Simple Pleasures

• Well, I started this post earlier this week and thought I had saved it but there was an error.
  
  I have just really reflecting on happiness and how the more simple I keep my life, the happier I am.
  
  Here are a few simple pleasures that I have:
  Listening to the rain
• Watching the clouds float by
• Watching the kitties play together, cuddle up together
  
• Cuddling with my kitten.
  
• Walking through my neighborhood talking with my neighbors.
  
• Listening to the birds
  
• Watching the squirrels & rabbits
  
• Unloading the dishwasher! I really appreciate this after not having a dishwasher for 5 years. My life is calmer now that I don't have to look at a messy kitchen anymore.
  
• Looking at picture books
  
• Talking to my mom
  
• Talking to friends
• Quilting
  
• Taking pictures
  
• Chasing Erica around the waterpark or just watching her explore the world
  
  There truly is so much more to life than work. I used to be so focused on work and now, well not so much. This is not to say that I don't work very hard and do a very good job, I just don't do it for as many hours. I honestly thinks this helps me work better when I am at work. I have learned to set limits on how much I work.
  
  I spent a lot of time this weekend reading some Guatemala adoption forums on the internet (adoption.com has a lot of different communities). I feel sorry for many of these families that have been waiting for their adoptions to be finalized for so long. They are so frustrated and with good cause but you can tell that they spend many hours a day on these forumns. They all seem to just feed off of each other's frustrations. I got depressed reading a lot of them. But I was able to find a lot of good posts and good information about people's positive experiences.
  
  Still waiting on my USCIS paperwork to be approved. They are running about 8 weeks right now. Mine has been in for 5 weeks so I will just continue to be patient. I really just feel calm about everything and things will happen when the time is right. It does no good to stress.
  
  I am grateful for all of my supportive friends and family who ask me about the adoption and are happy for me.
  
  Susan