I had this post ready to go live on Friday morning and then life happened and I posted an update from… the ER instead of a Happy Things Friday post.
But all the things I had intended to post on Friday still happened and were true. Also, life is still feeling chaotic and if I want to post five times this week, I need to lean into all the prepped content I have waiting in the wings.
So here’s my Happy Things Friday: 28 August… a few days late.
Coming to the end of this summer feels like coming to the end of an era. Almost exactly six months ago, our kids left school routines and friends, and we gave up my much-beloved structure for an epic family adventure.
We came back and basically immediately jumped into a very hectic—yet relatively unstructured (for Indy at least)—summer.
This time next week the kids will have completed their first day back to school. Ironically enough, Indy is going to school on Thursday and then playing hooky on Friday. I KNOW! But John has an annual tradition of going deep-sea fishing around this time of year. Last September, they went too late for cod season, so the goal was to make sure things fit with the narrow window for that specific fishing season. The only date that worked was next Friday… which happens to be the kids’ second day back to school.
Never mind the fact they start school on a Thursday before a long holiday weekend. The bizarre timing is due to the number of snow days we had last year/in anticipation of more missed days in the coming academic term. But I can’t imagine attendance will be very good??
We’re currently at the lake for a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it trip to see my parents (John’s brother and family are still at our house!). For a while we weren’t sure if we could make this work, but it was important to me that Belle got some time at the lake. She’s been here every year since birth and she loves it so much. I’m hoping the weather cooperates and we can cram a lot of fun and special memories into a few short days. [Our visit turned out a bit differently than expected!]
Now, let’s talk Happy Things.
SUCCESSFUL HOSTING: ROUND #1
Hosting company is always and forever going to bring me a certain amount of stress. But, almost always, as is the case for so many things in life, the stewing is worse than the doing.
Plans changed at the last minute and my parents weren’t able to come which made things… a lot easier. Two fewer mouths to feed. Fewer people to coordinate in terms of schedules and accommodations.
My brother, sister-in-law, and her mother were willing participants in cleaning up after meals, but mostly did their own thing each day. They borrowed a vehicle (and just filled it up when the tank got empty), and drove all over Nova Scotia exploring on their own time and schedule. They went to Annapolis Royal and visited Fort Anne; they went to Port Royal and walked through The Habitation. They went to Lunenburg (and explored The Bluenose) and Mahone Bay and saw the famous three churches and bought souvenirs at Amos Pewter. They went to Halifax and hiked up Citadel Hill, went to the graveyard that holds the remains of largest numbers of victims from the Titanic disaster (121 at Fairview Lawn Cemetery, if anyone was curious), went to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic (and saw lots of Titanic artifacts), and learned all about immigration at Pier 21. They went to local vineyards and walked on the ocean floor at Cape Blomidon.
There were still lots of moving pieces, extra food to plan and prepare for, laundry, some logistics. But things went remarkably smoothly.
When they arrived, the weather forecast showed nothing but rain for their entire visit. I’m naturally a pessimist (please refer above to my blog name), but I’ve learned that forecasting the weather is one area where a person can be wrong 100% of the time and not lose their job. Weather forecasts seem to be loose suggestions, at best.
Not only did it not rain AT ALL when they were here, they had hours of sunshine almost every single day.
Now, did I heave a huge sigh of relief after the final hug was given and they were loaded into the SUV with John and Belle to head to Peggy’s Cove—the one Nova Scotia landmark they hadn’t been able to visit yet—en route to the airport? YES. But it was a success and I survived and memories were made.
I think company is one of those situations when my remembering self is the happiest. The anticipation usually fills me with dread and there are just so many moving parts (coordinating schedules, washing linens, changing beds, planning for extra people and more elaborate meals). The experiencing self can enjoy it, but I’m also usually exhausted and I am almost always up late at night which means I stay up even later to get some alone time with a book to unwind.
But my remembering self can focus on the best memories with none of the responsibility!
The positive comments about our food and cooking and hospitality.
Watching the kids play badminton with their uncle.
Laughing at inside jokes and reminiscing about all sorts of decades-old shared memories with my brother. (And getting a front-row seat to an incredible story of him reconnecting with a long-lost friend!)
They did leave one unfortunate legacy behind. I went into the main bathroom (which I rarely use because John and I have an ensuite), and immediately noticed something wrong after my brother replaced the toilet paper roll.
This is an outrage!!
BEST OF BOTH WORLDS
It was so fun to revisit my chat with Sarah on Best of Both Worlds. Listen to the episode here!
And here’s the blog post I wrote to accompany that podcast appearance.
A FEW QUIET HOURS
Last Saturday, after our first batch of company left and before the next set arrived, I had a few hours to myself. I was almost paralyzed. And I will admit, my first thought was to get on top of some cleaning.
I ate toast with peanut butter and chocolate. I painted my nails. I watched a series of silly YouTube videos for no reason other than entertainment.
I cleaned zero toilets…
HELPING NEIGHBOURS
Last Saturday morning I was at the local farmer’s market with my brother and crew when I got a phone call from one of our neighbours. They were away at a wedding but noticed the weather forecast called for heavy rainfall and they needed us to close some windows in their house and put some weather-sensitive plants under shelter.
They explained where their spare key was hidden and gave me instructions on what to do.
Last week, two neighbourhood boys who are like surrogate nephews in our household were down… a lot. We took them to some activities they needed rides for, they came over to play badminton, and basically every night my brother was visiting one of the two boys—both teenagers—was sitting around our dinner table at night.
Another day our doorbell rang and a lady in our neighbourhood was stopping by to drop off an enormous zucchini, fresh from her garden. We grilled it later that same day for dinner.
All these experiences warm my heart. We’ve had some very complicated neighbourhood interactions where we live, but apart from one (admittedly large) issue… we have such wonderful, kind neighbours.
FUN THINGS IN THE FUTURE
While admittedly the last few weeks of the summer have been hectic and I’ve been tired, there are fun things to look forward to!
- Next week we go see The Odyssey in IMAX. I’m excited!
- Next week the kids go back to school which means I have a “shouldless day” planned!
- I keep forgetting that I have a trip to San Diego booked for February 2027!
- Fall weather. I do love fall. Pumpkin-spiced everything, and beautiful foliage. Also, Cool Bloggers Walking Club. I need to start thinking about this; stay tuned for an official announcement at some point in September.
I EUFYED OUR BEDROOM FLOOR
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I hadn’t used our robot vacuum to clean under our bed since getting back from Europe (and we had put them away when we went… so it’s been 6+ months since the hidden nooks and crannies really got cleaned).
(I do use our beloved cordless vacuum to get the visible floor surface clean multiple times a week.)
I took a few minutes to pick everything up off the floor last weekend, set it to run while I was away with Indy for bridge jumping… and completely forgot about it. When I walked into my bedroom THERE WERE clean floors not just within the visible sight line, but under the bed, too.
Magic.
While it’s mostly out of sight/out of mind, there is something satisfying about knowing all that dust is gone.
BONUS HAPPY THINGS
- Twinkle lights outside on the patio. (Bonus Happy Thing: they’re attached to an automatic plug, so they come on without me having to go outside.)
- Joy’s back from her trip to see family. We haven’t been settled in the same location for SIX months and I am really looking forward to more consistent time together.
- Indy and I are making our way through the second Percy Jackson book at bedtime. He’s so invested in these stories!
- Home manicures. I have my go-to summer look and I just repeat it each week. So easy. It doesn’t chip (or show chips/wear). While it’s not quite as glossy as Seche Vite, I 10/10 prefer the Essie Gel Top Coat. It is shiny and dries quickly and unlike Seche Vite, it doesn’t cause shrinkage! (I also use this Orly Rubberized Base coat and am wearing the shade Miss Ballet from European polish line Nail Kind.)
- Badminton! We have had SO much fun with this inexpensive net. It takes a couple of minutes to set up/tear down, and comes with a handy storage bag. The kids have spent a lot of time playing; there are already wear marks on the lawn from their bare feet!!
- A new garbage system. For years we had fall and spring “clean” up which was a separate day where people could put large items for trash out on the curb for collection. It’s a whole thing in our local area. People go out in trucks with giant trailers looking for appliance parts and all sorts of repairable things. When we got back from Europe I discovered they had done away with this schedule in favour of a bi-weekly allowance of two large trash items. At first I wasn’t sure what to think, but now I love it! We don’t tend to hold on to many things, so we only very intermittently have anything that needs larger-item disposal, and it was a proper nuisance to store things for months and months. Bonus, there are fewer things at the curb so people scavenging for parts can see what’s there more easily. The family who stayed in our house left a little plastic trike behind that I was confident someone else would want, so I put it by the road ahead of garbage day hoping someone would rescue it… and sure enough someone we know with a young granddaughter scooped up the trike! Win-win!
- I bought this Tupperware divided tray at a thrift store last year and it gets almost daily use when we have company. It’s just so convenient to fill up with fruits and veggies and toss it on the table.
That’s it for now.
I’ll be back on Friday with MORE Happy Things. In the meantime, it’s your turn:
- Tell me some Happy Things from your world this week.
- Does your local garbage collection have a “big trash” schedule?
- What fun thing in your near future (say, the next 2 months?) are you most looking forward to?
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loved you on BOBW 🙂
Awww. Thanks, Sarah! (And I loved YOU on BOBW!)
Happy things are welcome on all days of the week!
My happy thing is that every time that I see TP loaded the wrong way that it makes me chuckle a little bit because you have called it out. Something that is inherently annoying is now amusing.
Zero toilets were cleaned is a maxim for a good life! There is a time and a place for everything.
Not only did I shirk my toilet-cleaning duties, my floors, Birchie. THEY ARE HORRIFIC. I MUST mop them, but today is not going to be the day (and tomorrow probably won’t be either).
Oooh I love that divided tray.
What a lot of great happy things! I think the best guests are the ones that entertain themselves – it’s so nice to just be the host and have your company go out and explore!
You were great on the podcast! I loved hearing your voice.
It’s harvest around here, and it’s a really great energy. It’s Jake’s second harvest, but his first as a full-time employee, so it’s very cool to see it all happen!
That tray is a GOAT in my summer kitchen.
What a special time of year in your area; I can see Jake enjoying the experience. There must be such a sense of satisfaction at the end of a hard, productive day of work.
Yay for Happy Things on a Wednesday! I had to laugh at that photo of the toilet paper, because I remember Kae saying that when she visited you, she was going to sneak around your house and switch all the toilet paper rolls to under. (Sadly she never got a chance though).
So is tomorrow the first day of school? It does seem like a very weird start schedule! I’ll bet a lot of people will be playing hooky.
My Happy Things are fall! Pumpkins! I put orange twinkle lights in our living room! Our September weather will be extremely gross (hot humid, rainy, maybe a hurricane thrown in for fun) but it is fall in my heart.
Haha! I will say that my brother certainly didn’t do it to irk me… he just either doesn’t care (maybe the most horrifying thought), or he does it the wrong way (slightly less horrifying).
Tomorrow is the first day of school. It’s so weird. In fact, I don’t think a single time in my life have I seen kids go back before Labour Day, at least in the public schools.
“Fall is in my heart.” Yes! I got to wear a sweater today and I was so happy, Jenny. I won’t be as enthusiastic when there is snow on the ground (though I’m going to try to work on that as well), but for now I am really enjoying the crisper air.
First “the stewing is worse than the doing” is brilliant so I am stealing that. Thank you!
My Happy Things are mostly an attempt to reframe some hassles:
1. Getting immediate help from friends when I locked my keys in the car (first time in my entire 49 years of driving!)
2. The internet repair guy came exactly on time and took a little over an hour to get us running again
3. We survived 3 days without internet, phones, or teevee (it was tricky to figure out who to call when I locked the keys in the car because there was no way to reach my husband at home)
4. An eye infection is developing and when it is late enough, I’ll text my optometrist for a prescription
5. We finally have a pharmacy in our little town so I won’t have to drive 25 miles to get the prescription.
6. My husband’s iPad croaked and after offering for 3-4 years to buy him a new one, it got done.
7. We have the $$$$$$$$ (yes, exaggerating the $) to pay for the new thing.
8. The stupid old iPad (4th generation while the new ones are 11th) FIXED ITSELF. Too bad. NOT returning the new one.
9. Bumbled around until I finally re-added a Subscribe thing to my blog. WHY IS WORDPRESS SO COMPLICATED? WHY DID IT ERASE THE SUBSCRIBE THING??
10. My dear friend from Texas is in California for awhile and I get to go see her 3-1/2 hours away instead of flying to Texas!
I *think* I got “the stewing is worse than the doing” from Gretchen Rubin/Liz Craft? I think of that saying often.
Yay for so many happy things, including some very pesky annoyances that have silver linings (an eye infection is NOT fun, but having a pharmacy handy is definitely a happy thing; having the internet go down is not fun, but hooray for a quick fix, etc).
I hope your husband enjoys the new iPad. Technology is great when it works, but so often… it doesn’t and it is oh so frustrating!
If I’m reading this right, the kids go back to school tomorrow. Hurrah!! Mine go back NEXT Tuesday and Thursday (K starts 2 days later, which I loathe). We don’t have childcare for Will for Tues/Wed so I took Tuesday off and will go to the zoo or do something else like that with him; Phil is in charge of him on Wednesday but he’s planning to bring him to work with him because there is a meeting he can’t miss?? (good luck to him…)
I’m enjoying this quiet week without the kids in the house. We aren’t exactly “living it up” but we did go to an OTF class together yesterday. It was fun to show Phil what the classes were like. That meant we didn’t eat dinner until 8pm which is so very late for us. Tonight I have book club which will be another high of the week! And then we have a long weekend. I head up to my parents on Friday to get the boys. My DC sister arrives Sat afternoon for a week stay. We’ll only overlap for about 24 hours as the boys and I will leave after dinner on Sunday night so they had one day at home to sort of get back into their routines before Paul starts school on Tuesday. I am bummed to not see more of my sister and her family but so it goes.
Yup. They go back tomorrow. TOMORROW, Lisa! I am so, so excited and also… don’t really feel ready practically. Like the house is a mess, I don’t have the items they have requested for lunchboxes in the house, and their bookbags aren’t packed. Oh well, they don’t seem to care about things being too organized and I am about to go put a clean load of laundry away, so there is that.
I think just having a normal week but without kid logistics is the best way to spend that week. Things just… run more smoothly without two pint-sized humans to work around and entertain and drop off/pick up.
I’m sorry you don’t have more time with your sister, but I’m sure the boys have had a BLAST with their grandparents. What a fun summer tradition.
You worded so well how I feel about hosting company. I’m trying to not stress about it before hand and enjoy it more in the moment, but my tendency is to enjoy the memories.
I think realizing that—that the experiencing self is going to be overwhelmed, but the remembering self will appreciate the experience—is a very helpful reframe. It allows me to let go of the stress of the moment and, ironically enough, I think I end up enjoying the experiencing self a bit more!
NOOOO! The horror of the wrongly loaded TP! I cannot!
I am equally thrilled and exhausted about your travels and then immediately hosting company at your house back to back. As much as it is to have this quality time with family, it can be quite overwhelming. As you know, I also always try to squeeze too much and too many people into my visits back home and I can relate to the remembering self being much more appreciate of the precious memories that were made than the experiencing self at the moment… although I wouldn’t change anything for the world!
That manicure is perfect! Such a pretty color!
August was such an intense month. I knew it was going to be, so I definitely went into it with my eyes wide open to the fact it would be exhausting. Some things ended up being easier than anticipated and some things ended up being a lot harder.
But it’s done and we made good memories, we did some hard things. Also, I’m SO GLAD IT’S OVER!
I have the same “stewing” habit and it always turns out just fine. Worrying for nothing. When I find the toilet paper that way, I change it 🙂
Oh, we definitely change the TP, too!! I noticed the “issue” immediately after walking in the bathroom. It looks so foreign to me because our whole nuclear family knows the proper way to put on TP.
Often I find at least part of what I’m stewing about doesn’t even happen! That doesn’t stop me from stewing, though. (Unfortunately.)
Ha! The toilet paper made me laugh out loud! I am here for a happy things Wednesday post! I love the twinkle lights on your beautiful privacy fence. Your manicure is so pretty, and I have added supplies to my cart. I’m glad that everything went well with your company. I’m the same – the stewing is worse than the doing. If only stewing was effective in some way – like I’d end up with an actual delicioius stew! I will listen to the podcast next!
I have LOVED this manicure process! I just did it again yesterday.
Ha. Agreed. I do wish the stewing helped. In a way, I think it’s my way of processing and preparing and while I wish I could tone it down a bit, I think I’m also conscious of the fact that I am stewing and at the back of my mind I also try to be pragmatic and realize that things are rarely as difficult as I expect them to be/build them up in my mind.
Have you ever heard the phrase “anticipatory grief”? I first heard it in the context of the pandemic when every day seemed to bring fresh horrors and changes to our routines. Then I realized that I often suffer from “anticipatory fatigue”! Just knowing all of the things that need to happen, from large to small, can feel overwhelming. Knowing this about myself doesn’t make it any easier, necessarily, but it DOES help me give myself grace to intentionally carve out quiet time or make easy swaps both ahead of and after the hosting event.
HOORAY for back to school. My girls went back on Tuesday and it is REMARKABLE how much of a difference it makes. They’re also going to bed much earlier now and seem to be overall better regulated (when I was expecting some degree of disgruntlement!). I’m on maternity leave for another month, and the younger girls are still going to daycare 2 days a week, so yesterday it was just George in the house and it was GLORIOUS.
Yes! Yes! Yes! I can so relate to both of these (the grief and the fatigue).
“Knowing this about myself doesn’t make it any easier, necessarily, but it DOES help me give myself grace to intentionally carve out quiet time or make easy swaps both ahead of and after the hosting event.”
I agree that going in with my eyes wide open, so to speak, really does help. It’s not easier, but I don’t put as much pressure on myself to perform at my highest level.
Aww. I love that you get this special time alone with George. I’m sure everyone is happier with the return to routine. It makes a big difference.
Hosting sounds so stressful. I don’t even want to host my book club at my apartment, lol. I just don’t feel like I’m good at it and I’d rather try to be a good guest than a good host. But I also get that feeling of dread before trips and weekends away with friends. Even though I know I’m going to have a good time, it’s always there!
My New England road trip is just a few weeks ago, so that’s what I’m looking forward to!
What an interesting reframe!!! “I’d rather try to be a good guest…” I don’t think I’ve ever once thought about it from that perspective and it’s fascinating. I need to ponder this a bit.
Gah! Your trip is so close. I hope it’s AMAZING.