Have I mentioned it doesn’t take much to make me happy? For example, coming up with something to do with the empty cookie jar in our kitchen made me happy enough to think, “I should share this idea!” So, prepare to be amazed (either at my idea or at the fact that it made me so happy).

Not long ago, I finally realized it’s just too tempting to have cookies within reach, so I stopped using our cookie jar. (Now I keep our cookies in the the pantry … a much farther walk, so I have the added bonus of burning calories when I go get one.) The problem is I wasn’t ready to send the jar to the attic, because it’s part of a set (the other two hold flour and sugar) and we all know what happens when something goes to the attic. I might as well put it in the dryer with my mismatched socks. So, I moved the poor thing from counter to counter, in and out of cabinets, irritated every time I saw it, but still not sure what to do with it.

Well, this afternoon I filled the jar with little pouches of dishwasher detergent and felt a sudden sense of peace. You see, those little pouches used to live under our kitchen sink, where the bag they came in would turn over and I’d have pouches underneath the Murphy’s Oil Soap or inside an old pair of dish gloves. Even worse was when the bag would remain upright, looking full and ready to help, until I’d reach inside it at 11pm on a Sunday night, only to discover all the pouches were gone!

Now, when we’re about to run out, I’ll see it coming. And, when the jar is full, it looks almost decorative.

Oh, come on, I can’t be the only one who finds the squishy purple pouches pretty when they’re packed in a glass container?!