status check - sappy
background ambiance - tv news

the really good days always creep up on you.

you have a lot of decent days - nothing horrible, but nothing too spectacular. they're the norm and you're pretty content to have your inconsequential grumbles.

you have the clearly labeled "big days" - a trip, a show you've been looking forward to. some of them meet your expectations, while others, for whatever reason, fall short. but those are the days that are supposed to be great, the date circled on your calendar - either physically or, more often, simply set apart from the others in your mind.

then you have days like today, when nothing particularly out of the ordinary happens. but there are all the little pices of your day that come together to form sense of ordinary spectacle. you go shopping with your mother and get her to finally buy some things for herself. you find the perfect winter coat. you bicker and laugh as you try to fit a piece of lumber into the back of your car and you hear her giggle uncontrolably as the board hits you in the head as you get ready to drive home (there's an explanation, i swear). you burn her a mix cd of songs she really wants and laugh as you find the bay city rollers song she wants. you take some neat photos of a beautiful sunset on your new digital camera. you drive home, smiling and singing along to the mix you made for yourself, and you walk in to find your roommates wearing smiles that match your own. warm brownies and good television. more laughter.

nothing amazing happened, nothing that should set the day apart from any other. but realizing how well it all turned out - and realizing that you were happy and carefree throughout it all - you don't want to let the day end because it was all beautiful, in that ordinarily gorgeous way.

you wind up writing about it before bed, inexplicably crying because you realize how out-of-the-ordinary the day about to end was. and the people who really mean something to you - whether they were a part of this day or not - are more amazing than you feel you deserve.

you're just happy to have them.