I haven’t really felt like sitting down to write anything of length here in the past few days, so here is a quick list of things that are making me happy right now.

1. Like most of the eastern half of the country Baltimore is in a deep freeze right now thanks to this polar vortex. I’m thankful that I have a nice warm place to be (though my office is a little too warm at 84 degrees this morning).

2. The Frozen soundtrack, which I adore anyway is the obvious choice to listen to on repeat while I wait out this cold.

3. I got a new Nook for Christmas. I got the original one not too long after it came out, and it still works. My husband decided I should upgrade though while it still exists. I’ve never been a big collector of books. Most everything I read comes from libraries (this is one of the big reasons I originally went with the Nook over the Kindle, though you can actually borrow ebooks from the library for your Kindle now) or if I do get a book in print that I own, I either pass it on to a friend or  donate it to the Book Thing once I’m done with it. I rarely reread books, so on the inevitable day, whether that be soon or years from now, that the few ebooks I’ve purchased over the years disappear I won’t be too upset. Anyway, I digress. My new Nook itself makes me happy. I got the one with Glowlight so I can read in the dark, and it is extremely light. Even though I never thought my old one was heavy, the new one makes the old one feel like a ton of bricks. What is really making me happy though is the adorable sleeve I bought to keep it in. I smile every time I pull it out.

4. I am hopeful that Wake Forest basketball has finally turned a corner. They seem to be doing better this season. I don’t expect they’ll be making it into the top 25 any time soon, but at least they didn’t lose to a whole bunch of nobody teams this year like they have done in years past. They also pulled off a win against a ranked North Carolina in their conference opener on Sunday night. Now they need to get a road win to really make me feel like they might be on the upswing. They have yet to win a conference game on the road during Bzdelik’s tenure. Sunday night’s game was the first game I’ve seen in the past 3 years that actually gave me a little bit of hope though, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we’re heading in the right direction. They do need to work on their free throws a lot if they plan to win games though because Sunday was pathetic. They left a lot of points on the floor and though it worked out for them on Sunday, they’re going to lose a lot of games if they throw that many points away in the future.

5. That I have the luxury to throw away a gross cereal I bought at Target that basically tasted like cardboard with cinnamon on top. There are many people who don’t have enough food to eat and eat a lot of things they don’t like. As I threw away the nearly full box of cereal this morning in favor of opening something else that actually tastes good, I reminded myself how privileged I am to be able to do that, so that I don’t lose perspective.