Well, the first Happy Thing on my list is a surprise visit from my sister who flew up from South Carolina yesterday with her oldest daughter (who is currently expecting my parents’ first great-grandchild). And by surprise, I mean it was a surprise to my parents and the kids, but not to those of us responsible for picking them up at the airport and housing them!
It was surprisingly easy to keep the secret. John took Belle to the airport under a ruse and she was SHOCKED. They’re only here until early next week – so the visit is short and sweet – but it’s wonderful to be together.
Since I have limited time to enjoy this round of family visits, I’m sticking with a rapid-fire bonus round.
HAPPY THINGS
- Getting back into a routine. It feels good to wake up, see the kids off to school, and have a general idea of how the day will unfold. I was starting to feel a bit squirrely after several weeks of more nebulous schedules.
- Open space in the basement. It is amazing how much lighter the entire house feels without the treadmill taking up a big chunk of our family room.
- Ferrari loves his beta leaf! It is so sweet to watch him resting on it.
- My brother and sister-in-law treated us to lunch before they headed back to Denmark.
- Drinking my favourite brand of green tea out of my favourite mug.
- Summer camp registration. It’s done! Last year I signed Indy up too late (it was only a few days after registration opened – goodness, spots go fast) to be there with his closest friends. This year, I made sure to coordinate things ahead of time and I ended up registering both kids less than 15 minutes after the website opened. They will both be there on weeks close friends are also attending. Yay! Done! It was a bit complicated because Belle is going to be a bridesmaid in a wedding this summer, so I needed to leave open space in the lead-up to that which impacted our options. But I think everyone is happy with the arrangements.
- Clean sheets.
- Reading in front of the Christmas tree. Belle was in a corner chair with a Harry Potter book, and I was sprawled on the couch reading The Berry Pickers (LOVED!).
- The Christmas tree in general. And LEGO. And little (well, not-so-little) boys playing with new LEGO in front of said tree.
- Getting the kids to do more chores. I’ve started writing a list of 2-3 things for them to do when they get home for school. They’re all easily doable and it helps me delegate some fiddly tasks like switching out the candles on our table, picking things up off their bedroom floors for the robovac, and prepping their lunchboxes.
- Belle made supper and dessert! Our neighbour makes the BEST peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, so Belle went over and asked for the recipe. I did nothing but sit on the couch and read and eat some dough when she brought it my way. It was as amazing as it sounds. After cookies, she made boxed Mac n’ Cheese. It was all great, especially since I didn’t have to lift a finger.
- My first two books for 2025 went back to the library with anonymous encouraging notes inside!
- Slowcooker soups. I dump veggies, spices, a couple of potatoes and cook for hours. Some coconut milk, salt to taste, and the immersion blender. Done!
- The feeling of satisfaction I get after finishing a workout at the gym. Who knew I liked lifting (Kae is especially proud)!
- While Indy had his mid-week basketball practice (we were on carpool duty that night), there was an hour to fill and I wanted to pick up some Canada-themed items for visiting family. First we stopped at a nice home goods store – we walked out with a few baby items, but NOTHING that even hinted at Canada. We still had about twenty minutes before we needed to be at basketball practice, so swung by a local thrift store and within 10 minutes we were checking out with these two items. The snow suit (new) was $7 and the mug ($5) screams understated patriotism which is exactly my I’ve-lived-in-America-for-decades-but-I’m-Canadian-first sister’s vibe.
And that’s a wrap on Happy Things in my world this week.
Your turn.
- What Happy Things top your list?
- Have you ever been in on a big surprise party or trip? Tell me everything about it!
- What’s the latest you’ve ever left your Christmas tree up and decorated?
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