Reasons To Be Cheerful, 1-2-3!

This post comes with a serious health warning! I've been feeling rather miserable lately, having had an almost constant pain in my mouth since before Christmas. Sometimes the treatment has been unbearable, and more than once I've needed morphine to ease it sufficiently to get some sleep. 2 more teeth & a chunk of bone were removed last week, this time from the top left, and a temporary bridge fitted to fill the gap. All because of some strange lumps and a few moody dark shadows that showed up on the scans. But that's enough moaning and feeling sorry for myself - I know I should count my blessings instead, so that's what I'm doing this morning .... concentrating on reasons to be cheerful :)

My No 1 reason to be cheerful is my wonderful husband Barry. He's my soul mate, the love of my life, and the warmest, kindest, most loving and caring person I've ever known. He's a very successful scientist, and I'm so proud of him. He doesn't like me sharing photos of him, but here he is anyway:

My 2nd reason to be cheerful is having such a wonderful family, including 2 beautiful little step-granddaughters E & B. Last month we caught up with my son H & his partner H on a brief visit to Edinburgh, and this weekend we were in Cheshire to meet up with my sister A & her partner BC, to celebrate his "big" birthday. My brother J brought my niece S (he made a more discreet appearance than usual, coming by car rather than helicopter) and I got to go for a ride in BC's new bright red Ferrari!

A 3rd reason to be cheerful is our lovely dog Lucy - it's impossible not to be happy when she's around, as she's simply an amazing bundle of joyful, affectionate fun. Regular readers will recognise her instantly - how can anyone fail to smile at that cheeky face!

It was very difficult to stop at just 3, because I have soooooo many more than just 3 reasons to be cheerful, but I'd be here all day if I tried to list them all! And in any case, what's the best cure for feeling miserable? Yes, of course - SHOPPING! Retail therapy!

So, yes, instead of spending all morning thinking about what makes me cheerful, I decided to cut corners and simply go shopping! My beautiful niece Sarah was recently appointed Assistant Fashion & Marketing Manager for a British company called Grafea, who make some of the most beautiful leather bags I've ever seen. So I've treated myself, which is why the first photo in this post is a camera bag :)

I've been looking for a great camera bag for ages (I'd originally intended to buy one from Jo Totes, but the ones from Grafea are less "girly" and MUCH more stylish!) They'll soon be available in pink and other lovely ice cream colours, but I've opted for a more discreet brown - it's being delivered tomorrow, and I can't wait! And having seen Sarah's Hari rucksack in popcorn yellow, I now have my eye on one of their red ones (above)! Miserable? Who's miserable?!