At Home Day

Happy Saturday things:

• The first part of the day I spent lounging around in my pajamas.  I tried to nap around lunch time, and then got dressed.
• Still, I never left the house.  I'll call this an early introvert day.
• In between watching movies and eating, I did lots of laundry, dishes, and cleaned out the microwave.  The best part about today's laundry is that it was not mine.  I did loads of laundry for the rest of the family and I'm not responsible for putting it away.  Yay for some productivity!
• Shortly after the sunset, I took a picture of the horizon through a window.  If there were colors as it set, I missed them.  I'm happy I took the pictures.  I decided on a goal for 2024 to post pictures more on my social media.  So now I keep forgetting to take pictures!

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Currently listening to: Robin, by Dave Itzkoff.  

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Errands

Here are some happy things from this day:

• It was an errand day.  I picked up my mail at the post office (it has been well over a month) and did some shopping.  The shopping was a jump-start on the things I normally get on Mondays.  Yay for planning ahead!  This also meant being in the van for a long time to listen to my book.
• With some of the purchases, I was able to make Keziah a bowl full of different snacks to have while she is isolating with covid.

• Today I learned that January 2, 2024 is World Introvert day.  Seems like a good day to stay at home, too bad I am scheduled to work.  

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Currently listening to: Robin, by Dave Itzkoff.  

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Beep, Beep

It is Keziah’s turn to have covid.  However, here are some happy Thursday things:

• Occasionally, under my breath, I made sound effects when I pushed a cart around picking up packages for problem solve at work.  Just a ‘zoom’ or ‘wee’ sound made the day much nicer.
• In the afternoon, I took a lovely nap.  This made it possible for me to stay awake watching movies far too late.  It turns out that I enjoy watching movies, so that is okay. 
• Somehow, I forgot to take a picture.  Instead, here is a Bitmoji.

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Currently listening to: Robin, by Dave Itzkoff.  

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Foggy

Happy things from today:

• TF called today so we were able to catch up on all the things that happened over Christmas.  It seems to have been good all around.
• Gideon had a friend over today.  It was nice to hear them playing together.
• The day was wet.  Most of the day held either rain or fog.  The fog can be pretty.  Where the sun shone on the trees yesterday, today those trees were veiled with fog.

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Currently listening to: Robin, by Dave Itzkoff.  

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Boxing Day

We don't tend to celebrate Boxing Day, but here are some happy things from the day:

• Yesterday, I stayed in bed too long.  Today I actually slept in.  Keziah woke me up a little before nine this morning.  I know that I needed to sleep. I'm glad I got some sleep. I hope I can get to sleep this afternoon because I have work tonight.  Sleep is good and important.
• We went through a bunch of cardboard boxes that have been waiting to be recycled, and got them to the recycling center.  This is nothing like the traditional way to celebrate Boxing Day.  It was good to clear some things out.

• I stepped outside to the back yard parking area and looked at the property.  I saw leafless trees with the sun shining on them, birds flitting about and singing, some evergreens supplying a burst of color amid the light browns and grays of the snowless winter landscape.

☮

Currently listening to: Robin, by Dave Itzkoff.  

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Christmas Day

Happy things from this Christmas day:

• This morning I stayed in bed too long because Nanni, the brown tabby cat, decided to snuggle up next to me on the bed.  
• The stockings were filled with sweetness.  Most of my candies were peppermint or vitamin C themed.  Among other things there were also earrings, stickers and a little puzzle.  Some other gifts included more earrings, safety lights for walking at night, and a book about hiking the 4000 footers in New Hampshire.  I really need to read more again.
• As for the others... Gideon was very happy with the game and t-shirt I got him.  Some things he got were books, clothes, and a galaxy moon lamp. I was worried about what I got for Zed… a toilet seat and bidet.  Our current ones are falling apart.  Anyhow, he seemed thrilled. He also got books and some fun toys.  Keziah got art supplies, books, and some jewelry. She also got some things for the store.  I think we were all happy with the things we received.  
• Zed's mom visited and breakfast was made.  It was good to have her here.  Last Christmas she was staying here and we got to see her all the time.
• In the afternoon I relaxed with a movie and a walk while the rest of the household went to visit Zed's family.  Down time is what I needed for a while. 
• My youngest and I had a lovely video call, too.  

Pictures from today:

Stocking stuffs.

All lit up for my walk.

☮

Currently listening to: Robin, by Dave Itzkoff.  

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Christmas Eve

Happy Christmas Eve things:

• While preparing gifts for people Gideon said, “I'm filling secret stockings with secret things for Christmas time. Hehehehe”.  I love my grandson.

• TF and I had a nice Christmas Eve conversation.  She will be busy all day tomorrow with family.  
• We didn't put up a regular Christmas tree this year.  The time for that just didn't happen.  Instead, Zed made a wreath and we all added a little something to it.  It is perfect for our busy selves this year.  There is a little silver tabletop tree that also went up as a decoration.  

• The only tradition that I know was started by my ex-husband and myself is the giving of a holiday book on Christmas Eve.  I have nothing to do with it anymore, it is all Keziah, Zed, and Gideon.  My youngest, Bel, doesn't do this.  Whether that will change or not if they have children, only time will tell.  It is something fun to open Christmas Eve that also has the potential to relax a small or excited child before bed.  We all have fun opening our books and reading before bed.

Some gifts are wrapped in fabric this year. 

• The book I received this year was a children's book picked out by Gideon.  The book, The Twelve Hours of Christmas, is written to match up with the song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas".  At Gideon's suggestion, we sang the book together as a family.  That was fun and may just be the highlight of my Christmas 2023.

Merry Christmas!!  Happiest of holidays!

☮

Read/sang: The Twelve Hours of Christmas, by Jenn Bailey

Currently listening to: Robin, by Dave Itzkoff.  

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Pink and Blue

Happy day before Christmas Eve day!  

The first alarm I set for work goes off at 11:10 PM.  At 11:15 PM I felt a rumbling (as did the rest of the family and local friends).  It turns out that there was an earthquake not far from here.  It got me out of bed on time! 

Here are some happy things from this day:

• In hopes to find holiday lights on the way to work I chose an alternate route.  There were a few places with some lights.  There was nowhere to safely pull over to take a picture with a car right behind me.  What I have learned is that most people turn their lights off when they go to bed and most people are asleep by one o'clock in the morning.  It was a nice short adventure, just without pictures to share.
• It was my last night working mandatory extended time for a while.  I got over ten hours of overtime this week.  I'm tired and very happy that the week is over.  I don't go back to work until Wednesday.  
• After a nice nap, Gideon and I picked Keziah up and we went Christmas shopping.  Gideon was able to pick up a few things for his mom when she wasn't looking.  Gideon was also kind enough to take some Christmas tree photos while I drove.

• Last night, Keziah and Gideon visited some friends and watched something related to Percy Jackson.  I wasn't there, but they brought home some blue fettuccine Alfredo that a friend made to go along with the entertainment.  In the book, Percy Jackson’s mom makes him blue food.  The point... is that I got some tasty blue leftovers for dinner tonight.  It went well with the peppermint frosty I picked up at Wendy’s. 

☮

Currently listening to: Robin, by Dave Itzkoff.  

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Solstice

Happy things from today:

• Today is the first full day of winter.  According to the internet, Solstice was official at 10:27 PM on Thursday, December 21st.  So yesterday was both autumn and winter.  The amount of daylight will continue to get longer now, until summer.  Anyhow, it was a cold, but sunny, first day of winter.  
• Bel and Folke decided to celebrate Solstice this year instead of Christmas.  They sent me a message asking if they could open their presents early.  I said yes.   It looks like they liked the presents.  🙂
• Tonight (Saturday) is the last night of mandatory extended time for me this holiday season.  I will be so happy when this is over.  The paychecks were nice, but so is sleep.
• On the way to work I remembered to get a picture of some Christmas lights.

• Sunset!

☮

Currently listening to: Robin, by Dave Itzkoff.  

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Cookies

Some happy things from today:

• By 3:30 AM I had reached 10,000 steps.  Sometime before 8:30 AM 20,000.  When I got to my physical therapy appointment after work, I had over 28,000 steps.  My physical therapist was impressed at my step count.  However, I need to actually do my physical therapy at home.  I've been slacking.  As I write this, and get ready for a much needed sleep, my step count is just over 30,000.  I will do some physical therapy and get some sleep. 
• When I woke up to go to work last night I had a message from Keziah about cookies.  They brought some home from Crumbl and I was welcome to have some.  I cut off pieces from three of the flavors to take to work.  They were delicious.  Every week they serve different flavors.  This week they have four flavors that I like. 
• Once a month at work at least one supervisor gathers with anyone who has a birthday that month to casually talk shop.  This is my third December with the company and the first time I actually made it to one of these.  It is nice to share ideas and talk with management about things that go well, and things that don't.  They also offer some kind of snack or treat.  Today that included Crumbl cookies!  I am so very full of cookies and it is wonderful.  I may be done for a few days though!  
• It wasn't until after I drove by the houses I already took pictures of that I remembered that I wanted to take pictures of holiday decorations.  I didn't notice any more on the way to work.  Not everyone leaves their lights on all night. Instead, I offer a picture of a parking lot and red and green street lights.   The view from where I parked the car for work.

• Because pretty things are important, sunset!

☮

Currently listening to: Robin, by Dave Itzkoff.  

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Thanks

Happy things from today:

• One of the things I try to do on and after my birthday is to read every post on Facebook where someone wished me a happy birthday.  It takes time, but I feel if someone is going to take the time to write it, I want to respond with a thank you.  This year I stumbled on a few where my name wasn't tagged for me to easily find.  I may never know if I saw them all or not.  I'm very grateful that many people took the time to write.
• Gideon was offered an opportunity to advance from sixth to seventh grade early.  After the new year he will be a seventh grader.  We have been discussing some pros and cons.  I jokingly said that he is no longer part of the graduating class of 2030.  That is a con.  What an easy year to remember!  He is looking forward to the higher complexities that seventh grade will bring.
• Christmas lights!

☮

Started listening to: Robin, by Dave Itzkoff.  

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Happy Birthday to Me

Here are some happy things from today:

• Happy gotcha day to our two cats.   We got them three years ago on my birthday.  It was much colder that day than it was today.  I was carrying Nanni in her crate to the car, I remember that her entire body language seemed to change when we exited the building.  Noises and cold air were probably a big shock.  

Nanni today.

Winston today.

• Keziah and I went out to lunch to celebrate my birthday today.  Zeke had to work and Gideon was at school.  I'll hopefully be asleep by dinnertime. 

I should really let her know I'm going to take her picture...

• I'm going to try to take pictures of holiday lights this week.  I hope I remember.  

☮

Finished listening to: How to Win Friends & Influence People, by Dale Carnegie.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Rain

Happy Monday things:

• When the roads are wet sounds from the cars passing by tend to have a slight echoing sound as the tires turn the water into splashes.  It seems to take just a little longer for the sound of the cars to fade away.  When I'm not trying to sleep, it can be a relaxing sound.  I don't think I'll miss it when I move to the apartment in the back of the house. 
• The weather today was windy and rainy.  We lost power for random amounts of time this morning.  There were sounds involved implying transformers blowing up.  I'm so happy that it was raining and not snowing.  The snow will come, and I am okay with waiting a little longer.
• Nanni (our brown tabby) decided that she wanted attention.  I was on my bed with the laptop on my lap and she decided to walk all over my legs.  The laptop was in the way so I finished what I was doing and put it aside just to give her attention.  She even stayed there after I used the flash to get a picture of her.

Without flash.

With flash.

☮

Currently listening to: How to Win Friends & Influence People, by Dale Carnegie.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

DIY

Happy things from today:

• The early part of the day I spent mostly at DIY Craft & Thrift.  Spending time with family and friends is always important.  Today I got to do that, and help at the store when they had other places to go.  
• Keziah has a new sign hanging in her shop that I think says a lot about the store.  She got it from one of the popup artists that are sharing the building she is in.

It says,  "We are a no kill shelter for craft supplies."

• Also at the store, the door was painted for the holiday season.  It came out well. 

Hard at work.

• At home in the evening we had dinner together and watched some Star Trek Voyager.   It is so nice be around a nice, fun family.

☮️

Currently listening to: How to Win Friends & Influence People, by Dale Carnegie.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

A Show

Yesterday I spoke too soon about my schedule.  I was told I would only be working four days, but it will be five days next week.  I still only work two days the week of Christmas, so, yay!  Here are some happy things from today:

• Today was day five at work this week.  Because I cut out a little early most days,  my total time for this week was 47 hours and 34 minutes.  That will be just over seven and half hours of overtime pay.  That said, I told someone at work today that when given the opportunity to go home or work lots of extra hours, I'll go home.   Sleep, my health, and my family are worth more than the extra hours and money at work.
• When I head to work it is the middle of the night.  This time of year when I look up and to the right out the door I see Orion.  When I walk toward the car, I see the big dipper.  The stars were bright last night with the moon already set.  The stars are the greatest light show.  Tonight, coming inside from being at a play, Orion was more or less right outside the door to the house.  What a difference a few hours makes.  
• After napping this afternoon Keziah, Zed, and I went to see Dickens’ A Christmas Carol at Hatbox Theater in Concord, NH.  Gideon is at a sleepover with a friend.  It was a marvelous performance.  This was my first time at this theater.  It is a small venue.  It was probably my last time at this location.  The mall it is in has found a new purpose that doesn't include this theater.  They are looking for somewhere else.  I hope they find something soon.  All the players were very good.   I hadn't thought of this before, but the actor who plays Scrooge and basically in every scene.  They have to hold the entire show.  

That is me behind the mask with Keziah and Zed.

The stage.

☮

Currently listening to: How to Win Friends & Influence People, by Dale Carnegie.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Work Stuff

Happy things from today:

• It was tight, but I made it to work on time.  I overslept and then let myself get distracted.  Thankfully, work gives a few minutes on either side of the clock in time, so I made it.  One day left to work this week.  If they offer voluntary time off tonight, I might try to get it.  
• Work has updated my schedule for the rest of the month.   Next week I am only scheduled for four days instead of five.  Yay!  Also, I have both Christmas and Boxing Day off.  I didn't remember having Boxing Day off before.  It turns out that it has just fallen on my normal days off so I didn't even realize the business was closed.  Or, I knew, and just forgot because I had the day off anyway.  Yay, downtime!
• Once again my picture is of the sunset.  The colors didn't quite show up as much as I'd like.  There is a bonus crescent moon though, if one looks hard enough. 

☮

Also listening to: How to Win Friends & Influence People, by Dale Carnegie.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

So, I cropped the picture because the moon was so pretty, I wanted to share.  

I tried to get the colors of the sunset to show up better by cropping as well.  It was better in real life.  The message here is to get out, or look out the windows now and then, there is a big beautiful world.

RomCom

Some happy things from today:

• When I am assigned to the job of inducting packages I also get to work with someone who unloads the packages from carts for me.  Last night at work that person and I ended up talking through most of the shift.  Well, I listened, a bunch, and contributed some.  One of the things we talked about was hiking the white mountains.  He is trying to hike the 48 4000 footers in NH.  This is something that I would like to do as well.  It is always good when good dreams are remembered.  Hopefully this will reignite my motivation for this and other hikes I've been wanting to do.
• There is little to no educational value, just entertainment, but I do enjoy holiday/winter romantic comedies.  I watch a little almost every day after work.  Even with the repeating themes, they help me relax.
• Sunset!!

☮

Finished listening to: Ridgeline, by Michael Punke.  --  This was an historical fiction book based on actual events.  At the end of the book the author went into some details about what was real versus what was fiction.  He also included additional reading for more information.   

Also listening to: How to Win Friends & Influence People, by Dale Carnegie.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Wooly Bear

It seemed like a very long night at work. After I ran errands and started to watch a movie. When I sat down to write this, I came up with one thing. Generally I try to find more, but I am tired and want to sleep before going back to work tonight. The happy thing for today is about the wooly bear caterpillar:


Back in October a friend posted on their Facebook about the wooly bear caterpillar and how it predicts the winter weather. Here is a screen shot of the chart:

As fate would have it I had recently seen a wooly bear caterpillar and took a picture. So in the middle of October, this particular caterpillar seemed to predict that the winter would start harsh and become mild and looked like this:





Today, I saw another one. I was surprised to see a caterpillar out in December. According to this one, we are in for a mild winter. It looked like this:

Perhaps I am just a bit skeptical, but I’m having a hard time believing that the caterpillar colors can predict the winter. That the caterpillar is still out in December suggests a mild winter to me though. The first caterpillar was seen about ten miles north of the one today, which could account for the difference in winter predictions. Unfortunately, I most likely won’t remember this in the spring to see how it all turned out. However, it is fun to think about.

☮

Listening to: Ridgeline, by Michael Punke.

Also listening to: How to Win Friends & Influence People, by Dale Carnegie.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

A Working Day

Happy things from today:

• It has been a very long time since I have worked in the Problem Solve area at work. They assigned me there today with someone who had very little training. Somehow, we muddled through, getting help in the middle of the shift, and got it done. Yay! Hopefully, I will be scheduled there a little more often. Not only did I forget things, but a lot has changed.
• Proof of eyes!!  😊

• It was fun, but I just spent way too much time trying to find the 25 items in the Google game today.

☮

Listening to: Ridgeline, by Michael Punke.

Also listening to: How to Win Friends & Influence People, by Dale Carnegie.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Therapy and Socks

Happy Monday things:

• This morning I had therapy.  For some unknown reason I was in a good mood.  We had banter and laughter as well as some actual moments of therapy.  There were two things in my room that I was able to say it is time for them to go.  There was also a pile of crochet cotton that belongs in the studio, not my bedroom.  Anyhow, I have plans for all of those things in motion.   That is today's downsizing baby step.
• Eventually I will be moving into the small apartment that is attached to this house.   There are some things that need to happen first (like cleaning, and maybe painting).  However, another idea I had in therapy today was to move some of my things over there soon.  Things like my archery and camping equipment that I won't need until spring.  This will make it easier to go through other things in my room.
• There is a basket in my room that I toss unmatched socks into.  Today I went briefly through it and I was able to match up six pairs of socks.  No, I don't have a time limit on the socks to throw them out when a match isn't found.  I'm okay with that.  

☮

Listening to: Ridgeline, by Michael Punke. 

Also listening to: How to Win Friends & Influence People, by Dale Carnegie.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.