Lovely Michelle over at Mummy from the Heart is hosting a Reasons to be Cheerful linky this week; and as it’s a while since I’ve taken part it one – not to mention that it’s been a while since I’ve done a simple, straightforward feel good post – I thought I’d join in.

Here are some of the many reasons I have at the moment for feeling pretty good about it all.

The weather. There’s nothing like conforming to British stereotype and breaking the ice (ba-boom!) with some chat about the weather. Probably the biggest bonus of our move from up north to down south has been the improved climate. It is so much warmer down here – I think I’ve only had one hats-gloves-scarf day so far this winter, which is amazing. The crispy, sunny days have definitely helped put me in a good mood.

A lovely Christmas and New Year. We had a brilliant time over the holidays. We didn’t do anything too exciting… but a couple of weeks sitting around eating, snuggling on the sofa, watching TV, and reading all the books that Santa had brought us was exactly what we needed.

DorkySon. Our wee guy is on brilliant form just now. He seems to be interested in everything – cars and trucks still come top of the list, but he has so many questions about nature, people, places, feelings, how things work… He is getting very chatty, becoming more confident every day, and absolutely full of stories and songs. He is all bunged up with a cold today, but even when he’s snuffly and coughing he keeps his sense of humour, and we’re having so much fun. I wish I could bottle his giggle and prescribe it to people who are having a hard time, because I’m sure it’d help.

DorkyDad. I don’t think I’ve ever seen DorkyDad working as hard as he is just now. I am immensely proud of the work that he is doing in his new job.

Activism. I’ve put my campaigning hat on again! I posted in November about the brilliant campaign Save the Children is running to End Extreme Hunger. Well… exciting news on that campaign coming up next week. Stay posted! (And if you haven’t signed the petition yet, you can do so here)

Having a plan. I have a plan (sort of). DorkySon is currently in nursery two mornings a week, which gives me enough time to run around town and do some shopping, tidy the house, and hopefully write a blog post or two. In March he’ll be turning three, and we’ve decided to increase his time to three mornings. Two of those will still be spent on the usual house stuff, but I’m determined to set one aside for doing some writing. Proper writing. Paid writing, not just blogging. I’ve registered with HMRC as self-employed. I’ve added a Hire Me page to the blog. Now all I need to do is sit here and wait for the offers to start rolling in, right? Right? Hello?!

Looking at that list, I feel like a very, very lucky lady indeed.  2012 has got off to a great start – let’s hope it can keep it up for another eleven and a half months!

If you’ve got something to feel good about this week, why not do your own Reasons to be Cheerful Post and link up over at Mummy from the Heart.