Happy Things Friday: 15 November

Um, what now? We’re officially halfway through the penultimate month of the entire year? So far, I haven’t been a huge fan of November. (Any chance I can rewind and relive October a second time?)

This week was tough. Skies were rainy and overcast. It was windy and cold. And, to a certain extent, my mood matched the weather. For various reasons, I started the week feeling very much off my A-game. There is also a growing low-level dread about All The Things happening between now and Christmas. Of course many of them are fun, happy things, but it can start to feel like too many fun, happy things. I’m trying to be mindful about what I say Yes and No to, but there is simply a lot that needs to be done, events that really should be attended, yada yada. Also, tax season is rapidly approaching and that always fills me with dread, but even more so this year as we’re trying to make some strategic financial decisions (personally and corporately). I mostly just want to bury my head in the sand until it’s all over.

There were some parenting challenges – helping kids navigate tough situations can be exhausting. My heart aches for them. School dynamics, in particular, are HARD. I feel like it has been that way for generation after generation (bullying is not a new phenomenon and there were many cliques in my high school) but I get the sense it’s much, much harder in our current age of constant communication, limitless inputs day and night, and heightened pressure to conform, adapt, be all things for all people. I wish I had a magic wand to wave over certain situations and heal them. Alas, I don’t. And sometimes I feel incredibly inept and/or powerless to solve issues, so I’m trying to focus on being a listening ear and a safe place to land. But it’s still…hard!

And speaking of powerlessness…the hardest thing of all this week was an unexpected flare-up in a neighbourhood situation that has plagued me (our family, the neighbourhood at large) for the better part of three years. Things are “better”, but it’s still tenuous and always shocking to get pulled back – even slightly – into the traumatic vortex of the last few years.

Enough Hard Things, let’s switch gears and talk happy stuff. Thankfully, as always, there were plenty of great moments. They didn’t negate the hard. I’m not whistling Broadway tunes in my head all day. But this weekly gratitude practice helps. So much!!

PLAYDATES

This was a busy week of playdates (now referred to as “hangouts” by the teen).

It was fun. There was cookie baking and laser tag playing and trampolining. There was also plenty of complaining and sibling button pushing. But it does warm my heart to see the kids enjoying rich and diverse friendships.

There was also a lovely “playdate” for me. One day I met a friend for lunch – my main birthday gift for her this year was a meal out together. We don’t get to see each other very often, and it was wonderful to reconnect (and I must say I *love* gifting a meal out as a birthday present).

CHRISTMAS PREP

We continue to slowly pick away at Christmas preparations. The downstairs tree* is up. The kids pulled it out of storage and pieced it all together while I was out running errands last weekend. Unfortunately, they only found one string of lights…so only the bottom half was lit…but they had put ornaments over the whole tree. Do you know how hard it is to put lights on an already-decorated tree? Sigh. It’s the thought that counts and it’s now fully twinkly and festive and set to rights in the corner of our family room.

*The angel topper is a puppet Belle made years and years ago in a drama camp and most of the ornaments were handmade (nonbreakable!) by various members of the family. It’s set up for ambience only as we never linger by this tree but I love walking down the hall and seeing it aglow.

Speaking of twinkly and festive – the mantle makes me happy every single day. Belle feels the same way and will sometimes walk by it and give a happy sigh (which, as a teen, is pretty impressive since most things are met with derision, angst or, at the very least, a healthy dose of ennui).

Late one night I finally sat down and made some online purchases for the big day. I don’t want to buy things people aren’t going to use and I don’t want to buy things just to “buy” things but, also, giving/receiving gifts at Christmas is fun. I’m not done, but I’m going to consider myself well started.

Christmas cards and photocalendars arrived this week – it’s always a job I dread, but the sense of accomplishment when I click Order is glorious.

And I started wrapping! Long-time readers may recall the flooding incident from a few years ago when all my wrapped gifts got soaked. Remember that? I do! So I have packed up my wrapped gifts inside plastic bags and plastic totes!

HALLMARK MOVIES

They are pretty cookie-cutter, but every year a few rise above the rest in terms of originality and/or humour.

So far this year the front-runners are:

• A Carol for Two: small-town girl goes to NYC to make it big on Broadway but things go awry and she ends up working in a diner where she meets another struggling artist. Romance ensues. [There is a cringey character for comedic relief and Indy could not get enough!]

• The Christmas Charade: girl goes into restaurant to meet a blind date in a green sweater; she sits down with the wrong man in a green sweater who just happens to be an undercover FBI agent. Bam. A timid school librarian is suddenly wrapped up in espionage. [Both kids are obsessed with this movie. It’s good for a Hallmark, but not quite as good as they seem to think it is…]

• Trivia at St. Nick’s: Type-A university professor who hates jocks ends up needing the new football coach to round out her Christmas trivia team. You’ll just have to watch it to see if there is any gingerbread baking and Christmas-tree hunting involved…

THRIFTING

Belle has had a tiny tree in her bedroom for years, but Indy was left out of the fun. When we were out running errands on the weekend, John suggested we visit a less-frequented thrift shop in a neighbouring town and I scored an adorable little weighted tree for $5. We also bought a new-in-box twin air mattress (we don’t have any and really need to have one on hand for sleepovers, camping) for $20. I found an authentic Levi’s sweatshirt for Indy (~$3.25), and an oversized sweater for Belle (~$3.75) that will end up in their stockings on Christmas morning.

I also scored these minion mittens for $1. Indy looooooves minions and I am so excited for him to unwrap these Christmas morning! I also bought a $3 wreath to hang on the door of my parents’ rental. They don’t decorate much for Christmas since they spend the majority of their time at our house, but my mom loves Christmas and I figured a $3 expenditure was more than warranted and I’ll add in a few bits and bobs from my craft drawer to spruce it up.

I got a few other pairs of nice gloves for $1 each (we can never have enough as both kids end up losing multiple sets each winter and I am loathe to buy gloves brand new from a retail store), and a glass lidded container ($1).

NAPS

Saturday morning I woke up exhausted, so I went back to bed at 9 am for A NAP. And it felt amazing. Sunday afternoon? Another nap.

I did not get much sleep one night last week (not surprisingly, the evening of the American election – I got somewhere between 3-4 hours total and I have been playing catchup ever since). So naps felt extra important.

COZY MEALS

Bonus points when we had time to light the candles.

Butter chicken. Hamburger and veggie soup. Cheesy brioche sandwiches on the panini press. Baked French Toast. Rotisserie chicken, boxed stuffing, fiddleheads, corn, gravy.

BONUS

• Watching Hallmark movies with the kids. It’s hilarious and very sweet and fun.
• Listening to Belle practice lines; she’s anxiously awaiting the official announcement on parts (her drama class is going to perform The Legend of Sleepy Hollow next year).
• Listening to Indy practice his choir pieces for the upcoming winter concert.
• Cozy blankets.
• Tobia blogged about how she creates her stunning (stunning!!) blackout poetry. It made me happy to see some behind-the-scenes action/her process.
• Scheduling tetris. So much needed to happen this week (John was away so I was flying solo) and it was such a relief things came together. One kid was sick and missed a few events but that made other things a bit easier.
• A sick day. Indy stayed home one day with a cold and it was actually really fun! We alternated between screens – him watching, me working – and doing things together. He is a big helper and I got through some home tasks much faster than expected. I had to cancel a morning meeting, but it meant I got to stay in my PJs a bit longer.
• Belle getting to meet her drama teacher’s impossibly tiny, delicate, adorable little baby!!!!!
• Yin yoga. I haven’t been to yoga in weeks and – see above – wasn’t really feelin’ it this week, but I signed up which meant there was money on the line so then I had to go. And it was wonderful.
• Practicing with a church choir for some upcoming Live Nativity performances. It was SO fun. I really love to sing but haven’t done it much in recent years (we moved from a tiny church where I had a fairly significant role in terms of music to a much bigger church where I have zero role). I’m excited!

And that’s a wrap. Happy weekending, friends. I’ll be back tomorrow with another giveaway and to announce the winner of the Sprouted Planner!!!

Your turn. What happy things have been happening in your life lately? What’s your all-time favourite Christmas movie? What’s your ultimate “cozy” meal? How often do you nap – never, occasionally, regularly? I’d say I average 1 nap/week throughout the year, but it tends to come in clusters of 2-3 naps one week and then none for a few weeks after that.