The Best Day Ever!

Hey y'all!
Let me start out this post by saying I am the luckiest goddamnned person I know. Some of you have witnessed this over the years, but I don't think anyone else appreciates the full extent of how ridiculously lucky I am. In spite of the ups & downs & hard things that are part of life, every week something happens that makes me shake my head , & say "WOW!! I am so lucky! No one else would ever believe this!"

Last Friday is a perfect example. It started out as what felt like the best day EVER. I jumped out of bed in a totally unreasonable good mood; it was FRIDAY, after all, I got to wear my favorite blue jeans to work, & my boss was out of the office. Yippee!! On the way to work, the skies were perfectly blue, birds were flying, every light was green & the perfect parking spot was waiting for me by the front door.

At work, we had free bagels & cookies that a vendor sent. I found $25 dollars in my pocket that i'd forgotten about, & work had a free catered lunch brought in for us. I actually got THREE catered lunches, because I was there at the right time to hold the door for the restaurant owner, so I got to take home two for Alan. No dinner to cook or dishes to wash tonight! Yeah!!

Because lunch was brought in & I didn't have to waste my lunch break on eating, I drove down to my favorite bookstore instead! Got lost in some crazy side street maze of a neighborhood, & met the very nicest older man who gave me directions. Not only did he speak English, but he knew the exact routes to where I needed to go. At the bookstore, I found last month's magazine I was looking for (a small miracle in itself), returned a lost cane to its owner, & practically skipped back to work whistling a tune.

On the way home from work during rush hour I was waiting at a red light when BAMM!!! I was rear-ended by another car. Okay, on the surface that may not seem very lucky. But here it's really a matter of interpretation: the damage was minor, & the gentleman who hit me was very kind, apologetic, & insured. A few days later my upper back really started to hurt at work in front of the computer. I went to the doctor & found out my upper back/neck is spasming from sitting upright too long! The funny thing is, I feel pretty good doing anything where i'm not sitting in an upright posture. I actually got a doctor's note ordering me to cut back to 3-4 hours per day as tolerated, for the next ten days! So, basically I got a free pass to get paid to do ANYTHING BUT WORK for the next 10 days! Did I mention that i've been feeling a little burnt out at my job lately, like I really needed a break? And yesterday, while enjoying my leisurely four-hour work days, I got word from Human Resources saying I have to take a week of vacation before the end of the year. So on top of it all, I get to take another week of with paid vacation off next month. I stopped & bought some lottery tickets on the way home!

So, I think I will stick to my previous statement--Friday was the best day EVER!

A Warm, Fuzzy Feel-good Story

This is one of those cute animal stories that ends up burning a path from person to person around the globe. Some people might dismiss this kind of thing as just making people feel better about themselves & the world. My reply is, just what the hell is wrong with that? Thanks to my friend Jeannie at Heartland Rabbit Rescue for sending this to me.
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The abandoned monkey who has found love with a pigeon

Last updated at 13:08pm on 27th September 2007

They're an odd couple in every sense but a monkey and a pigeon have become inseparable at an animal sanctuary in China.

The 12-week-old macaque - who was abandoned by his mother - was close to death when it was rescued on Neilingding Island, in Goangdong Province.

After being taken to an animal hospital his health began to improve but he seemed spiritless - until he developed a friendship with a white pigeon.

Scroll down for more...

The macaque nestles his head against his feathered friend.

The blossoming relationship helped to revive the macaque who has developed a new lease of life, say staff at the sanctuary.

Now the unlikely duo are never far from each other's side, but they aren't the only ones to strike up an unusual friendship.

Earlier this year a pig adopted a tiger cub and raised him along with her piglets because his mother couldn't feed him.

And in 2005 a baby deer named Mi-Lu befriended lurcher Geoffrey at the Knowsley Animal Park in Merseyside after she was rejected by her mother.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

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For another one of my favorite animal stories, you can read about Owen and Mzee on the NPR website. Owen is a baby hippo orphaned by the 2004 Tsunami who became BFFs with a 100 year-old Galapagos tortoise after he was rescued. They even have an eBook about it online here. This is my favorite picture of them, where Mzee crawls into the muddy water to sit next to Owen:
Kind of makes you feel better about your life & the world, doesn't it?