I’m about to stop watching the news folks. I pretty much have it memorized like a kid on their 100th airing of “Toy Story.” Economy, recession, depression, financial bailouts, Wall Street, cutbacks, foreclosure, deficit, Washington, Washington, Washington. Enough already.

Tonight, I realized that all of the gloom and doom is rubbing off  on me and I’m here to tell you I’m not having it.

You see, within my mind lies a wealth of show tunes, show tunes, which I have a tendency to hum and sing throughout my day and with very little conscious knowledge. I’m just a music-y person. I sing. I can’t help it. There is always a song in my head and my vocal chords like to get in on the jam session.

While walking through Walmart, I was humming. Now I’ve been known to hum a lot of things in Walmart. Once, while talking to a friend on the cell phone, I began humming the “Star Spangled Banner” on the coffee aisle. I didn’t even realize I was doing it until she exclaimed in a disgusted voice “You have got to be the most patriotic person I have ever met”

“Huh?”

“No one I know randomly hums the Star Spangled Banner”

Oh.

Minutes later I began humming “My Country ‘Tis Of Thee.”

I wake my kids up with various upbeat good morning songs and I sing the entire soundtrack from singing in the rain and just about every Judy Garland tune ever recorded (except the sad ones, of course).

Tonight, while going through Walmart (okay, so I spend way too much time in Walmart), I was humming, not really paying any attention to the tune until I heard my voice quietly singing the words and it hit me…

“I gets weary, and sick of trying. I’m tired of livin’ and scared of dying…”

Oh good grief, I’m singing “Old Man River.”

No, no, no. This stops here.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I realize that life is harder now on some folks than it has ever been in their lifetimes. Fact is, many of us have very valid reasons to complain and worry. What I’m saying though is that we also have valid reasons to be grateful too, and the good things in our life deserve at least the same amount of airtime as the difficult.

So I’ve decided to stop the cycle. I’m not buying into the whole “life is horrible, cower and worry” that is being sold to us all right now. I’m not going to spend my entire day in anxiety and I’m not going to exchange my inner peppy soundtrack for a slower beat or a mournful strain.

You know what we all need?

What we need are some upbeat show tunes and maybe even spontaneous choreographed dance.

Bring on the Judy Garland, crank up “Mary Poppins,” and hit play on the old version of “Pollyanna,” it’s time to bring back the good life.

We need to live our lives in such great appreciation of each day and each moment that we all find ourselves walking through Walmart humming the Star Spangled Banner. It really wouldn’t hurt if the rest of the store joined in and we all started twirling and tap dancing about, now would it? Those without a partner can just grab a sack of potatoes or some of that abundant rice we all stocked up on during the panic over the supposed shortage a few months back.

We need to realize that sometimes life gets so bad that we lose sight of just how very good it is.

There is always something to be grateful for. There is always a positive side.

So here is your homework:

Smile at strangers today and count how many smile back.

Learn the words to at least one song from an old Technicolor musical.

And lastly, hum the Star Spangled Banner. I don’t care who you root for in the elections, we live in a fine country and I got some “special” batch brownies for anyone who tells you different.

It’s like I tell my kids:

Each day when you wake up you have a choice. You can have a good day or you can have a bad one. So you might as well have a good one.

Same goes for life.

For the pessimists who haven’t left the room yet, things can always get worse so you best get to enjoying them now. Don’t make me come over there and slap you around a bit because I will … and I’ll sing show tunes while I do it.

Oh and a recipe…here ya go. These were sent in to me by Cynthia, a reader who called them “Poor Man’s Treats.” I asked my mother about them and she said her father practically lived on them as a child.

Poor Man’s Treats

Saltine Crackers

Peanut Butter

Marshmallows

Spread peanut butter on the crackers. Top with marshmallow. Place under broiler in oven until marshmallow is just browned. Pay close attention because this will not take long at all. Devour.

Quick, easy and good. Make’em tonight and eat like the po’ folks do, our food tastes better than the rich people’s anyway – another thing to be grateful for.

Christy Jordan publishes www.southernplate.com, a Web site dedicated to teaching classic southern dishes and quick and easy family favorites through photographs of each step. She can also be seen in upcoming issues of Southern Beauty Magazine and The FOOD Mag. Her cookbook may be purchased on her site, at Pablo’s, or at Hickory Barn BBQ (her brother’s restaurant).