There's Nothing Like -

 - twins who have discovered their love of hand-holding: (Anna and Noah, my cousin's kids)

- dinner with friends. Seriously. There's something about 'connecting' that feels good. And connecting over a meal just makes it all that much better. Time just flies by. Before you know it, three hours has zipped by. I love how, at the end of the evening, I know I am richer as a result of the experience. I've learned something. I've felt something. I've shared something.

- words of affirmation. About a week ago, unexpectedly, a friend said, offhandedly, in the middle of a story she was sharing, "You're so ________ and _________." And carried on with the rest of her story. I grabbed onto those two words, which were positive and life-giving and carried them around in my mind for a couple days. Heck, I still pull those two words out and give them a rub. I'd never seen myself that way, and I'd never been described like that before. And it was nice. A nice little surprise gift. I have to remember to do that to others.

 - songs of joy. About a month ago, this blog had a post on it, where Jon talks about the Summer Playlist that he and his wife were preparing. THEY were preparing. THEY were choosing their songs-of-summer. Songs that would forever hold Summer 2011 memories in their melodies. So, someday, far into the future, when they hear one of "their" Summer 2011 songs on the radio, it will trigger the memories they made this summer, doing fun things with each other and their two young daughters. OH MAN. SO jealous that they have that. Really. How awesome. He ended his post asking readers to comment on what songs would be included in their own summer playlists. And then he got about 500 responses.

I copied them all, then went to You Tube to see if I'd like any of them. As a result, I bought a Need to Breathe CD and a Matt Kearney CD. And will get a Mumford and Sons CD as well. But my SONG OF SUMMER is not on any of those CD's. It's this song. And it was blasting on the sound system on Terry's boat on the only hot summer day we've had so far. We were zipping around on Shuswap and the sun was shining and I was with my friends and this song came on and I KNEW this memory would forever be attached to this song. (Ignore the video, it's weird.)

(Just found out that Matt Kearney is opening for Owl City on Saturday night in Vancouver. Yes, I blogged about Owl City about a year ago. Yes, I know I'm too old for this. )

Aren't they adorable? They're SKIPPING.