almost like he was skipping!

A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes. - Hugh Downs

I recently took up jogging, which is pretty random for me.  I never really enjoyed running and only did as a means to an end, and never just for fun.  However, I got it in my head that I should be able to run for the Colon Cancer Walk/Run this year.  I trained and trained and trained, and was finally able to run 10km (you could do the 5 or 10km).  Today was the day that I got to put my training into practice, and although I wasn't able to run the 10km (was going to try, but the heat and humidity was absolutely unbearable and my cushy gym didn't allow for factoring that into my training), I was able to do the 5km.

So, suffice to say, my heart smiled when I past the finished line.  This time last year I wouldn't have even imagined that I'd be writing this right now and I certainly wasn't thinking of taking up jogging.  It's always a great feeling when you manage to accomplish something that you never thought you'd be able to accomplish.

And I already have plans to run 10km next year, regardless of the heat and humidity.