How lame is it to use up perfectly good blog space just to mention a few things that are making me happy right now?

Not lame at all? Thanks!

Just four things - but they're really good things - and they're making me happy.

First: The absolute coolness of getting my braces off right at the beginning of corn season. It's amazing how much stuff you miss when you have pieces of metal, spikes, asphalt and barbed wire living in your mouth for a year and a half. Getting my braces off was a wonderful thing. But the thing I craved the most during the time I had them was fresh, sweet, plump corn on the cob. Not corn off the cob. Not corn in the can or out of the frozen bag. Fresh, roasted-on-the-barbecue corn on the cob with real butter and real salt.

There was other food I missed when I had my braces but I forgot what that is. I'm sure it will come to me, but for now, it's all about the corn. We have corn with most meals now, even if they're not traditional corn-friendly meals. I'm sure I'll get over this. But I'm in no hurry.

Second: Watching my mongrel dog play in her baby pool. We thought when we adopted Millie in the winter that come summertime, she'd be a water dog and we were right. We knew this because she started standing in her water bowl and pushing the water around with her paws; and when we moved outside to the patio she started standing in the fountain and shoving all the water out. So, as soon as it got warm enough and the rain stopped(!) I got her a plastic baby pool. It took her a day or so to learn that this water was all for her and she do with it what she wanted. Quickly she was running into it and scrunching down as low as she could go to get her whole body wet, rolling in it, then shaking off - still in the pool. And after that, she's all over the back yard. Our sheepdog Mali doesn't like water so much (and that's probably a good thing because she's really furry) so she just barks at Millie until she gets out of the pool and then they chase each other all over the yard. It's pure doggy joy. All that sunshine and yardy freedom and being soaking wet at the same time. Not being a dog I'm not sure about this, but I believe that life doesn't get much better for a dog. Especially a shelter dog who had a pretty tough go of it before we brought her home. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Shelter dogs rock.

Third: If you live near Lodi and haven't checked out the new patio at Pietro's, you're missing out on a sweet dining experience. It is like nothing I've ever seen. It's not just tables outside. It's a literal feast for the eyes. They've incorporated vegetable gardens into the patio that give it an old world and very organic feel. They've got tomatoes, peppers, squash, basil - you name it - it's growing on that patio. Stop by for some pasta and a glass of wine. And apparently it's okay to pick fresh basil from the garden and throw it in your pasta because I did it and didn't get in trouble.

Fourth: It's summer. Finally. I've waited for this for a long time - like since February - so I'm just happy about that.

That's four things. Four really good things. I have at least four bad things going on in my life right now, but most of those things are things I cannot control. I can only control how I deal with those things.

So I'm going to eat corn, watch my dog play in the water, sip wine at Pietro's and soak up some sun.

Not lame at all.