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!

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Started listening to: Robin, by Dave Itzkoff.  

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

Back to Work

Friday happy things:

• It was a long night working, but I made it through!  I stayed moving at work with my step count for today over 26,000.  It was good to see people at work again.  They served food at the end of the day,  McDonald's.  I didn't have any because they didn't choose cheeseburgers as an option and I'm picky.  It is still nice that they do this as a thank you to the employees. 
• Work has an area near the time clocks decorated for the holidays.  There is a winter scene with Santa (okay, a weird Santa), Christmas tree, fake presents, fake snow, lights, a Hanukkah blow up polar bear with menorah, and blow up Kwanzaa candles.  
• Another good thing about being out of isolation is being able to hug my grandson.  He will be at an age soon where he might not want grandma hugs as much, I need to get them while I can. 

• Sunset!

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

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

Maps

Thursday happy things:

• Day three of work this week and I made it  through the entire shift.  Strangely enough,  I started out not feeling well (but better than last night) and felt better as the night progressed.
• Google Maps has a way to follow people (or at least their phone) and find them on the map.  This is how I know my friend Kimberly is in Cambodia and Keziah is still at work.  This is also how I have a fairly good idea where Gideon's phone is.  He thinks it fell out of his pocket on the bus.  I think I know where they park the buses!  😄
• Here is the sunset, and Christmas trees for sale.

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Currently listening to: Ridgeline, by Michael Punke.

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

Back to Work

Happy happenings from today:

• The first night back to work after covid went alright.  I'm getting tired easier, which I expected.  I also just reached 20,000 steps for the day.  I don't think I reached 10,000 for the week while I was sick.  That means I really should expect to be tired!
• At home, I no longer need to be masked or in isolation.  I sat in the living room and watched a movie while I ate.  Soon I'll be looking for Christmas movies to watch.
• Zed, my son-in-law, tested negative for covid today.  Soon we will all be able to spend time together again.
• Gideon, my grandson, came home from school and we were able to talk, face to face.  It is interesting the things we take for granted until they are gone.  Gideon has a long weekend off from school and he is very excited about all the upcoming holidays.

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Currently listening to: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, by Suzanne Collins

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

Negative

 Happy things for today:

• This morning I tested negative for covid.  This means that I check it again in two days and if I am still negative I go back to work.  This also means that I can move around the house more, still with a mask on.  
• Gideon and I got to heat up leftovers for dinner tonight, together, in the same room!
• Silly proof of life photo:

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Currently listening to: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, by Suzanne Collins

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

Archery

Happy things from today:

• Archery was fun, but I didn't score as well as I have been.  I did get two golds on two different rounds.  My scores were inconsistent.  I'll work on it more in the spring.

• There were two people at archery practice who completed their third set of Royal Rounds.  Royal Rounds are a way we keep score of the archers to provide a ranking system.  When the third set of Royal Rounds are completed and turned in the names are added to the list and they are official East Kingdom Archers. They can get a badge.  We decided to hold an impromptu mini court to award the badges at practice.  It was fun cheering on their progress.
• As I write this, I am sitting next to Gideon in the living room. He is watching something on his phone.  He watches things at increased speeds.  It reminds me of Alvin and the Chipmunks.  😆🐿

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Currently reading: Year of the Griffin, by Diana Wynne Jones.

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

Crown

Happy things from today:

• It was an SCA event day.  Keziah went to an Arts and Sciences event in Connecticut.  Gideon and I went to Massachusetts.  The three of us left very early and got to see a beautiful orange sky as the sun rose.  We drove together to Nashua, NH.  Then Keziah went with a friend to Connecticut, and Gideon and I picked up a friend to go to Massachusetts. 

• Gideon, our friend, and I went to breakfast next.  I decided to be good and ordered an omelet instead of French toast.  A good breakfast was the right way to start off our day.
• The event we went to was Crown Tourney.  Last month the new King and Queen stepped up.  This month their successors were chosen by winning the day's fights. In this case a man fought for a man so we have two Princes.  It was a good day with good friends.
• I met someone today who is a metal craftsmen.  He gave a buckle he made to me and one to my friend.  He also showed us a spur that was made in the 1350's or thereabouts (I think).  He had this spur in a box with the things he made.  It seemed like it should be in a museum, but we all got to hold and look at it.  Pretty cool.  I should have taken a picture of it.  Here is the buckle he made:

• Gideon came to the event with me so he could be there when some of his friends got Tiger's Cub awards.  It was a long day for all of us, but he was especially ready to leave when the event was over.
• After dinner we dropped off our friend in Nashua and picked Keziah up.  On the drive home we all got to share stories from our event experiences. 

More pictures from the day:

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Currently reading: Year of the Griffin, by Diana Wynne Jones.

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

Rosebud

Some happy things for today:

• I made it through the work week!  Having only a 30 hour workweek can be wonderful.  More importantly, my back made it through the week and heavy lifting, too.
• There is a new rosebud.  Temperatures were below freezing last night, I'm not sure if this bud will open or not.  It looks healthy though.  They are protected some by the house.

• Gideon snuggled with Nanni today.  They were so cute.  He asked me to take the picture.  Right after Nanni saw me taking the picture, she got up and walked away.  

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Currently reading: Year of the Griffin, by Diana Wynne Jones.

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

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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:

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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.

Weaving Wednesday

 Today my happy things are:

• Two years ago I spoke to two other employees at work briefly about my SCA hobby.  Neither of them work there anymore.  Today I told someone else.  I believe I keep it private as a way of keeping work separate from my real life. Also, it is weird telling someone who knows nothing about the SCA that I am a Baroness in the SCA.  They thought it sounded neat and I'm happy someone knows.
• They served breakfast at work again.  This time the pancakes and waffles had real maple syrup to go with them.  There was fruit and bacon too.  I skipped the bacon because it is seldom crisp enough for me.  The fruit was delicious.  Yes, I made the choice to have gluten today because of maple syrup goodness.
• When I got home from work I noticed a single rosebud on the rose bush by the door.  My apologies for the blurry picture.

• Today was my turn to pick Gideon up at school.  He told me that his second day was good and that there are two teachers that he really likes.  He is supposed to learn to play the ukulele this year and he is excited for that.
• For Weaving Wednesday I got about an inch woven before it became time to get ready for sleep.  Ideally this will be finished by September 15th.  There are three more that haven't been started yet and won't be done by then.  Those champions will get IOU's this year.  My friend, Amy, is working on two others.  Hopefully at least five of the eight needed will get done before the event. I did two last year.

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

Finished listening to: Keep Moving, by Dick Van Dyke.

Started listening to: Golda Meir: The Life and Legacy, by Charles River Editors.

• There is a new movie out based on Golda Meir and I realized I know nothing about this piece of time in history.  I'm educating myself.

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

Open House

Some happy things from Flag Day:

• Last night at work we were served pancakes by the managers. I love that they always have fresh fruit and real maple syrup to go with them.
• I ordered some new pajamas and they came in the mail today. I have a hard time finding long ones in the stores so I'm glad these are as long as the ad said. Now I can throw away (or make rags out of) some that have seen better days.

• Gideon's school had an open house. I stayed up late to go. We got to play a game that Gideon designed, see the boat he made as part of a team, the classrooms, and walk around the school. It was very exciting.

Parts of the game.

The boat.

The flag for the boat.

What math is like to Gideon.

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Currently listening to: In Pieces, by Sally Field.

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

Peppermint

Some happy things from today:

• I forgot to put a mask on before going to work the other day and today I had it off to drink.  Whenever this happens I get comments like "She has a face!"  Today the comment included that I appear younger without the mask on.  I don't know how old they think I am, but I'll call this a compliment.
• I transplanted one of the peppermint plants that I started from seed.  It fell over, so I am doubtful that it will survive.  Still, glad I did it.

• Gideon had a field trip today.  He had a good time, but would have had a better time with less people. 
  
  
  
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  Currently listening to: The Librarian of Saint-Malo, by Mario Escobar.
  
  Currently reading: Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, by Lori Gottlieb.
  
  Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.
  

Waffles

Some happy things from today:

• With Gideon at public school now instead of at home school, I miss seeing him when I get home from work. Twice this week I was able to pick him up from school. This meant I was the first to hear how awesome his school day was. I’m happy that he is enjoying school, but sad that he will miss out on planting the flowers tomorrow.
• We had breakfast for dinner tonight. It was a perfect food for me because I am just getting up from my nap to eat with the family on Thursdays.

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Currently listening to: The Librarian of Saint-Malo, by Mario Escobar.

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

It's Friday!!!!!

Happy Friday! Tomorrow we are having a big, group, yard sale. Today I paced by mowing the lawn. Gideon did a great job getting most of the yard mowed yesterday and I did some of the problem areas. It felt good to get outside for a while. I am lacking in energy lately though.  Here are some other happy things for today:

• For a little while I went around with my hair down.  There is a lot of it.

• Gideon had a good time outside today on his swing.

• More tulips are blooming!

• I saw the first bumblebee of the season in our yard.

• We were all tired enough this evening to go out for dinner. It is so nice to not be the one to clean up after a meal.
• Yesterday I wrote about having the heat off, tonight it is back on. I’m thrilled.

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Currently listening to: The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho


Currently reading: Quiet:The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, by Susan Cain


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