"Friendship improves happiness, and abates misery, by doubling our joys, and dividing our grief." Joseph Addison

Just a few things that delight me and make me happy...

• Old pictures of me that show me as a happy girl who had her whole life ahead of her. It cheers me to get reacquainted with that person. (Like the picture above...I was 18)
  


• The smell of a freshly made salad before any dressing is put over the top...lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes with thinly sliced red onions and perhaps some garbanzos and olives.
  


• The sound of rain and the smell of fresh, wet dirt and leaves.
  


• Walking out of the house during cooking for whatever reason and then walking back in and smelling how amazing the house smells...once in awhile, if I'm having guests over, I'll walk outside and back in again to see what it will smell like when they get there.
  


• The sound of babies laughing...but the sound of babies that I love laughing even more.
  


• The taste of fresh oranges when I am crazed for fruit in the middle of winter.
  


• Chatting and laughing with girlfriends while drinking tea.
  


• Indulging in a rare Sunday afternoon nap.
  


• Reading, reading, reading.
  


• Finishing a difficult task, that made me stretch and grow, successfully.
  


• Loving others.
  


• Sitting on the beach in the sunshine with a balmy breeze digging my bare toes into the sand.
  


• Jumping in the waves and cresting the big ones just in time so that I'm not tumbled upside down, but rather come out the other side with a slight drop back into the ocean.
  


• Seeing the stack of journals and notebooks that I have filled through the years. It's an accomplishment to fill a book...any book...with pieces of your life and moments from your brain put to paper.
  


• Riding a bicycle down a hill, gathering speed as I go.
  


• Taking photographs of things that are important to me.
  


• Music that makes it impossible not to move my body.
  


• Laughing with my brothers and sister about stories from our childhood with all of its slightly differing versions and perspectives.
  


• Really excellent quotes that are arbitrarily discovered.
  


• Chinese proverbs.
  


• Movie night with my beloved, with homemade buttered popcorn and icy ginger ale.
  


• My baby (25 yo) brother finding new music that he shares with me.
  


• Onion powder and dried parsley...I love it...I don't usually go without it and I love to use it in cooking.
  


• That I have become pretty good at making excellent gravies and sauces.
  


• Conquering the broiler and not being afraid that I'm going to somehow blow up the oven by doing it incorrectly.
  


• Talking to my heavily accented octogenarian grandma (almost nonagenarian) who's native language is Latvian, her second language is Portuguese (her growing up years and early adulthood in Brazil), and her third language is English (learned as an adult) with a smattering of Spanish thrown in (for where she lives in Los Angeles) for good measure, and having her share recipes from all the countries and cultures she has been a part of, and telling me stories about what a precocious and mischievous little girl she was.
  


• Fresh cherries that I inadvertently eat way too many of because they are just so delicious that I don't notice that I'm shoveling them in like some kind of a bulldozer.
  


• Road trips to anywhere with my beloved.
  


• Freshly cut grass and the smell of backyard BBQ's during the evening in the summertime.
  


• Kissing.
  


• Foggy evenings.
  


• Rose gardens.
  


• Hanging out with my mom and talking about life and everything that can possibly fall under that umbrella and appreciating her uniqueness and ability to accept so much in the world today.
  


• Twinkle lights in unexpected places.
  


• People who are 100% themselves...meaning that they dress themselves, speak, eat, work, play and decorate their homes according to their own designs with the things that they like and love as opposed to worrying about what everyone else thinks they should do. It is so much more interesting.
  


• Creating.
  

That's probably enough for now...I'm sure I'll come up with more as soon as I finish the post. LOL

Government Buttinski's

My sister was telling me the other day about a law that was going to be passed, wherein all toys and children's clothing must be tested more stringently for lead and other harmful elements. This particular law, seems to have the potential to put small and home business' out of business as the testing is very expensive and would not be a viable option for smaller business'.

I have come across a couple of articles, if you are interested, that talk about this new policy that will go into effect on Feb. 10th, 2009.

New Law Could Wipe Out Handcrafted Toy Makers
http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/14/smallbusiness/toy_law_threatens_small_companies.smb/?postversion=2009011509

U.S. Product Consumer Safety Commission Site
http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/14/smallbusiness/toy_law_threatens_small_companies.smb/?postversion=2009011509
FAQ's on This Particular Topic:
http://www.cpsc.gov/ABOUT/Cpsia/faq/faq.html#children

Here is the Etsy Forum with a variety of discusionss regarding the CPSIA ruling particularly:
http://www.etsy.com/forums_board.php?forum_id=5000002

Handmade Toy Alliance
http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/

Petition
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/handmadetoys/index.html

Honestly, my questions are as follows:

• If there was already a Product Consumer Safety Commission, how is it that all of these recent problems with lead in the toys ocurred? Were the monitors of the monitors of the monitors not paying attention?
• I'm not anti-import by any means...but I do think quality standards for quality and content need to be in place. Where were those?
• Isn't this a case of Big Business vs. Small Business, wherein all of the laws and constraints are in favor of the Big Business which in turn will put the Small Business out of business? Big Business has the funds needed to provide for any type of testing, however a smaller business will not have the funding available and therefore will be unable to sell hand crafted items.
• Also, homemade children's toys, things that are sewn, made out of wood, hand crafted are generally made and purchased by environmentally conscious individuals...people who are looking to support small business' and local business', people who are looking to consume things that are done in a very particular way. Don't you think that the sellers and the purchasers are going to be paying attention to what is going on their children's bodies and in their little mouths?

I'm all for safety for children, for keeping unhealthy elements out of the things they put in their mouths, BUT, I also believe in a pretty liberal freedom of choice rule. As a parent/guardian/caregiver it is each of our individual responsibilities to keep a good eye out and make sure that things are being done properly without getting ridiculous. It is impossible to try to child-proof the world. Not only impossible, but unreasonable.

I think there is definitely a place for government regulation...and I think it should start with the quality and quantity of inferior items that do not pass governement guidelines being imported into the country. Just like I don't like or purchase inferior U.S. products, I'm not looking to purchase inferior non-U.S. products. I am looking for quality and for once I would like to see someone deliver it and meet some reasonable expectations.

I actually think this a potential case for over-regulation and meddling from the government. I also think it has a lot to do with money and power exchanging hands in high places. I am not for the government peering over my shoulder at every turn making sure that I'm making a good decision according to their standards. Frankly, my standards are probably higher, but I don't want a Buttinski watching everything I do. Back off.

Regulate what needs to be regulated...Stop...Pause...Think...Look Before You Leap...and Be AWARE of making blanket decisions and the impact that those decisions can have across the board. Sheesh...and a whole slew of these people went to Business School, have MBA's, Law Degrees, and etc...you'd think one or two of them might figure out a viable solution that is in the best interest of the actual citizens.