Happy Things Friday: 16 May

We’re at the point in the spring where All The Things start happening. My American friends talk about Maycember and I tend to roll my eyes…but I’m coming to realize Maycember is really more like Majunecember here in Canada. The end of May brings that start to the school-end chaos, and it keeps on streamrolling well into June.

All the kids activities are gearing up to end and school is winding down (even though it’s not over until the end of June where we live). There are concerts and extra practices and dress rehearsals. There are conferences and special events and interviews and applications for summer things.

In other words — it’s busy!

But it was a good week and there were lots of Happy Things.

SUNSHINE

There has been a lot of sunshine this week. It has been lovely and I’ve been making the most of the warmer weather. I’ve had windows open, walked to get the mail in sandals, and started blasting upbeat music with the sunroof open every time I need to drive somewhere.

Wednesday night, Indy and I were driving home from an extracurricular. After we’d dropped off his friend, he piped up from the backseat: “Mooommmm…can we…” I’ll admit my heart sank. What request is going to come from that mouth?

“Mooommmm…can we go find a place to watch the sunset.” Um, YES!!!

I hemmed and hawed about where we could make it in time for a good view before it actually set and he told me not to bother. That would never do.

In the end, we parked at the top of a hill near our home and it was perfect. Everything was golden. Of course, he found a way to make our sunset date mildly dangerous. This kid is always jumping.

Pictures never do a sunset justice, but it was a special moment nonetheless. We stayed for a few minutes and then it was home for snacks (this kid is always hungry!), and a pre-bedtime YouTube tutorial on some specialized Minecraft thing he’s attempting to build. I don’t even pretend to understand.

When we got home he asked to take a picture and climbed a tree to he could get this shot. This is straight-out-of-camera! Absolutely no editing! It was so orange!

BELLE MANAGING RIDES

Belle has so many things on the go and, for the most part, she is now managing the scheduling by herself. She had two track events last week and I didn’t get a single text from the parents who were driving her to/from. It is delightful being somewhat out of the loop. I knew the time of departure/arrival, and was there to see her off/welcome her home but what a difference to not have to be a go-between secretary.

FOOD (AND A LOT OF SALADS)

I think salad gets a bad rap. It is all about the ratios. Too many greens, for me at least, is the main problem. I want equal parts Other Things to lettuce. With that in mind (and various Glucose Revolution tidbits rattling around in my brain), I’ve been consuming salads like it is my job.

(It’s not.)

• Belle is doing a cooking unit in school and brought home apple crisp. She HATES, HATES, HATES cooked/soft fruit, but it was absolutely delicious! There is little on this earth I enjoy more than buttery crisp topping.

• I made homemade Mac n’ Cheese for lunch on Mother’s Day. So good!

• I made salmon risotto because it’s such a hit! (With a salad on the side.)

• My go-to breakfast lately has been a few eggs with a slice of prosciutto, a slice of toasted rye bread with peanut butter, a hunk of soft mozzarella, and half an avocado. It keeps me full until lunch and is such a delight to eat. I don’t want to imagine a world without eggs. They bring me SO much joy.
• Twice this week I ate lunch on the deck. One day I texted a friend who works locally — but, to my shame, I rarely make time to see. A few minutes later she showed up in my driveway ready to hang out! She had already eaten at her office, but spent the rest of her lunch break chatting and watching ME eat.

• Another day I took out a book and just soaked up the sun.

• For dessert on Mother’s Day I made lava cakes. Why not?? They’re so good…
• At-home date night with our favourite grocery-store sushi. It was delicious.

BLOG FRIENDS

• I got an e-mail from Maria that her copy of The Trolley Car Family arrived and she was enjoying reading it to her kiddos! This delighted me to my very core since this is my absolute favourite book from childhood but, since it’s quite obscure, I haven’t had anyone to discuss it with over the years!
• Jenny’s using her new bookmark! She’s also going to Waco for her son’s college graduation and her daughter won the Outstanding Sophomore award.

• I got to go on a walk-and-talk with Kyria who continues to explore the world!!! In reality we were six time zones apart, but it was easy and delightful to live vicariously through her experiences. (And I now know some insider tips about hiking the Lycian Way.) I took a picture of a pretty flowering bush while I was on the phone with her.

• Nicole sent me the cutest birthday card. I could not figure out why it looked so familiar. Then I turned it over and realized it was one of Michelle’s original designs! What a double boost of joy.
• Jana’s art studio!
• As many of you know, Sarah has on an unexpected medical journey lately. While this isn’t the next life chapter she would have chosen, I’ve been blown away by her courage and tenacity and was delighted to learn there was so much good news from her trip to Hopkins!
• This fashion show from Ernie; I really enjoyed looking at all her outfit options!
• KRISTEN (aka The Frugal Girl) FINISHED NURSING SCHOOL!!!!!
• Kae posted travel recaps from their family trip to Utah many years ago and the pictures are stunning. Also, I could not get over the height differential.

BONUS HAPPY THINGS

• This isn’t necessarily “happy” but it made me smile. (Apparently, that doesn’t take much.) I turned out a basket of laundry and it stayed in a perfect 3D rectangle. I was disproportionately excited about this.

• I found a bathing suit with tags (and liners!) for $10 at a local consignment store. Not only was it new, it was a long-sleeved rash guard which is perfect since I am the world’s most inconsistent applier of sunscreen. AND, it has built-in cups. I do not understand why most rash guards (for women!) do not have a built-in bra. This makes zero sense. I suppose it’s so you can slip it over another bathing suit? This set comes with cups (unfortunately, they are not sewn in, but I’m not too fussed about it because I won’t be washing it nearly as often as a sports bra).

• I finally got around to patching up the dishwasher. As more and more metal prongs fall off, it leaves these sharp, irregular bits of metal (see red circles — there were about a dozen of these sharp spots) that have caused some chipping on a few dishes (all inexpensive ones — my go-to dinner plates have been fine). I found a waterproof, self-adhesive tape. So far, it’s working like a charm.

• I won a Mother’s Day prize. Last year I won a free haircut on Mother’s Day because I was the mother in church who had most recently taken their child to the emergency room (Indy for his broken thumb). This year, I won because I was able to find and answer a skill-testing question in our church’s new app first. I got a cute cup that is double-layered and has delicate flowers in the middle.
• John’s home. Phew. He has had international whiplash with so many trips back and forth across the Atlantic lately. It has been a lot of hellos and goodbyes but he is HOME for many consecutive weeks and that’s just lovely.
• It’s a Grand Prix weekend for Formula One!
• My father-in-law arrives for a week-long visit on Sunday.
• I had some silly little easy work e-mails and things I had been putting off and I just DID IT. Why do I always struggle to remember The stewing is worse than the doing?
• Reading two books I didn’t want to put down (Beautiful Ugly – 5/5 stars for me; The Clockmaker’s Daughter…started off slow and I was tempted to DNF and now I am loving it!)

Your turn.

• Cooked fruit: Yes or No?
• Happy Things in your life this week?
• What’s the last prize/draw you’ve won?