Celebrating the Big 150: Here's to 4 years of joyous blogging.

From "Silver Bells Bring a Promise"

This week at the Friday Night Thought Tale hour with the Henderson's, I discovered that this will be my 150th blog post. Wow, could it really have been 4 years since Chris encouraged me to take our Friday night cocktail public? Our casual musings over a drink on the porch often turned into deeper diatribes and dramatic debates, so why not use social media to take the conversation global? What started out as a way to share a perspective has become more personal as I draw from the experience of life as a woman named 'Joy'. And what began as a way to find fun cocktails to match a mood or time in history as grown into a weekly call to find cheer in all aspects of the life we walk together. It's become a healthy habit, even with the alcohol. 

The best things in life are rarely planned IMHO (That's in my humble opinion for you older folk).

From "The End of the World as We Know It"

(This includes Sunday drives as well as children.)

Honestly, it hasn't always been easy to create a weekly post, and to be fair, I have repeated 12 of my posts, and expanded on 5 of them. In the first couple of years, I always took the month of April off, as it is a time of poignant annual remembrances for our family. But I have to tell you, I always feel like something is missing on those weeks when I don't create something to post here. In the beginning, I would literally come up with the post that evening before we took our first drink. Chris would usually add a few words, and it was never over a paragraph. It was a short and sweet little message with a cocktail attached. The real change happened when I began to consider on Monday what I would be creating for Friday. Now my mind's wheels were turning all week, and I started making little notes and scribbles. These were neat little 'asides' that were just meant to add a little spicy narration to a life subject. 

Ever thought of doing a blog?

From "What you want is never what you need"

One week, I wrote about our first garden at The Enchanted Clover Leaf Cottage, and it was almost 3 paragraphs of thought about growing things (The Garden's of our lives). It was a magical comment from a person I didn't even know personally that changed the rest of my Friday's from that point on: "I enjoy your Friday night posts. Have you ever thought of doing a blog?" Um no. But then -  "why not? Just for fun..."

There have been times that I've been completely at a loss for what to write about,

From "A Toast to Tradition"

and other times that there were just too many options to choose from. Times when I wanted to direct my words toward a particular person, and I had to steel myself against using a public forum to 'school' someone. Times when I finish my post, and I think 'meh' and other times when I am literally strutting away from the keyboard with glee. Times when I had to keep a towel near to wipe the tears from the keyboard. Those are the healing times. And still other times when my thoughts bring back a memory or event that make me smile so big my face hurts. Those are the energizing times. But the best part about all the times is that they never seem to make everyone feel exactly like I do. It's just so damn wonderful to write something and have so many different reactions to it. My joyous perspective illuminates other's unique perspectives. I love that.

From "It's Tax Time Suckers"

It's my own little corner of therapy.

I've always been one of those people that 'talks out' a problem, and most often, I'm talking to myself. The blog has allowed me to take my grey matter and transform it to something that looks more like a rainbow. I'm really pretty ordinary as people go, but I have had a wide array of experiences. When I write something that speaks to another human I consider vastly different from me, I am reminded of just how much we are all the same under our skin. I feel connected, and not just electronically.

Ok, time for our signature finish...

Chris likes my 'shorter' posts, more than likely because it gets us to relaxing with a cocktail faster. You see, I normally read my blog aloud to him, while he sits and looks at the drink before him. So in his honor... 

From "Making the Most of Milestones"

Tonight, we are toasting to 4 years of joyous blogging, to the big 150, and to those ahead. May my little project inspire you to seek a way to propagate your passion in the world around you. No signature cocktail tonight, but you can guess if you are a regular reader what we each will most likely be sipping. Have a happy weekend, and I'll see you next week, Lord willing. CHEERS, FRIENDS!

Some Joyous Perspective Blog Factoids:

May 20, 2011: First post

Most common subjects, in order:
Family: 48
Children: 23
Career: 16
Patriotism: 12
Humanity and Societal issues: 10
Gardening: 4
Whimsical soul searching: All

Repeated Cocktails: Martini (of course)
Caucasians (a Henderson couple favorite)

From "Being Resolute Throughout the Year"