Mother's Day and other bits o' happiness

Happy Mother's Day to my beloved mommy! Thanks for being warm and caring and trying to be up-beat even when I'm swearing about the unfairness of life and blahblahblah. Thanks also for saving people's lives for a living .. and somehow maintaining most of your sanity through all of that.

And happy day-after-George-&-Derek's-pseudo-anniversary day! Those crazy kids have been together for 14 years now. Yowza. If their love was an actual human being, it would be sneaking out at night and experimenting with drugs. Aaaawww!

And happy Spanish Grand Prix day to you F1 fans! Sadly, it will be aired on CBS today. The only good part of that is that Tim and I don't have to wake up at the crack of dawn to see it, but it's still CBS coverage. We miss the guys on ITV. Those kids on the Speed channel have their charm, but still. I wonder if I can find the English televsion coverage on the internet somewhere ... hmmmmm ... Anywho, go Alonso!!!

And happy me because I did not have to go to the car dealership on Friday. Or Saturday. Although I'm NOT so happy because of some bad news about insurance, but I'll talk about that later. This post is about happiness.

So yesterday evening Tim and I were hanging out in the living room here at the house. I had the front door open so that the light could come in through the glass storm door. Tim glanced out it and noticed a cute little kitty cat on our front porch! So he stepped outside to say hello. Unfortunately, the kitty scampered away before I could see it. But it was such a lovely evening - the light was filtering through the pines and the air smelled of honeysuckle - that we took it upon ourselves to sit on the porch steps. We noticed a little bunny rabbit hiding in the grass in the front yard. We talked about the gorgeous posies that are growing by the front step. And we wondered about the new bird calls that were coming from the trees.
Then we noticed a new sound.
Woooooooooosh!
Woooooooooosh!
We didn't say anything at first. Just listened.
Woooooooooosh! Woosh wooooooooooosh!
Me: "Do you hear that?"
Tim: "Yeah. It sounds just like-"
In unison: "- a hot air balloon."
And as if on cue, we saw a rainbow-striped hot air balloon begin to rise behind one of the houses across the street. It was probably about 100 yards away. The balloon drifted to the north ... very low so that we could barely see it through the trees & behind the houses. It startled some Canadian geese, sending their flight path right over my head. Before long it was gone (concealed by all of the 50-foot pines we have around here). I wish we could have seen more, but I'm still very glad that we went out on the front porch last night.

Speaking of giant bags of hot air, want to hear something weird? Richard Branson - oh, pardon me. Sir Richard Branson - owner of Virgin Airlines, Virgin Megastores, Virgin cola, Virgin cellular, Virgin perfume, Virgin wedding dresses (no, I'm not making any of this up), Virgin Everything - also owns Virgin Balloon Flights. He is also the author of an autobiography titled "Losing My Virginity" which you can check out at the above link. Tee hee!

And speaking of England, I found out that the film of Neil Gaiman's Stardust is being filmed in a little town called Castle Combe. This town reminds me so soooo much of the adorable village where Tim's dad lives. It makes me feel homesick. But in a good way.

Speaking of good things, if you find yourself in New Orleans, please visit my friend Amy, her friends, and her cats at the Farrington Smith Gallery . Or you can just go outside, dig up a clod of dirt, and mail it to them for their Dirt Drive. Seriously! They need your dirt!

Last, but certainly not least, allow me to share this little gem with you. If you've got 30 minutes on your hands, I strongly urge you to watch the pilot episode of Heat Vision and Jack . It's got Jack Black. A talking motorcycle. And a splash of Ben Stiller. The theme song alone is worth it. Enjoy the happiness.