Month in Review - October's Favorite Things List

This has been a trying month.  There are no two ways around that, but I tend to agree with Abraham Lincoln who apparently said, "Most people are as happy as they choose to be."  In that spirit, here are the bright spots to my month--in no particular order:

• Crossed off Rhode Island from the list of states I haven't yet visited when I attended a professional conference in Providence
• Filled more than 40 pages in my journal
• "Words are alive and literature becomes an escape, not from, but into living." - Cyril Connolly, The Unquiet Grave
• PBS replays of Downton Abbey Seasons 2 and 3 for this D.A. newbie
• Listening to the audio version of At Home At Mitford by Jan Karon on my daily commute
• Martha Beck's insights
• Beginning my Christmas shopping and making good progress
• The way that organizing my home spaces clears my muddled mind
• Attending the Peace Colliquy with my daughter and her love of the day camp for kids
• Reconnecting with friends from college
• The fact that I still think of our trip to England nearly daily
• "Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured." B.K.S. Iyengar
• Sunday afternoon naps
• Raspberry muffins and my pumpkin dessert
• Migraine-free days
• the writings of Sarah Ban Breathnach and Anne Lamott
• Brilliant blue skies of autumn
• New clothes--on sale
• The nearly daily funny sayings of my daughter
• Music of Mat Kearney, Dawes, Sarah Bareilles, and Ingrid Michaelson
• Jimmy Fallon
• Less TV
• Writing a letter of recommendation for a beloved friend
• Knowing that paying attention can turn around any bad day

What 's on your list this month?  Are you keeping track?