Happy Michaelmas

Happy Michaelmas!  I ate some goose today, I didn't like it (it was a paté), but I had it anyway.  It is said that if you have goose on Michaelmas that you will not want for money in the year to come.  Or something like that.  Here is a link for more information. 

Here are some other happy things from today:

One of the things my therapist keeps reminding me is how important sleep is for our mental health.  Yesterday was Thursday, my nap day.  I napped for a little over three hours late in the afternoon.  Then, I slept over eight hours last night.  I wasn't exactly full of energy today, but I felt better than I do with less sleep.

There was enough energy for me to get a few things done though.  One of those things was to weave.  I probably only wove for about 30 minutes.  Nanni, one of our cats, decided that she wanted attention and made weaving difficult, so I stopped.

Zed and Keziah are now owners of a new to them Kia Niro.  There will be more about that tomorrow. 

☮

Currently reading: She's Come Undone, by Wally Lamb.

Currently listening to: Homage to Catalonia, by George Orwell.

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

More Car

Some happy things from today:

• Zed gave me a ride to work and home again.  I got to hear about the test rides they took last night and this morning.  They are looking at new and slightly used cars.  I'm going to start looking for very used cars. 
• At work this week I got to do Driver Assist.  This is where we help the drivers by getting the bags and packages to and into their trucks for delivery.  I've dreaded doing this part of the job.  I'm still not looking forward to doing this when the weather is bad.  This week though,  I really enjoyed it.
• We are using a loaner car from the garage where the van is.  It is an older Chevy Malibu.  I enjoyed driving it today more than I expected.  I'm very thankful that the garage offers a loaner vehicle and that it was available. 
• Due to this year's weather, the autumn foliage isn't expected to be great.  I'm going to try to look for it where I can.  Today I spotted a pretty tree starting to turn.

• This cat!!  Nanni curled up by me on the couch and just wanted a little bit of pets.

☮

Currently reading: She's Come Undone, by Wally Lamb.

Currently listening to: Homage to Catalonia, by George Orwell.

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

Autumn Olives

 My happy things for today are:

• Last night, I didn't go to work.  I decided that I couldn't justify the expense of a Lyft.  I had time and I used it.  The result was about nine hours of broken sleep.  This was good.
• Since I was home, when messages came in this morning about upcoming SCA events, I was able to respond.  It is possible that I responded too much.  Either way, I got some business taken care of and that too, was good.
• At the end of the day I felt that I accomplished some things but not a lot.  I went outside for a look around the yard.  Another rose has bloomed.

• The autumn olive trees are filled with berries.  Zed liked these when we first moved here.  I don't remember if I tried them or not.  

☮

Currently reading: She's Come Undone, by Wally Lamb.

Currently listening to: Homage to Catalonia, by George Orwell.

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

Lyft

Today my happy things are:

• We have no cars at the moment. 😐  I took a Lyft to work.  I'm happy that this was available for me to use and that I arrived safely at work. 🙂🚗
• The moon is waxing.  As usual, my camera doesn't do it justice.  It was very lovely hanging over the trees while I waited for the Lyft to arrive. 🙂

• One of the people I work with brought me home from work.  I'm very thankful for the ride.  He went north to bring me home instead of south toward his own home.  Lyft isn't cheap so this was very appreciated. 🙂🚙

☮

Currently reading: She's Come Undone, by Wally Lamb.

Currently listening to: Homage to Catalonia, by George Orwell.

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

Cars

 Some happy things from today:

• This morning just after 8 AM I got a call from Keziah.  The Prius broke down, they were four houses down, come walk toward us.  So I did.  There were two police cars there.  A fire vehicle showed up just after me.  There was oil on the road and a small puddle.  Apparently there was also a bunch of blue smoke when it happened.  The car was in the shop last week getting inspected and some things fixed.  Yesterday, the van went into the shop for inspection.  We are without transportation.  The happy part in this?  AAA showed up very quickly and gave Keziah and Zed a ride to the store.  We have close friends that were able to get Keziah to an appointment this morning.  These are things to be thankful for.
• Again, our cat Winston, decided to friend me today.  He actually stayed on my lap for a few minutes before going to perch on the couch behind my head.

• When Gideon came home from school we snuggled for a bit and discussed car problems and other things.  We will be replacing the Prius.  He took it well.  

☮

Currently reading: She's Come Undone, by Wally Lamb.

Currently listening to: Homage to Catalonia, by George Orwell.

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

Laundry

Some happy things for today:

• It is almost embarrassing how much help I needed at the laundromat today.  I'm very happy that there was someone there to help me with the basics… like getting my card to swipe for payment and closing the door tightly.  Perhaps anxiety played a part?  Either way, I'm glad they were there.
• There are plans in the works to rent a dumpster to clean up the yard and the shed.  These are good things and I hope I find the energy to help out a bunch.
• Zed made dinner and baked some store bought cookies for dessert.  Yum!
• Outside I noticed a little bit of fall foliage in the back.

Lilac seeds/seed pods?

☮

Currently reading: She's Come Undone, by Wally Lamb.

Currently listening to: Homage to Catalonia, by George Orwell.

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

A Wedding

Today's happy things:

• The home test I took told me that I was covid free this morning.
• I met friends in Nashua and we participated in the Out of Darkness walk to help prevent suicide.  It was good to spend time with friends.

• In the afternoon the family loaded up in the van and headed to Massachusetts for a wedding.  Keziah officiated and did a good job.  This wedding and reception was supposed to happen a few years ago but covid happened.  Keziah married them that first time with just a few of the closest family and friends.  A year later, they planned to do it again, but they got pregnant.  This was the third time and they were married and had a lovely reception.  Their first dance started as a sword duel.  It was impressive. 

• The party favors were foam swords.
• A friend came and pretended to attack me with a foam sword and we playfully duelled.  Later, I realized that my fighting champion was there.  There was a challenge made and the two of them fought with the foam swords.  It was a double kill. 😉  That was pretty impressive since only one of them is actually a fighter.  It was fun.

☮

Currently reading: She's Come Undone, by Wally Lamb.

Currently listening to: Homage to Catalonia, by George Orwell.

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

Aster

Once again, I'm getting the bad stuff out of the way first.  On Wednesday, I learned that a friend that was at the event on Sunday has Covid.  I tested negative on Wednesday.  Until today, it has been a busy week and I hope I don't have this and didn't expose anyone.  Today I did a lot of nothing.  I am supposed to be participating in the Out of Darkness walk tomorrow and going to a wedding. I will be testing again in the morning before choosing to participate or not.  I'm hopeful that because my exposure to my friend was so limited and mostly outside, that I'll be fine.  I am vaccinated.  I believe that Keziah had a similar level of exposure to her as I did.

And so here are some happy things from today:

• Some days, the little things are the big ones.  It took me a really long time, but eventually I got out of bed today.  Most of my day was spent scrolling on the internet, attempting to start a journal, or reading about the new medication I started today.  
• It took most of the day, but after I showered and did my hair I went outside to get a picture of that flowering plant I couldn't identify yesterday.  It was SO nice outside.  It is starting to feel like autumn is on the way.

The Lens app identifies this as either an ironweed or a New England Aster.  Both are members of the Asteraceae family.  My opinion is that it is most likely a New England Aster.

• The cooler temperatures inspired me to see if Gideon wanted to go for a walk.  He did!  We had a nice time.  We talked about Minecraft, school, and Rabbit Tobacco.  There was a bunch of Rabbit Tobacco growing on the side of the road, but I didn't take a picture of it.

Puddle

Sunset

☮

Currently reading: She's Come Undone, by Wally Lamb.

Currently listening to: Homage to Catalonia, by George Orwell.

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

Some More Sadness

This is supposed to be my blog for happy things.  However, there are times (twice this week) when sad things happen.  I found out today that my former partner of many years passed away yesterday.  He was about six months younger than me.  I know that he had health issues but hadn't realized they had become so severe again and don't know what happened.  He and I were not meant to be a forever couple, but I have many fond memories of him.  He will be missed. 

Some happy things from today:

• At work last night I inducted packages into the building.  One person unloads them, I put stickers on them and they travel down the belt to be stowed.  Anyhow, the person unloading for me and I did a little talking.  She knew about Keziah’s shop and is planning to go visit some time with her daughter.  That newspaper article Keziah was in really helped to get the word out!
• There is a purple flowering plant that I didn't get close enough to to identify.  Here are some pictures.  Maybe I'll get some closeups tomorrow. 

• Tonight was Open House at Gideon's school.  He walked us around the place like a tour guide.  It was great!  Here are some pictures from that:

☮

Currently reading: She's Come Undone, by Wally Lamb.

Currently listening to: Homage to Catalonia, by George Orwell.

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

Long Feeling Work Day

First, let me apologize for the fork story yesterday.   It was much better told to me, rather than by me.

Today, I need sleep.  Because of that most of my happy things are about work:

• Yesterday I got very little sleep.  Still, I made it through most of the night at work.  When they offered VTO, I left about 30 minutes early to go home.
• It was pajama day.  Yesterday was too, but I forgot.  I wore a pair of men's pajama pants that I have for camping in, and a t-shirt. Pajama bottoms at work felt weird since I am used to wearing jeans.  
• My job assignments were Pick to Buffer in the beginning of the night, and Safety at the end.  Both of these jobs have enough variety to stay awake and I like to do them.
• At home I took a quick walk around the yard in hopes of finding something to take a picture of.  I found that asters and cinquefoil are in bloom.  There was even a bee on the aster.

☮

Currently reading: She's Come Undone, by Wally Lamb.

Currently listening to: Homage to Catalonia, by George Orwell.

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

Long Days Are Long

My apologies, it has been a very long day for me and I'm falling asleep as I write.  Here are some happy and happy-ish things from today:

• At work tonight the "big boss" was there at the beginning of the shift.  He usually comes in sometime in the middle of the shift so this was unusual.  I will admit to being a little nervous about what kind of announcement he was there to make.  It was good though, we all are getting a raise in the beginning of October.
• One of Zed's sisters had a baby about seven weeks ago.  This is the first, first cousin for Gideon.  Zed's sister and family visited the store today and we all got to hold the baby.

• Today is Zed's birthday, happy birthday to the best son-in-law!!
• Birthday month means vehicle inspection in NH.  The Prius got fixed and inspected today.  The check engine light was on so the inspection isn't complete until the light is off for about 100 miles.  So far so good.
• Sometimes sad things happen.  Recently my cousin's husband passed away.  He was 88 years old.  Keziah and I went to the calling hours tonight after she closed the store.  We didn't have a lot of time but it was good to see some family.  He was a firefighter and an active member of his community.  The interesting story we heard was about his favorite fork.  It felt just right, the weight was perfect, and it was the fork he always wanted to use.  The fork will be buried with him.  May they rest in peace and comfort.  

☮

Currently reading: She's Come Undone, by Wally Lamb.

Currently listening to: Homage to Catalonia, by George Orwell.

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

A Day to Recuperate

Today was very much a recovery day.  Here are a few things that brought me some glimmers of happiness today:

• Somehow I was energetic and open about my emotional health when I had a virtual doctor's appointment this morning about my emotional health.  That doesn't tend to happen easily.  Hopefully that means it was a productive visit.
• It is good to see Gideon and his happy face when he comes home from school.  He starts playing video games fairly soon after, so I have to get my questions in fast.
• Thinking about how well the last few days went has been good for me today.

Gideon, giving everybody a thumbs up!

☮

Currently reading: She's Come Undone, by Wally Lamb.

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

Last Day

Some happy things from today:

• For years I have been on an email list to receive an email with a word of the day.  There have been months that the emails are ignored, but lately I've been reading the word of the day and skimming through the weekly compendium that arrives to my inbox on Sundays.  This week one of the words was 'anachronism'.  I found myself more than skimming the compendium today and was not disappointed. Someone from Illinois mentioned the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) as an example for that word's usage.
• Keziah and family arrived at the event in the morning.  It was really good to see them.  We ended up starting the fencing and fighting later than planned because a few more people arrived at the event and got me distracted.  There were only two fencers, so that competition was short.  There were four heavy list fighters and that competition took a little longer.  They were all a pleasure to watch.  
• After the competitions we signed scrolls and held our court.  This is where we announce the winners of the competitions and award others for their deeds well done.  We had some minor problems with a scroll and stumbled a little, but I think it went well. 
• Then it was pack down time.  Something happened with one of the attendees and I ended up following my friend who was driving someone else's car to Springfield,  MA so I could bring my friend back to her house in New Hampshire. I had a passenger on the way to Springfield that I hadn't met before.  It all went much better than my imagination led me to believe and I am glad for the experience. 
• I let my phone get handed around for picture taking purposes (I forgot to take some early on) and I am grateful to those people for taking pictures.

☮

Currently reading: She's Come Undone, by Wally Lamb.

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