Some things that tend to make Debbie a little teary...

So...basically...I'm a pretty happy person, the majority of the time.
I actually had a student ask me if I was ever "not happy". Yes, I was blessed with that really annoying ability to be "up" 98% of the time.
Oh...I do have my moments of "okay...so when Happy Debbie comes back, why don't you just let us know."...but they are few and far between.

Crying is so good for the soul, I think. It is cleansing to let out all that is bottled up inside.
There is a famous female singer/entertainer here in Japan that said in an interview one time that she cries every night. She actually makes special time in her evenings for this. By crying, she vents out all the "crap" (I'm sure that's not exactly what she said, but that's how I'm interpreting it!!) in a daily sobbing and then she is done and she doesn't really think about it any more.

So...here are some things that work for me, in getting the tears going. A couple are sad and a couple are just really good things that have touched me and made me feel very special!

#1 and #2 I saw this first movie when I was 15 years old and it will always be one of my most favorite movies.......The Way We Were.

You know....I don't even have to watch the whole movie....I can just watch the last 20 minutes or so and still sob cry like I'm watching the whole movie for the first time!!! I truly believe that most of us have a "Hubble" in our lives (or at least, I know I did!!!)....that one person that you love dearly, but...could never be with. Sometimes, I don't even have to watch the movie...I just have to hear the song "Memories".....man, but Barbra's voice just gives me goosebumps!!!

The second movie...also a Robert Redford movie...is This Property is Condemned....based on a Tennessee Williams play. Personally, I'm a big fan of all the movies based on his plays or novels...they are just so full of passion and emotion...and are so hot...both literally and figuratively.

I remember watching this with my mom when I was probably about 10 years old...I think that I fell in love with Robert Redford then and those feelings are still pretty strong today.

If you haven't seen this movie and you like Tennessee Williams...see if you can find it....oh..and don't forget a box of those really soft tissues, 'cause you're gonna need them!!!

#3 Almost any Hallmark card commercial...especially those they run during the Hallmark Specials. Sniffle time for Debbie!!!

#4 When I find that someone has passed on to me something like this:

My friend Jenn, in her blog on Saturday, did a little "paying it forward" and passed on this award to me, along with Mary Alice.

That was such an incredibly nice thing to do.....and a "special treat" that was so needed. I have been trying to get caught up on my blog reading...after not having the computer for so long (9 days...but who's counting!!?)...I missed out on my daily readings of my favorite blogs. So here I am, very late on a Saturday night...okay...early Sunday morning...and as I was reading all these posts....I started feeling a bit...out of my league. These women that I read have things to say...sometimes I feel as if I am just fwapping along here, trying to figure out where I belong. So, Jenn...thanks so much...this was exactly what I needed!!!

#5 A package in the mail.....like this:

I came home the other day...feeling a bit...ragged and tired and cranky...and on the kitchen table was a package....for me....from one of my very best friends from home, Susan. In it was:

*a package of Snicker Easter Eggs...she went to get some Reese's' ones but they were sold out..thought the Snickers would be good too...and they were!!! (very quickly in the past tense!!)

*Some really funky and fun sox...."Diva Sox" to be exact...Love them!!!

*A photo album....

*A really nice memo pad....which I have such a weakness for anyway!!

*Some wonderfully smelling shower gel and lotion. I'm such a hedonist sometimes....I do love my good smelling stuff!!!

This was absolutely the best thing I have gotten in the mail for a very long time!!!!!

Susan and I have been friends since....well...since forever!! She sent me one of those "how well do you know me" e-mails one time, and I will tell you that I missed only one (and I swear to you that I thought her eyes were brown!!! I'm thinking brownish-green!!!). I was one of the bridesmaids at her wedding about 28 years ago (holy crap!! you and Bill have been married for a long freakin' time!!! :-D ). I remember one summer when I was home, my vacation was at the same time she and her family went on their vacation and we missed each other...that was a really sad holiday...I missed my "Susan fix"!!

So....needless to say...reading the card that she put inside this "late Easter/early birthday surprise" pretty much choked me up and then when I started to pull all that stuff out, well....Issei and Koji were a bit worried as to why I was about to cry. Your kindness is appreciated more than you will ever know!!! (You're still worried about what I'm going to do with that wedding picture, aren't you?!?!? :-D teehee!!)

I guess not all "kleenex-worthy" moments have to be sad. And now, as I look at the time in the corner of my computer and see that it is after 3:00 in the morning, I'm probably going to be crying tomorrow 'cause I'm so tired. I will say oyasumi nasai ("good night"). I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!!