On this day devoted to romance and couples, it's easy to get down on life if you're unhappily single. Several years ago when one of us was in that state on Valentine's day, my college roommate and I picked up a ritual we'd abandoned after moving out of our dorm room: making a daily list of ten things that surprised, delighted or comforted us. She lives across the country, and we've kept it up ever since via email.

Once I accidentally sent a list to another far-away friend, and he happily replied with a list too.

The Daily Top Ten LIst a wonderful way to reconnect with an old friend, and to realize that even the worst day offers up a list-worth of entries.

A few examples:
11/11/07
1. Woke up in a yurt near Coos Bay, OR.
2. Made oatmeal on the camp stove. Added almonds, brown sugar, dried
cranberries.
3. Made a cup of tea.
4. Packed up our gear and cleaned up the yurt.
5. Wore jeans (unfortunately unaware of National Corduroy Day)
6. Hiked all day long.
7. Spent an afternoon watching stormy waves break against cliffs. Saw
many varieties of beautiful mushrooms. Watched hundreds of sea lions
and seals lounging and barking.
8. K said I was making her heart grow too big for her chest.
9. Got a medium veggie pizza for dinner on the drive home.
10. A triple latte for dessert to keep my eyes open.

12/17/07

1. Made an agreement with myself not to get stressed and stuck to it.

2. Rain felt good.

3. IT guy was able to fix my crashed computer.

4. With things from last week being resolved, I now feel like I have time to do my other work again.

5. Co-worker stopped by to say goodbye before leaving for holidays.

6. Played Santa and dropped off a birthday gift at T's.

7. L and I were both home before 6.

8. We took a long walk and looked at Christmas lights.

9. Good phone conversation w/my mom.

10. Paid off student loan.

1/6/08
1. Slept in.
2. Finished Persepolis.
3. Waffles and raspberries for breakfast.
4. Did not leave the house after the gym.
5. There was a special section in the paper all about the Oscars.
6. Napped with the cat, who is an excellent napper.
7. Post-nap snack of hot and sour noodle soup.
8. Assembled the 35 pairs of earrings I started on Friday.
9. Got some eggplant caponata that my mom made.
10. Watched the first episode of the last season of the Wire.

Some things bear repeating:
6/27/07
1. LAST DAY OF SCHOOL.
2.LAST DAY OF SCHOOL.
3. LAST DAY OF SCHOOL.
4. LAST DAY OF SCHOOL.
5. LAST DAY OF SCHOOL.
6. LAST DAY OF SCHOOL.
7. LAST DAY OF SCHOOL.
8. LAST DAY OF SCHOOL.
9. LAST DAY OF SCHOOL.
10. LAST DAY OF SCHOOL.

-MaryAnne
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