Five Dollars or Less

I took Clarissa and Clayton to the mall today to ride the carousel. You'd have thought I'd given them the world. How could something so simple be so stinkin' much fun?!

I have a list of things I think would be fun. I think it would be fun to get new carpet in the TV room. I think it would be fun to replace two of our toilets with new ones that didn't clog up. I think it would be really fun to tear out our front porch and put in a nice stone porch and walkway. I think it would be fun to cut a new window in our dining room so we could look out and see our beautiful flower gardens. But not one of those things costs five dollars. And it's hard to imagine that any one of them could actually bring the pleasure and excitement that I watched as two little children held the reins and bobbed up and down, up and down, up and down.

Jaroldeen Edwards (an LDS author whom I have loved and who, I think, is very wise) said that every person should create a list of "simple joys" -- things that cost little or no money, that can be accomplished within an hour or two, and that you love to do. She said, "A list of one's own simple joys is worth creating. It gives us a resource for unexpected empty moments; it gives us satisfaction and joy in times of poverty or sickness; it gives us a finer sense of who we are and what happiness is right at our fingertips; it helps rid us of the habits of purchased pleasures and frenetic fun."

After our carousel rides I came home and looked at my own list of 'simple joys.' Here are a few of them. Not one of them costs even five dollars:

Mowing the lawn in the cool of the evening.

Reading old letters.

An ice cream bar from Costco (covered with chocolate and chopped nuts).

Sitting by our lighted Christmas tree.

Stopping to listen to our wind chimes.

Spending an hour playing the piano.

Watching figure skating.

Reading a book too good to put down.

I think I may have to add 'Riding a Carousel."