post-election funk

Today hasn't been the best day. I've seen, heard, and read a lot of hateful, ignorant things in the wake of the President's re-election (from conservatives and liberals), and it's just making me feel really sad for the state of humanity. I don't think an election has ever affected me this way before; I actually feel depressed. It's painfully clear to me that, more than ever, we're a divided country, and we need to find some way to fix that. It's also clear that I need to unfriend more than a few people on Facebook -- or just stay off of Facebook altogether, which I probably should do anyway.

I read two blog posts today about the election that I really enjoyed; they are thoughful and worth sharing, and you can read them here and here. As for me, I'm done talking about the election (not that I ever really started...), and I thought I'd post some things that made me smile today to help pull me out of this funk.

1. Taste of Home's $5 Cookbook Sale is back!

2. Meeting Joe for lunch today. We've started have lunch together one day every week, and it's so nice to have some uninterrupted, child-free time with just him.

3. Seeing someone with the same first and last name as my mom pinning a recipe from my food blog on Pinterest. It just makes me feel like she's still looking out for me,even though that person who shares her name has no idea who she is...if that makes sense.

4. When I got home from work tonight, Joe could tell I wasn't in the best of spirits, so he ordered me to take a bubble bath while he took care of dinner and the boys. (He is winning major points today.)

5. I had to trim Will's sideburns tonight (the boys have picture day tomorrow), and after I was finished Will looked at his reflection in the mirror, smiled, and exclaimed, "Well don't I look handsome!" (He may have heard that a time or two.)

6. Andrew noticed that Will had a scratch on his leg, and he said, "Look, Will! Your boo boo looks like a comet!" (It did.) Even better was the fact that he pronounced "comet" like "comic," which was adorable and hilarious. Will's boo boo looks like a stand-up comedian. I personally think it resembles Sinbad.

7. I had a great conversation with a co-worker today about the numerous ways in which reading actual, physical books is better than reading novels on an e-reader. I have Many Thoughts about this, and I think I may write an entire post about this topic.

8. Andrew is very into video games lately, and one of my very favorite things is when he watches Joe play and "backseat drives" the entire time. As I type this, they are playing Luigi's Mansion, and he's yelling, "Daddy, go to that door! Get that key! KEY! KEY! KEYYYYYY!"

9. This. Sorry for the language, but COME ON. (Found via Sarah Lena.)

10. Today is my aunt's birthday, and even though she's been gone for seven years, I can still hear her laugh so clearly in my mind. I can't help but smile when I think about how her eyes got all crinkly and her mouth opened wide when she laughed.

11. Absolutely nothing makes me smile more than these two:

What made you smile today?