Happy Things Friday: 24 July

That was a busy week.

Saturday was FULL of errands and prepping for camp until I eventually collapsed in bed for a nap.

Sunday was church, the World Cup Final, Belle had a friend over all afternoon, and then we immediately went to camp drop off. First thing Monday morning I had my 3-year follow-up appointment from my laser eye surgery (I still have better than 20/20 vision, so YAY!), followed by a whole day of various errands.

Turns out, adulting comes with a lot of appointments and phone calls and paperwork.

That said, it was a mostly Happy Week.

THE SOUND OF SILENCE… SORT OF

This was our much-anticipated week of peace and quiet. Both kids were at sleep away camp—Belle as a leader, Indy as a camper.

It was not without hiccups.

Someone threw up the first evening of camp, mostly due to the heat, I think. One of our kids is extremely sensitive to this sort of thing. Even the sound of someone pretending to gag sets them off in a visceral way.

We got calls from camp about homesickness, and it was a juggling act of being loving and kind while also encouraging them to persevere. They were safe and mostly having a lot of fun and the child that threw up rebounded very quickly. But instead of fully relaxing into the week, I felt on edge knowing that a call might come at any point asking us to collect said child and bring them home.

BUT they did persevere. We talked on the phone each night and together we got through the week and a lot of fun was had by everyone. Next week, Indy and I are headed to the lake to see my parents, so it should hopefully be quasi-relaxing. Belle is at camp, so Indy is flying solo which means no sibling fights, but it also means he’ll want me by his side fishing for 10 hours a day.

John took Monday through Wednesday off work, so we got to sleep in.

Sort of.

Two of those mornings, we still had to be up reasonably early for appointments (again, those joys of adulting), but time feels much more expansive without kids in the house!

We also spent a lot of time working, doing little projects around the house, and going on a few long walks. It was a really great week and I’m already looking forward to next year!

CELEBRATING… US!

This week marks 17 years of marriage. He will forever and always be my favourite hunk of cheese on the charcuterie board.

17 years feels… mind-boggling. Didn’t we just get married yesterday? At the same time, it feels like forever ago. We were chatting about life over coffee this morning and were marvelling that this time next year, Belle will likely have her learner’s permit TO DRIVE A CAR.

What in the actual world?!

And what better way to celebrate our love than with a delicious steak dinner?

(Apologies, my dear vegan friends.)

I have steak once a year, in honour of our anniversary, and it’s amazing. We go to the same restaurant each and every time, The Keg. And I order the same thing each and every time: filet mignon, a twice-baked potato, and seasonal vegetables. When we make the reservation, we tell them we’re celebrating our anniversary, and every year we get dessert on the house.

This year, it was cheesecake.

Ironically enough, I usually only make my favourite Unbaked Cheesecake at Christmas. John often makes one for my birthday, but we were in Denmark this year.

I decided that while the kids were away—and in celebration of our anniversary, my birthday, and MY LOVE OF CHEESECAKE—I would make an Unbaked Cheesecake.

And then we were offered free cheesecake at the restaurant.

Bless his heart, John immediately told me that mine was better. (I happen to agree.)

Still, it wasn’t hard to choke down the restaurant’s offering. The waitress recommended getting all three available toppings—chocolate, caramel, and raspberry—and who were we to disagree?

PUTTERING

Hi. My name is Elisabeth, and one of my favourite things to do in all the world is putter.

I think my ideal day would involve at least several hours of doing things at my own speed. I don’t even know how to define what I do, exactly. It’s a mix of this and that.

Right now, I’m writing this blog post.

I prepared another bag of kids’ clothes for the consignment store. I called (you know how I feel about using the phone) and made an appointment. I used Goo Gone to remove some pesky labels.

I reorganized the storage totes in our basement. (I know, I know. It takes a special sort of person to enjoy reorganizing EMPTY totes.)

LOST AND FOUND

A major storyline this week was tearing our house apart—top to bottom—looking for a missing vehicle key.

We ran a whole bunch of errands as a family on Saturday, and by Sunday morning, one of the SUV keys was missing.

Those things are incredibly expensive to replace.

Plus, it was maddening trying to retrace our steps. We were sure it was in the house, but we had looked almost literally everywhere.

My keys have an Apple AirTag on them. John’s keys did not. Guess which set of keys went missing.

We spent hours over several days looking through couch cushions and drawers. We searched the fridge, the freezer, and every reusable tote we take to the grocery store.

In the end, the key was inside a container full of water bottles, high on a shelf.

That water bottle tote sits on a shelf above the hook where our keys go. I must have reached up to put it away, somehow snagged the key off the hook, and knocked it into the basket without realizing it.

John said he had been praying specifically that we would find it, so thank you, Lord!

The worst part of the whole thing is we had a BRAND-NEW set of extra AirTags and simply hadn’t installed them yet.

They are now attached to every set of keys we own!

THOMAS DAMBO TROLLS

• San texted me this link earlier in the week: check it out if you happen to live in the area! And for fun, here are the three Dambo Troll encounters we had in Denmark: first (Green George), second (Lille Tilde) , and third (Kaptajn Nalle).

• But that’s not all!! I watched Meagan Francis’s latest YouTube video. She now hosts The Kettle and formerly co-hosted The Mom Hour. The video was about a kayak trip with her husband, and who should make a surprise appearance but Benny the Beard Fisher—a Dambo troll located along the Manistique River in Michigan! I could not have scripted the timing better if I had planned it out.

HELPING OTHER PEOPLE SAVE MONEY

These two blog comments made me positively giddy.

First, I mentioned in this post about how there is an exceptionally good bonus deal currently being offered for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (it’s not easily available in Canada, so I’m out of luck). It nudged Julie to take the plunge AND she was able to get a referral code from Birchie which will net Birchie a few free hotel stays. I mean, I wish I could get in on the Chase action, but the absolute next best thing is sending Birchie out on more adventures because she is the GOAT of fun travel right now.

And then Amy chimed in about submitting a claim for flight compensation after I wrote about our $4,000 windfall due to a cancellation!

HAPPY THINGS LINKS

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 

Fieety Vacuum and Eufy Robot Vacuums

Funny thing: my floors stay so much cleaner when there are no kids in the house. I’ve written about various vacuum-related things before, but there are two kinds I use regularly and love. First up is this Fieety vacuum (currently on sale). John researched all sorts of options a few years ago and settled on this one for a Christmas gift. I LOVE IT. I use it daily, and a charge lasts a long time.

We use the upright vacuum in tandem with our two Eufy robot vacuums. There are all sorts of brands available now, including fancy models that vacuum AND mop. That might be the next thing…

TubShroom

You might remember that before we left for Europe, there was an issue with our main bathtub. At one point, we thought we might have to replace the entire surround, which was not going to be cheap.

In the end, it was a relatively inexpensive fix. Such a relief!

It has been so nice having everything working again, and I swear by the TubShroom. Belle and I shed so much hair, and this thing works incredibly well at catching it before it goes down the drain.

I learned about TubShrooms from my sister who has three girls with long, curly hair.

Every few weeks, I run ours through the dishwasher to help prevent mildew. Highly recommend!

Stanley Tumbler

It was hot this week and I drank a lot of water.

I know Stanley products are kind of out of fashion these days, but it’s a good thing I don’t care very much about keeping up with trends. Mine is the Rose Quartz colour. I’ve had it for years now and still love it just as much as the day I got it! Stanley (Rose Quartz).

Bogg Bag

Another thing I use every single day is my Bogg Bag.

Here’s the deal: John bought me a knock-off version, and he can’t remember where he got it. It is 100% amazing.

I’ve linked to the branded bag because I didn’t purchase my own. Places like HomeGoods sometimes sell off-brand versions, and I think Hurley makes something similar, so keep an eye out for those as they’re likely cheaper than Bogg.

I want the same bag in a bigger size and a second small one in navy blue (a bit more versatile than bright pink).

You know I’m a minimalist at heart, so the fact that I’m contemplating buying two more should speak volumes.

I love that it has a flat bottom. I use it to carry all sorts of things: my Bible and notebook to church, my keys and wallet while running errands…

When it isn’t being used outside the house, I fill it with my planner, notebook, and pen case because I’m constantly carting those things between our dining room table and my basement office.

Pilot Juice Up 04 Pens

Speaking of pens, SHU has my undying thanks for introducing me to the Pilot Juice Up 04

These are, hands down, my favourite pens.

They do smudge a little if you try to highlight over them immediately. That said, I know SHU is left-handed and uses them, so you know the smudging isn’t terrible.

They write flawlessly.

At this point, they’re the only pens John uses and I took half a dozen with me to Europe so I would have access to them at all times.

Apple AirTags

As mentioned above, ALL our keys now have Apple AirTags (currently on sale) attached to them. John also has a wallet with a little compartment for an AirTag. (We have used AirTags for years and they link so well with our Apple devices, but there are all sorts of other similar devices out there, like Tile.)

Adhesive Door Stoppers

I can’t seem to find the original pictures of the damage, but years ago, Belle’s door handle—more specifically, the lock on the handle—made a large gouge in her wall.

I put a hook over it, and then the hook fell off and made an even bigger hole. I didn’t lose too much sleep over it because her room hadn’t been touched since we moved in and the walls were in rough shape.

Eventually, we had the wall patched when her room was painted. Within a day, Indy opened the door with gusto and, DESPITE HAVING a floor-mounted doorstopper, the handle punched another hole into the freshly repaired drywall. It is so disappointing.

I used Plasti-Tak to secure a butterfly over the hole, bought yet another doorstopper, and figured there was no point fixing it again.

When we arrived home from Europe, I immediately noticed that the same thing had happened inside our freshly painted primary bedroom.

Argh!

The hole was big enough that I didn’t want to just leave it—it was very obvious—but I also had no desire to coordinate another drywall repair.

My solution was these inexpensive adhesive rubber stoppers

So far, they have been amazing!

I needed something that would stop the door, and I wanted something that would cover the hole. Done and done.

I took down the butterfly in Belle’s room and put one over that damage, too and I plan to use them proactively in a few other places.

(I measured the hole and settled on the 2.3-inch size, but they come in several sizes and colours.)

BONUS HAPPY THINGS

• Indy received some money from my father-in-law at Christmas and hadn’t spent it yet. It was burning a proverbial hole in his pocket, and he decided to buy a new soccer ball. We typically get sporting equipment second-hand, so he was proud as punch to have a brand-new ball. I snapped a picture to send to my father-in-law of Indy posing in front of a Jacob Shaffelburg jersey. Shaffelburg is a Canadian soccer player who played in the World Cup, and he grew up in our area playing for the same soccer club Indy now plays for.

• We also organized Indy’s daily camp outfits—socks, underwear, bottoms, and a top—into individual bags so he could pull them out one day at a time. I know that when we pick him up, EVERYTHING will be a mess and need to be washed. But it felt good sending him off to camp at least quasi-organized. (At this point, Belle handles everything herself from start to finish.)
• Jana’s two posts about finding a stained glass heirloom and having it restored and installed at her house were utterly heartwarming.
• Kae, SHU, and Jenny got to hang out together in Florida last weekend. Yes, I WAS/AM JEALOUS! Also, I’m continuing to try to find a way to convince Jenny to come to Canada to run an ultra in my hometown. I’m at the point of getting other people to talk her into it…(Kae and SHU, back me up here! Nova Scotia is lovely in October, RIGHT!!!)

• Speaking of Jenny, her son gets married tomorrow, so make sure to go over to her blog and give her some love! What a big, exciting, and special day for her whole family <3

Finally, a reminder that I’m hosting a little gratitude practice over on Patreon this August (a smaller version of our beloved FIG Collective).

Happy weekending friends.

Your turn:

• What happy things have been brightening your week?
• Do you like to putter?
• Tell me about the most ridiculous place you’ve found a lost/misplaced item! I bet there are some fabulous stories.