Happy Things Friday: 6 November

Egads. It’s already the 6th of November? Wowzers, that first week went by quickly.

In part because it didn’t pan out quite how I had expected…

All The Bugs seem to be circulating right now. People we know in various parts of North America and Europe are fighting colds and flus, and our household hasn’t been spared.

Indy is the first victim.

Thankfully, I’m at the enviable stage of parenting where relatively little input is required from me when my kids are sick, especially if there’s no nausea or high fever involved.

Still, he was quiet and extra snuggly, so we spent a lot of time reading together, finishing off the final Percy Jackson book.

I never want my kids to be sick… but if they are, being sick enough to be docile and snuggly, but not so sick they need to see a doctor or start ejecting fluids from their bodies is pretty much the best-case scenario.

I’d had big plans to get “on top” of things this week, so when Indy ended up home from school, I wasn’t quite sure how that would pan out.

Overall, it went pretty well! I pushed a few items onto my to-do list for next week… but also tackled some things that hadn’t originally been on there.

Indy had three volleyball events scheduled for this week—commitments which evaporated since he was home sick. Silver lining: I gained some time back in my day.

We also had a late-night corn maze outing scheduled with our youth group. I was 1% excited, 99% dreading it. Wandering around a corn maze in the pitch dark while being jointly responsible for dozens of teens does NOT SOUND LIKE MY IDEA OF A GOOD TIME.

The weather seemed to be thinking along similar lines. It ended up pouring for most of Wednesday, and at the last minute, the outing was cancelled.

I was so, so happy.

I had even pulled my snow pants out of storage because I knew it was going to be cold and muddy and wet (can you think of a worse trifecta??). But then it was cancelled, which also meant that instead of getting home at 10:15 pm, I got home around 9 pm.

Glory be.

Who’s ready to talk Happy Things?

NABLOPOMO

A huge shoutout to San, who continues to organize a National Blog Posting Month initiative. You can see a full rundown of all the participants this year on her blog.

A few special highlights:

• Michelle is posting DAILY about her DOLLHOUSE. There could not be something more enjoyable to wake up to than a fresh post about the renovation process for her doll’s beach house. But wait, there’s more! One of the biggest challenges of NaBloPoMo is keeping up with the sheer volume of blog posts. Wanting to engage in conversations in the comment sections, in particular, can start to feel especially daunting. Leave it to Michelle to come up with the PERFECT compromise. Every day, she has a little poll instead of enabling comments. Love, love, love.
• Engie is going to do an Alphabet series, which I think is absolutely brilliant.
• While she’s not officially a NaBloPoMo member (I don’t think?), Katy is posting about gratitude every single day in November.

VISITING MY PARENTS

It was a good visit. There are some hard days coming, but I also have to stop and remember that this is NOT that day. Yes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, but for the most part, we just enjoyed each other’s company.

We took daily walks. We ate familiar foods. I spent as much time as humanly possible in front of the wood stove, especially on the days when the wind was howling across the lake. There is something extra cozy about sitting in front of a fire when a storm is raging outside.

We also watched a Hallmark movie each and every night. My parents LOVE Hallmark movies and have recently gotten into the Signed, Sealed, Delivered series. I have to admit, it’s pretty good! Much less predictable, with more impactful storylines than the traditional sappy Hallmark offerings. The endings are still happy, but there’s more to chew on along the journey to get there.

AMATEUR TRAVELER PODCAST

For anyone who missed it, I was a guest on the Amateur Traveler podcast this week, talking all about my beloved home province of Nova Scotia.

The full itinerary is available here: Travel to Nova Scotia, Episode 1020. And be sure to check out the comment section on my blog post for some listener suggestions about their favourite places in Nova Scotia.

WATCHING FORMULA 1

This sport brings so much delight to our entire family. It’s an especially fun time in the season because the races are in our approximate time zone.

For much of the year, the races start at 10 am AST… which means we miss the beginning because we’re in church. It’s okay. Jesus first, races second, and that’s what recaps are for. Still, it’s extra enjoyable to watch the races live.

And what a race it was on Sunday! There was all sorts of drama on the track between the Ferrari drivers, a few crashes, some penalties, and Kimi Antonelli (who I’ve been casually rooting for all season) officially clinched the championship.

More generally, I’m a fan of Mercedes. Their team principal, Toto Wolff, is my favourite “character” in Formula 1.

Bonus happy thing: I was texting back and forth with John about the race (I was at my parents’ place) AND I was sitting in front of the wood stove.

COOL BLOGGERS WALKING CLUB

In case you missed it, I posted the final recap of the October 2026 edition YESTERDAY (complete with maps). It’s hard to believe our little walking club has already wrapped up, but I’m already looking ahead to April.

This didn’t officially count for CBWC, but I fit in a fun Walk and Talk with SHU mere hours before she headed off for BLP Live!! It was more like a Walk and Putter on my end. The weather outside was miserable and Indy was home sick… two good reasons to stay inside.

HALLOWEEN

The kids each met up with friends and did their trick-or-treating thing. Indy changed his mind about being a Minion, so John ended up being the lone Minion while Indy wore a LEGO mask. Belle was Curious George (the friend she went out with was The Man with the Yellow Hat).

The next morning, Belle sent me this picture…

There is something SO aesthetically pleasing about her having decanted little bags of candy into an organized tray like this.

And I don’t have pictures yet, but she sent me a vlog of all her Christmas decorations. Once she’d counted and sorted her Halloween candy, she wrapped up her October 31st festivities by packing away all her fall/Halloween decorations and swapping them out for CHRISTMAS.

BONUS HAPPY THINGS

• Fall foliage. Most of the leaves are off the trees at this point, but I’m still finding delight in wading through crunchy piles on walks.
• I bought vitamin D3. I have been taking this faithfully for YEARS, but ran out sometime earlier this summer and just didn’t get around to buying more. The time for sunshine—in whatever format I can get my hands on—is now, and I finally popped it in my cart at the pharmacy the other day. I felt a disproportionate sense of pride for getting back into this supplement routine.

• For the most part, I don’t mind the earlier evenings. And the best part of it getting darker earlier? It’s officially candle season. More specifically, Georg Jensen candlestick time! If you’ve read my blog for any length of time, you’re VERY familiar with photos of these candlesticks. I just love that they’re the centrepiece on our table for the entire winter season. (#Affiliate link: If you want to invest in some gorgeous Danish candlesticks, here’s a link to the exact set I have.)

• Speaking of gifts, I’m nearly done posting gift guides. Still to come: gifts for readers, gifts for the household, and gifts recommended by others. Here’s an up-to-date list of all my guides—gifts and stockings—so far (men, women, teen girl, tween boy).

• It makes me smile when people notice Elisabeth with an “s” out in the wild—special thanks to Nicole for sending me this picture from her time in Spain.
• John took the SUV in to get the snow tires on. It’s very early, but I feel so much better knowing this job is done for another season. And a huge thanks to him for all the heavy lifting (literally), making the appointment, and managing the whole thing from start to finish. Gold stars!
• Naps. The time change has MESSED up my circadian rhythms. I’m waking up at 4 am every morning and then falling back asleep around 6 am. It doesn’t matter if we’re springing forward or falling back, the time change basically always means my sleep is going to fall apart.
• Homemade Ginger Sparklers. SO GOOD. The trick is doubling the original recipe’s spices.
• Hot showers.
• Magic bags.
• Ice cold water in my Stanley.

• My first cup of coffee in the morning…
• As much as I dislike time changes, I will admit I love that it’s light when I get up in the morning again!

That’s a wrap. Happy weekending, friends!

For the first time in what feels like a long time (too long), we have NOTHING on our weekend calendar except the standard church services.

Hallelujah.

I am so ready to just… chill. Tackle a few little house projects (laundry, maybe pull out a few Christmas decorations to get things organized), take a nap, watch the Brazilian Grand Prix, go for a walk.

Nothing terribly exciting, and that’s precisely how I want it!!!

Your turn.

• What’s on the agenda for your weekend?
• What are your favourite cookies?
• Time change: do you love (or hate) DST? Do both spring and fall changes mess you up?