“I still get wildly enthusiastic about little things… I play with leaves. I skip down the street and run against the wind.”
― Leo F. Buscaglia

It’s very uncomfortable in my house. There is no furniture. We have walls and carpet and hardwood, and pets, and food, and family, and love. But it’s funny, after 7 weeks without our things, how much we miss a soft chair, a bed, a shelf full of books we’ve read and loved, a table around which to gather at the end of the day. Sure, we can live without our collections of things that make us comfortable, but it’s just not home without them. Living without is an opportunity to appreciate what it is we’ve missed.

So, this week, as I eagerly await the arrival of the sea shipment of things from Prague here to our home in Ohio, I am counting the little things that I love.

10 little things I love:

1) Carpet: (no echo in the house!)

2) Chocolate Chex (gluten-free, I have Celiacs, and they’re so good after years without anything similar)

3) Neighbors (Our new neighbors are amazing. Whether it’s the weekly boys’ game of ghost in the graveyard or being included in the neighborhood girls’ night out, the side-splitting laughter and warm friendships so quickly offered here are out-of-this-world.)

4) Lifetime Fitness (Love. Everything. About it. Especially the basketball courts for my high-energy sons.)

5) The Grocery Store (There is nothing like the selection and freshness and price of food, good food, in the US. God bless America and its farmers.)

6) The Grocery Store baggers (Also, there’s nothing like the service here in the US. In Czech Republic, I dreaded the grocery store every single day (it was rarely a good experience). A checkout girl once threw my bread on the floor because I didn’t pack my groceries fast enough. God bless a country where kindness is king.)

7) Target (No need to explain…)

8) Books in English: Bookstores!

9) The F.Scott Fitzgerald fetish, The Great Gatsby movie, and CALL ME ZELDA (I love all of this, especially because my dear friend and writing critique partner, the fabulous and sweet mom of 3 boys, Erika Robuck, has her next novel coming out with Penguin on May 7. It’s about a woman who becomes friends with Zelda Fitzgerald and tries to help her get her life back together after the Fitzgerald party. It’s a great story that must be read.  Have you written that down? You can pre-order her book by clicking here and get to Erika’s website here. Thanks in advance for supporting a great book!)

10) The spirit of freedom, teamwork, connectedness, and possibility here in America. There is no other place in the world like the USA. Be grateful for it (no matter if you think everything is wrong). Support it (by helping it become its very best in the support of helping others). And travel abroad (because until you see and deeply experience how the rest of the world functions, you cannot fully appreciate what is amazing about home). God bless the USA.

How about you? What’s a little thing you love?