OH MY WORD, FRIENDS. THIS IS MY LAST DAY IN CANADA.
(I know some people dislike all caps, but I have a feeling I’m going to be leaning on this technique heavily in today’s post.)
IT IS GO TIME. (Almost.)
I’m… mostly ready. All the dithering about what to take, all the strategizing to use up the odds and ends of this and that, all the prioritizing of chores, all the setting and attending of appointments has led to this moment. The suitcases are packed. The fridge, freezer, and cupboards are essentially empty. The sheets are washed. Teeth have been checked by dentists, hair has been cut. And we have hours—not days—before we set off on our big trip.
Eeks.
TAXES/BOOKWORK
To be clear, the Happy Thing isn’t taxes… although, because of instalment payments, we’re supposed to be getting a refund both personally and corporately, which is nice. Mostly I’m just relieved corporate taxes are done.
Our long-time accountant had a medical emergency before Christmas and I had to shift everything to a brand new accounting firm! It felt daunting at first, but things have gone remarkably smoothly.
Personal taxes are next. I’m still waiting on one final document (I stepped down from my university gig—after 16+ years—last August, which means I’m no longer an employee and can’t access my T4 digitally anymore… so I’m waiting for that to be mailed out).
Anyhoo. Things are moving.
I did some of the monthly bookwork for our company through July. I can set up pre-payments for certain things I usually handle monthly, so that’s done and off my list. It added pressure to my plate now, BUT it means I literally won’t have to think about some backend tasks until we get back to Canada.
JOHN, PACKING GURU
John is an incredible husband and father for many reasons, but today I would be remiss to not highlight his near-magical packing abilities.
To be fair, he sometimes travels 100+ days in a year, so he knows how to prep a suitcase efficiently.
He helped me finalize what clothes to take and then HE PACKED MY LUGGAGE FOR ME.
It is a work of art, my friends. A work of folded cotton and polyester art.
BELLE’S BIRTHDAY PARTY
Lots of Happy Things lumped together here.
- I always quasi-dread (in the little years, I outright dreaded them, no quasi about it) birthday parties. There is pressure and there are logistics. Even though it’s worlds easier now (Belle managed all the invites and everyone RSVP’d to her, not me), there were still things to think through. And it’s done! And it was a big success! Hooray.
- She has so many friends. She had nine girls over and could have invited another dozen. I had… two friends at her age?? It’s so fun to hear them talking and laughing, and I try not to take my kids’ friendships for granted.
- We bought most of the food pre-fab. I cut up veggies and fruit (she specifically asked for strawberries, and they happened to be on an amazing sale!), but we ordered pizza and a cake and I bought two bottles of pop (also on sale). Done.
HOT SHOWERS
I was feeling stressed and tired and ALL THE THINGS, and a few long, hot showers did wonders for my muscles and mental health.
HEARTFELT GOODBYES
I felt so loved this week. I lost track of the number of people who messaged me to wish us well on our trip. We’re going to miss people, and we’re going to be missed. The latter is a very special feeling/realization.
A friend texted me a picture from our church’s midweek youth group when the pastor was praying for our family. My heart swelled. THESE ARE MY PEOPLE. I am going to miss our church—which truly feels like an extension of home—so much. But what a blessing to have something that wonderful to miss, right?!!
EAGLES
Another thing I often take for granted? How many bald eagles I get to see! I would say it’s extremely rare for me to go more than a few days without seeing an eagle. They really are majestic birds. Many days I see them multiple times… if I remember to look up.
I’ve been making a mental note of how frequently I spot eagles and each time I do I reflect on Isaiah 40:31 (NET) — But those who wait for the Lord’s help find renewed strength; they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings, they run without growing weary, they walk without getting tired.
Thinking about that verse WHILE ACTUALLY WATCHING AN EAGLE SOAR ABOVE ME is an awe-inspiring experience.
BONUS HAPPY THINGS
- Sunshine!
- FIG collection (officially, at least) is over. I still track gratitude almost every day, but it feels good to have wrapped up a “challenge” that was a bit more formal.
- A well-timed nap. See above re: stress.
- Time with Joy. I was determined to fit in lots of visits with her this week, and we did just that. In true friend form, she came to my house to help me with chores.
- Snail mail. A Valentine’s card from an aunt and a postcard from Nicole!
- My Instant Pot. It has come in clutch lately. I made pulled pork and honey garlic chicken this week, which conveniently used up A LOT of things in my fridge and freezer.
- Indy has been bitten by the chess bug. When there’s no one around to play with him… he plays by himself!
- Can I say sunshine again??? It makes such a difference in my mood.
- Checking things off my to-do list. We’ve had so many items to deal with ahead of leaving, and it is deeply satisfying to be down to the last few tasks.
- Watching Indy with his bestie. They’ve spent a lot of time together lately (this friend was away for all of January!). They’ve been chums since preschool! Indy had to finish a writing project early (so he can submit it before our trip), and his friend read the handwritten draft Indy needed to type up for his final submission. They worked SO hard together—tweaking sentence structure and comma placement. It was the sweetest thing.
- Increased daylight. Coming out of a store while running errands at 6:30 and seeing a beautiful sunset is another thing I could easily take for granted.
- One last trip to the ski hill.
That’s a wrap for today. I’ll be popping in and out of the blog with regular updates, and I’ll continue to post over at Patreon every Tuesday and Thursday while I’m away.
Happy weekending! I’ll “see you” in Europe.
Your turn:
- Tell me a few Happy Things from your week!
- What’s your dream birthday cake: flavour, decoration, etc.
- Who was your childhood best friend and where did you meet each other?
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I can’t believe you are leaving tomorrow! Safe and happy travels! I can’t wait to read about your family’s adventures in Europe! It’s so amazingly cool that you guys are doing this. I am deeply impressed by all of it, the decision, the execution, the enthusiasm! Thank you for letting us all experience this vicariously through you!
That makes two of us: it feels like yesterday we decided to take this trip (obviously not really, it has been MANY months) and now we’re down to a single sleep? It feels like I’m living in an alternate universe 🙂
Thanks for your kind words. It does take a lot of energy and intention to go ahead with something like this and so validating to get your feedback. My enthusiasm is all over the place, but I think partly because there is so much to do before we leave and so I don’t think I’ll be truly excited until we’re ON THE PLANE tomorrow.
What a wonderful assortment of happy things! And hot showers made the list!!
My happy things:
*soneone found the keys I dropped at work yesterday and turned them into security.
*my spring break starts later today.
* warm, fluffy cat sitting on my feet and a plush cat watching over me from his cozy spot on the ottoman.
*happy thing then rescinded: I received a cute t-shirt in the mail. I thought one of sisters sent it to boost my spirits. Nope- neither of them. One suggested it was a brushing scam, and after looking at the package more critically, she’s right. That popped my bubble of happiness. I’ll just donate the shirt. It wasn’t my size anyway.
You’re going on your great adventure!! Have a grand and glorious time – with great food, beautiful sites, few whines, and many wonderful memories made!
I’ll miss your regular posts- you have such a way with words. It’s also nice to have something fun/interesting/thought provoking to read in the middle of the night. ( I guess I’ll have to work on my Octordle statistics instead.)
Bon Voyage and Godspeed!
We are Hot Shower Kindred Spirits <3
Hooray for finding keys. Those are expensive to replace, a true hassle, and a security risk to have them missing. What a relief!
I have NEVER heard of brushing scams... I learn something new every day. Too bad it was a scam.
I'm hoping for very little whining. Will report back 😉
ENJOY THE TRIP, Elisabeth!! It’s going to be awesome!
Kai is my packing hero, too. I just put everything next to the suitcase and he does the rest. Usually there are some “do you really want to take that with you” comments but he always manages to get everything in. It’s a skill!
What is it about guys and packing efficiency? He packed ALL of our bags. I’ll be happy to get to Vienna and unpack for a solid month because it’s hard to live out of a suitcase that you have to be in/out of every day.
Can’t wait to see you in Switzerland NEXT MONTH, Lord willing <3
Safe travels and have fun!!!!
Love the eagles ! There’s a compost facility we drive by regularly and it smells horribly but in winter it’s an eagle hotspot. We usually see 2-8 bald eagles, at least! I grew up with them being a rare sight so it’s especially fun.
There are a lot of bald eagles in our area to begin with, but it feels like I see them so much more now. Not sure why?
They really are majestic.
Ahhh, I can’t believe it’s here already! Feels like just 5 minutes ago we were talking about it when I was in Nova Scotia and it was still all a “maybe” at that time! I literally feel like I could exhale a big sigh of relief on your behalf, that’s how much I also dread the whole packing/ getting ready for a trip part… it feels SO SO GOOD when it’s done and you can just enjoy the rest! Can’t wait to hear how it’s going… promise to at least text me some pics if you get behind on blog posting 😉 Safe travels and HAVE FUN!!
I can’t believe it either; I guess that makes two of us – haha.
I KNOW YOU FEEL MY PAIN ABOUT PACKING. So many decisions and so many things to get done to get the house ready for people staying here, plus all the normal life things. I am so happy to get to today and have every single suitcase packed, yet another load of laundry running and the finish line of preparations in sight.
I will definitely be texting (and blogging).
GAH!!! Leaving for Europe is definitely an all-caps occasion. I’ve been thinking about you all week- I can only imagine how stressful it’s been but now it’s done and you are LEAVING. I absolutely can’t wait to hear all about it.
So sweet about Belle’s birthday- yes, that’s a lot of friends! I think teenagers prefer store-bought food over homemade, which is just fine! Less work for us.
SAFE TRAVELS!!! <3
IT’S GETTING REAL!!!!!! Safe and happy travels, and I can’t wait to hear about your adventures.
Increased daylight FTW! DST starts this weekend (for those of us in North America anyway – you won’t get it in Europe for a few more weeks). But at least there is a lot more daylight than there was. Spring is coming!
My happy thing is that I’m wrapping up a three state capitol sweep this week! And then I’m heading home in time for a family party tomorrow.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH YOUR LAST DAY IN CANADA
sunrise, sunset
I cannot believe it’s here! It’s finally here! I am excited for you to get on the plane. Oh, I cannot wait for the updates!
So many happy things, I especially love that cake and wish I was there to eat it.
I’m so glad the postcard arrived in time! I have been slow at sending them out, I still have a ton to do, but I wanted to get yours in the mail asap!
Lots of good things going on around here, the girls had a nice lunch for the March babies yesterday. Today I’m getting a pedicure and going to the mall because my book is in stock at the Indigo there! And the library is going to feature it as one of the “regional reads” so eeeeeeee!
I am so happy for your family to take this epic adventure together. You are creating so many memories!! What fun! And hey, even if you have a bad day or two…it’s still a bad day IN EUROPE 🙂 Praying for your safe travels and can’t wait for the checkins!
So excited for your family!! Can’t wait to read about your adventure–it’s truly going to be once in a lifetime. Also, off topic for this post, but you were looking for books to read, and it occurred to me later that you should check out “The War that Saved My Life.” When I taught 4th grade, it was often a favorite read aloud. It’s set in Britain, which you aren’t staying in, but worth checking out!
Happy travels! I hope you have a wonderful trip!
What a relief to get your corporate taxes done and good job to John with the packing!
I am glad Belle’s birthday party went well and how amazing to see all the eagles.
Looking forward to hearing about your adventures!!!!
A few happy things here:
– Getting to see lots of family we haven’t seen in years (it was due to a funeral, so that aspect was somber)
– sunshine
-our backyard, I’m thankful we put a fence around the back, gives us privacy and we’ve been enjoying going out and sitting there
– 2 Peter chapter 1
– We were given loads of food after the meal…won’t be cooking for a day or two I think
You changed the colors on the Happy Things logo—that looks happy!
The day before leaving when all is ready except for a list of last minute stuff—that’s the most awkward time. Can’t wait to go/don’t want to leave. Nothing really to do because it might mess stuff up, can’t find things that you need because they are packed, can’t pack the last minute things because you need them but are afraid of forgetting them. . . ugh.
Wishing you great sleep tonight, so happy you have reached this point, and so thankful that we aren’t saying goodbye due of the magic of the interwebs!
I can’t believe your trip it here! It seems so far off and then BAM it’s here! It will feel good to get to the airport and know that you’ve done all you can do. And that anything else that occurs is figureoutable.
It was really nice to be home this week. My direct report was in town but he was happy to entertain himself in the evenings. I had book club on Wednesday night which is always a fun gathering. It’s been very dreary and overcast here and it’s rainy today, but I will take that over snow at this point!
Bon voyage, my friend!!
I saw two bald eagles yesterday soaring above me while out walking with friends. They truly are amazing! And, it was a beautiful sunny day. Three very happy things, sunshine, eagles and friends! My husband’s birthday was Tuesday and we enjoyed both breakfast and dinner out at favourite restaurants. Between food times he napped and I read. More happy things!
One more sleep and then you are off! I am so excited for you and your family, Elisabeth and look forward to reading about all your adventures over the next few months. Safe travels!
The same author wrote TheNight War- set in France, same era. Is she going to France? All those books are great!