MARK MY WORD: IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS... LIKE TOILETS AND FUNNEL CAKES

Sometimes it's the little things in life that make you feel great.

Just ask the folks in Granite Falls, Wash. These days, they're flushed with pride.

That's because Granite Falls, population 2,000, is celebrating the opening of its first public restroom.

The town is holding a two-day Toilet Festival next month. It's part of the community's Art in the Parks celebration on July 15-16.

There will be a ceremonial tearing of toilet paper instead of a ribbon-cutting. There will an art display, including photographs of outhouses around the country and artwork framed with toilet seats.

What a relief. This town knows how to celebrate something so momentous as a public restroom.

Granite Falls is even planning a drawing. The lucky winner will have the honor of christening the commode. "The lucky winner will go to the throne room, and that will be the first flush," organizer Bonnie Cosentino told The Associated Press.

Cosentino, clearly a toilet connoisseur, is proud of the public potty. As she sees it, the toilet festival is worth talking about. Cosentino has given new meaning to potty mouth.

Let's hope the Census Bureau doesn't miss the toilet in its census count, otherwise the town might lose out on federal sewer funds. You don't want to flush all your tax money down the drain.

I'm sure Becca and Bailey would appreciate all this toilet talk.

But then, they're suitably impressed by bathrooms, particularly those with automatic flushing toilets and automatic running water in the bathroom sink.

On our recent trip to Chicago, the kids were impressed by the airport restroom which had automatically changing toilet seat covers.

As far as I know, Granite Falls isn't that high tech with its public restroom. But then, there's always room for improvement.

The girls are impressed with Joni's new job at Southeast Missouri Hospital too.

But it's not the toilets there that catch their attention.

They like the hospital because it has a restaurant, a cafeteria and a gift shop. The restaurant serves funnel cakes, which in the minds of our 8 and 4-year-olds is clearly the sign of a good restaurant.

The kids also like the hospital's candy vending machines and swivel chairs.

They also enjoy throwing coins in the fountain.

The gift shop is a definite plus for Becca and Bailey. They love souvenirs.

Even at their young ages, they have mastered a love of shopping. In museums, they make a beeline for the gift shops once they've ridden the escalators, dragging us along to bankroll their amusement.

Joni works in the marketing department where there is an amazing supply of colored paper and pens.

What more could you want in life than cartons of colored paper and a plethora of pens?

Only the best businesses have stuff like that.

Personally, it's nice to know that Becca and Bailey feel right at home in the hospital and have given the seal of approval to Joni's new job.

Becca says she might want to be a doctor and Bailey thinks nursing sounds like a great profession.

Of course, I suspect, they're real love isn't health care, but funnel cakes.

Still, it's nice to know that they find visiting the hospital to be a real treat.

Mark Bliss is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.