I had all intents last week of writing more on Thursday morning, no wait maybe Thursday night, nope, Friday I got this…. Yet I had no free time. This weekend, I was running a retreat, so I thought maybe just maybe I would have time to get all the thoughts in my head out there. NOPE, not even close. What a joke that was. So maybe today I will get things going again. We shall see.

I love that rule from the movie Zombieland, but it is so true. I have many things in life that can stress me out. When things don’t go the way I want them to, I get stressed, when I am running late, I get stressed. There are so many things out there that cause me undue angst and frustration (fustration) at times. Yet I have also come to embrace the small things in life that bring me great joy. Bubblewrap!!!!!

Who doesn’t love a big honking roll of bubble wrap to make the day better and less frustrating, just to pop the bubbles and laugh. So I went out and bought a roll, just in case. The bigger bubbles that come with packages such as diabetes supplies are a great joy as well. Not only do I get my pump supplies, I also get the huge bubbles to pop. Those I tend to use when I have a really annoyed day or just to sneak up on someone and scare them. (Yes I need help, I got that).

I love receiving mail. That brings me joy too. Mind you real mail, not bills. I forgot to pay a bill last month, that was annoying. Not a big bill, an $18 from the dentist. I was so embarrassed when they sent me a second bill. I sent it out the following day with a HUGE apology attached. That is not me. I am sure they just wanted the money, not the apology. Yet I love getting mail. So when Jess, sent me a Turkey I was overjoyed and texted her my thanks. I felt so loved.

So I obviously had to show her how happy I was. Jess is an amazing friend for mailing me stuff…. hint, hint….

The last picture this one makes me laugh so hard, there is so much joy this stand up cut out of my dad from when he was younger. I think he may soon regret holding on to this after his birthday party this summer.

My family has a Quinn Family facebook group and we communicate via it for many things, parties, events, just what is happening in the lives of everyone, those sorts of things. This picture showed up last week in the group with the title. “I heard rumors of snow on thanksgiving, so when I told dad, he grabbed his hat, scarf, shovel, and beer and said ‘bring it.'” We all got a huge laugh out of it. What the rest of the family did not know is that after that, the cutout showed up in my parents bathroom with a towel draped over his shoulder for when my mom came home to possibly scare her. Tuesday night, I am back at work and I had just explained this story to my secretary laughing about it, when my cell phone rings. It’s my mom. I just start giggling uncontrollably. “Hello.” “Brian, do you know why I might be calling?” “Nope! (giggle, giggle)” “I just came upstairs to go to the bathroom, do you have any idea as to how loud I screamed?” At this point I am trying not to cry as I am holding the tears in “Why ever would you do that?” “I hate you….”

I need to find joy in things or I would be sad, disgruntled, and crazy. There needs to be joy in our lives. I have some days where d-related stresses get to me. I haven’t been able to workout lately because of all the work on my plate so higher sugars have cropped up, not being mobile all the time drives me NUTS, not being able to do what I used to do drives me nuts. Not having me time, free time, days off, drive me NUTS. So I do what I can do. I find the small joys in life. The little things. We need to enjoy them. I am not able to find the joys in the big things all the time. They do not happen often enough. So I do what I can to stay happy and less stressed.

Enjoy the little things, find your smile, we all know that walking with D is a trip more than a mile. It is what it is and that’s okay find the joys and smile today.