#14 Candy Corn

My weakness: holiday candy. Well, to be honest, I love sweet things in general, but I especially love holiday candies. I eat candy corn at Halloween, candy canes at Christmas, Peeps and jelly beans at Easter... you know what I mean, right?  There are just certain candies that go with each holiday.  Right now, my sweet addiction is candy corn. I LOVE it. I'm actually glad when Halloween is over and I have to stop. (Oh, and all that candy on sale the day after, at half price?? I must step away...) Well, I can still enjoy it for a little while, and thankfully, I don't think there is a candy for Thanksgiving that I know of, and I refuse to get ready for Christmas until after Turkey Day. I mean really. The stores are already packed with toys and decor, now! One holiday at a time, I always say, and that goes for candies too, haha. So, have a candy corn or two, and smile. It's only for a few more days.

Caren E. Salas

photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy_corn

#13 Halloween...

When I was growing up, my mom always believed in making holidays fun. She had decorations for everything from Christmas to Ground Hog Day. She'd even gave us little gifts if she could. I've always tried to follow in her cheery footsteps and although I'm not sure I'm quite up to par, I'm proud to say I have an extensive collection of holiday decor. 

Case in point: Halloween. I have an embarrassing amount of costumes. Having had a background in theater, I learned never to throw away an interesting item of clothing, because it could be used later as a costume piece.  My husband jumped right on the band wagon and has perfected outdoor lighting for any occasion.  We have spiders, and skulls and gravestones...which will be, of course, packed away the day after Halloween to make room for the Thanksgiving stuff, and then Christmas. We want to make each holiday last more than a day.  We want to be like kids and look forward to each one. The funny thing is, the older I get, the more I enjoy the time getting ready for each holiday, because it's not the day I love, it's the season.

So...Halloween is right around the corner. My house is decorated, I'm getting my costume together, planning our party, and looking forward to seeing countless children knocking on my door for candy, dressed up like monsters and princesses. And that...brings a smile to my face.

Caren E. Salas

Picture taken at the "Old Town Music Hall" in El Segundo, CA. If you are in the area, check it out. They play old (like black and white old) and have a real Wurlitzer organ! It's a great experience!

http://oldtownmusichall.wordpress.com/

#12 Phone Calls

Don't you love when someone calls you out of the blue? I do. We all get busy, and even if we think about it, the time slips away and we've missed the opportunity to call a friend.  I usually think about it while I'm out in my car, and by the time I get home, I have other concerns and then remember again when it's too late.  Yet when someone calls me it's amazing how special I feel. I know that someone has been thinking about me. Someone cares enough to make the time, and call me. In some cases, it's someone who loves me. How great is that? Just hearing a friends voice saying "Hello! How are you?" makes my day. It definitely brings a smile to my face. It makes me try a little harder, to make the effort and call others. In a world where e-mail and texting seem to have taken over verbal communication, I still believe we need to feel the warmth of a human voice. So call someone, maybe it'll make their day. I'm making a list.

#11 Disneyland

I know there are people that don't agree that Disneyland is the "Happiest Place on Earth", but none of them are in my family. Most people have some place that they enjoy going, what I like to call a "happy place", but not the mental kind. There needs to be somewhere (for me at least) where I can forget about everything else; where I can smile at little girls dressed up as princesses, and laugh at grown men wearing goofy hats (or Goofy hats, literally).  Disneyland is filled with make-believe (like when I make believe I can afford anything in the stores, lol) It allows me to feel like a kid again, with no worries about bills to pay or laundry to get done.  Where is your happy place?

By the way, the cute little girl on the right is me, along with a few of my brothers (there's two more!) No jokes about how old this picture is!!

Caren E. Salas

#10 Music

I know this is kind of a no-brainer for most of us. For me, music has always been a part of my life on one level or another. But how often do we stop and think about what life would be like without it?  I can't imagine. When we went to Yosemite National Park recently, my son brought along his ukulele, and we would all stroll down the paths accompanied by soft, stringed, instrumentation. His playing didn't detract from the overwhelming beauty, it was the soundtrack, and it was amazing.

So I guess I'm not talking about all music today, just music that happens, in the right place, at the right time; like when you hear a small child singing to themselves as they play with their toys, or some aspiring musician playing guitar on the corner with his case left open for "donations". I love those little snippets of unplanned, unrehearsed melody. It always brings a smile. So keep your ears open and listen....


Caren E. Salas



Photo by William Salas

#9 Clean Sheets

Mondays are the day I always try and wash my sheets. The bed gets pulled apart, and the sheets, pillowcases, mattress cover and sometimes the blankets go into the washing machine.  Now maybe it's just me, but even on a warm day, the feeling of nice warm bedding right out of the dryer is amazing!  It makes me just want to dive in, bury myself under the pile, and soak up the bliss.  As I make the bed, trying to make sure everything is even and smooth, there's just something about the way it looks. Even though I make the bed every other day, when there are clean sheets the bed is just more...inviting. Later, getting into it...ahh, it's like heaven.  There is that split second of "wow, I'm on vacation in a nice hotel" feel. I know you must be thinking that apparently I've fallen OFF the bed one too many times (and perhaps landed on my head) but think about it. You know you feel the same way sometimes. Doesn't it make you smile,slipping between clean sheets at night?  It just feels good. Sometimes you just gotta' stop and smell the Downey. :)

#8 Ice

Ice: crushed, cubed, chunks, any size or shape.  For the longest time the water and ice dispenser in our fridge went without actually being hooked up. We had to use trays to make ice, which of course the kids never refilled leaving me (usually) without ice for my drinks or what have you. When we remodeled our kitchen, everything got properly installed and, wow! Filtered water and ice on hand ALL THE TIME! Amazing how fast we become spoiled. We recently had a problem with our refrigerator. One of the hoses cracked and was leaking, so we temporarily shut off the water. Nooooo! Water, well, I can deal with tap water if I must, or grab a bottle of water. But ice? No ice?? I kept running to the store for bags of it. What did people do before ice could be kept and stored? The funny thing is, the guy who started it all had to convince people that they would enjoy their drinks cold. Go figure.
Needless to say, I wanted to hug the Sears repair man when he fixed it up for us. Yay! Ice, ice, baby!!

Ever wonder about the beginnings of the ice business?
http://articles.cnn.com/2008-11-24/living/mf.ice_1_ice-man-ice-business-ice-king?_s=PM:LIVING