Saturday Smiles Return

I haven't been able to do my smiles in a while because of SUMMER.

During summer I:
go to Farmer's Market twice a week (Wednesday & Saturday),
go to Pioneer Park once a week (Monday),
madly string and twist jewelry to keep up with the demand,
take my girls to swimming lessons,
take care of my mom,
take my youngest to her twice a week therapy sessions (Occupational therapy, an entirely different story, and a getting better all the time situation)
and try to keep food in the house.

It's a busy life. I like it, but that doesn't mean I keep up with everything.
During the summer, I don't keep a particularly clean house, I don't make hot dinners every night, and I don't get to read much. And my blog suffers...

However, school started Thursday of this week! Which means summer is just about over here in the far north. And I can blog regularly again! =)

So-
Three things that make me smile:

1.) New school supplies
sharpened pencils, clean erasers, new crayons, fresh paper

2.) Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden books
I love this urban fantasy series- gritty mysteries with werewolves, vampires and fairies. A new one just came out and I haven't been able to read it yet because of SUMMER! But I'll have it read very soon.

3.) Fairy tales
I prefer the old country fairy tales, Grimm's Fairy Tales, the Andrew Lang's colored fairy tale books - Donkeyskin, Puss in Boots, The Golden Ball, Rose Red... They fired my imagination and fueled my dreams. As much as I enjoy the Disney cartoon versions, his re-telling of the old stories were much sweeter, lighter and more pious than the originals. The originals were gritty, cunning and blood-thirsty enough to satisfy any vampire addict.