August Happiness Challenge: Day 1

Rizz is happy about Reynaldo

What's that you say? What's the August Happiness Challenge?

Each day in August you are to post about something that makes *you* happy. Pretty simple. And, it doesn't even have to be every day if you don't want it to be. It's a great way to remind ourselves that there are positive things going on in our lives, our communities, and the world.

Day One was a pretty good day all around. I got a new (loaner) laptop at work that is sooo much faster than the old one. I attended an entertaining storytelling workshop. Then I got home and watched the Cubs beat the Diamondbacks 16 to 4.

But I wasn't surprised Tuesday was a good day, because it started well.

Reynaldo let me sleep, all the way until my alarm went off!  

Usually my beige tomcat wanders in well before dawn -- motivated by boredom or hunger -- and mews and knocks items, one by one, off my dresser. This never gets him the outcome he desires. Instead of a hug and a snack, he gets yelled at, chased and a door closed on his tail.

But this morning, I was allowed to sleep until the waking time of my choosing. Reynaldo was a good boy. I rewarded him by cuddling him and carrying him -- like the little prince he can be when he wishes to be -- to his food and water.

 

If you want to play along, just come back here (meaning to this blog, not this individual post) each day in August, looking for the Happy Cub. Every day I will try to have a post with the headline: August Happiness Challenge: Day [X]. Leave a comment and then post your own daily happiness, with August Happiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find.

A Cubbie blue baby boom

Get this cap yourself on etsy

This week will mark nine months since the Cubs captured their first World Series title in 108 years. And recent births have nearly doubled at Illinois Masonic Medical Center. Coincidence?

Not according to this Bravo article, shared with me by Kwizgiver.

Wrigleyville has long been known moments of impetuous passion. Even President Obama joked about it when he celebrated the Cubs at the White House. “Tom met his wife, Cece, in the bleachers of Wrigley about 30 years ago,” Obama said of Tom Ricketts, “which is about 30 years longer than most relationships that begin there last.”

It's nice to see that the 2016 miracle Cubs team also inspired romance of a more lasting and committed nature. I predict that, in high schools all over Chicagoland, graduating seniors of the Class of 2035 will have names like Wrigley, Addison, Clark and Ivy.