A Slice Of Happiness

Life served up several slices of happiness this past Saturday and Sunday. Our college girl spent a few hours with us because her band came into town to march in the Houston Livestock and Rodeo Show parade and play a gig at the UT Coop. Check out at how much fun these Longhorn Band musicians are having!

We got to celebrate Joshua’s birthday together and attend Jacob’s final Saturday night Pit Band performance for The Pajama Game, this year’s FHS Musical. We enjoyed a pancake breakfast before taking off for our three-hour tour to get her back to Austin. About 25 minutes into the trip, she inquires about her backpack. Turns out she mistook Joshua’s black backpack for hers and we had to make a U-turn to come back toward home to get it (Jacob agreed to meet us half way with it).  So this is a double-edged sword because we were understandably irritated by that extra hour this situation just tacked onto our Sunday drive, but we were equally elated that she remembered it when she did instead of three hours later as we were unloading her stuff in Austin. Can you imagine? Seriously!

Our frustration at her forgetfulness melted away in a flash when we lost the radio station frequency and had to pop in a CD. In an unpremeditated genius move, John had packed our Disney Collection, so for the last hour of the trip, we got to listen to our little girl belt out the most beautiful ballads (Think Jasime, Ariel, Simba, Pocahontas and Belle) and sing the silly songs from the Disney movies we'd watched with her during her formative years. Traveling back in time = A sweet slice of happiness.

On the way home, we drove through McDonald's to grab a bite to eat for dinner. Joshua was unpacking his Happy Meal when I heard this: I have to admit that this little container is pretty cute, but I would have liked more than 10 fries!   
Seriously, he counted them. There were ten.

Note the new skimpy-sized container next to 

my value-meal-sized holder below.   

   Seems the reason they've downsized the kid-portion fries is that they've added four "slices of happiness" (aka apples). A healthy addition is a promising practice, I suppose, but an unhappy change to a weary traveler after eight hours on the road. I shared some of my fries so that my happy teen didn't go hungry, and we enjoyed a rich slice of happiness (aka chocolate eclair torte) to celebrate his birthday one more time when we got home. 

Life is best served with a slice or two of happiness!