Happy Things Friday: 8 March + Another Bloggy Break

Some weeks the lights burn out.

The mantle is a fitting representation of my weekend and early week. I tried to compensate by taking a step back and resting as much as I was able, but it was still tough and I’m still weary! Things are ending very well, but I want to pay homage to the fact that there are days I feel like the world’s biggest hypocrite showing up here and blathering on about Happy Things.

Back to those lights. In my emotional funk I looked at them and thought, I’ll just leave it looking this way. Why go to the effort of rooting through holiday bins to get a set of lights? Easter is almost here – I should just accept it’s sub-optimal and be grumpy about it.

But why? Why would I do that? I know how much joy these silly little strands of twinkle lights bring me. I know that having a strand burn out just…happens. I also know it’s within my power to switch out the lights.

And yes, it takes effort. And yes, it’s a nuisance. And yes, it’s not how I wanted or planned to use my time.

Welcome to life as a human.

So I looked at those burned-out lights for days (or, maybe worse yet, I stopped turning them on). The dark blotch irked me, but I didn’t have the time or energy to fix it. And I guess this is true of life; I don’t need to fix everything right away and sometimes have to – proverbially and literally – sit in the dark for a while.

But then one day I fixed the problem. Because life is too short to live with a sad-looking mantle.

And here’s the best part – at the exact moment I finished placing the new strand of lights on the unlit end…the burned-out strand re-lit again. So that sad, dark, lonely spot is now shining the brightest of them all.

In honour of the fact that some weeks the search for Happy Things is difficult, here is a rapid-fire round of things that made me smile:

• Participating in “the wave” at a college volleyball game. It’s fun to do spontaneous things as a big group!
• Hearing birdsongs through the window on a day when my heart felt heavy.
• Sunshine.
• John arriving home. It was a hard week away.
• Long walks.
• Resting.
• Cinnamon coffee cake (our Christmas morning breakfast tradition) for a Saturday morning kid sleepover. Enjoyed by all!
• Hot showers.

• The surprise and delight of walking into the library, having a librarian check books out for me without asking, and realizing they were interlibrary loans which always gives me an extra thrill! (Also, apparently, the only photos I took this week include my mantle.)
• Peanut butter KIND bars.
• Hot coffee.
• Leftovers.
• Kids growing up; they went with a friend to get hot chocolate at a coffee shop while I grocery shopped. Independence has challenges, but it’s pretty awesome, too.
• Completing birthday invites. Another year, another celebration. Also: Canva is so. much. fun.
• This vegan Teriyaki noodle recipe. It was easy. It was delicious. It was a hit. The leftovers were wonderful.
• Classical music playlist on Spotify.
• Falling asleep quickly, staying asleep all night.
• Some great thrift finds (I didn’t get around to taking pictures but: an awesome coat for A, basically brand-new sneakers for me, high-waisted jeans for me for $5.99, and more!)
• Receiving a Valentine from Engie!!
• Checking off a series of work and home chore tasks that had been niggling on my mind.

THE CASE OF THE LOST AND FOUND SUNGLASSES

One morning before school (important note: it was theme week and the kids were always scrambling to get things ready morning of) a child was looking for their sunglasses (it was plaid day and their sunglasses are white, so I’m still perplexed about the need for sunglasses on a rainy, overcast plaid-themed spirit day. I digress). This child came to me – as I was getting ready in my bathroom, my children’s favourite place to hunt me down as I am like prey cornered by a predator – in a bit of a panic. But I could also sense accusation in their tone. My sunglasses are missing and you – incompetent mother of mine! – must be the reason. That uncommunicated stance that was subtle – but unmistakable to me after a decade of parenting.

I gave them a calm suggestion of where I thought said sunglasses would be (the place we store all our sunglasses). Nope. They came back. I made another suggestion. Nope.

By now they were in a tither and I started thinking like they would think. If I was my child, where might I have used my sunglasses. I offered more suggestions and a few minutes later I heard a shout of success from the basement (they had been worn the day before to do LEGO. In our dark basement. Again, no explanation for this). And I thought to myself: This is being a mom. Knowing where things are when no one else does. It was satisfying but also a bit sad to think no one notices these things. Fixing the problems, yet being overlooked as the source of the solution.

Why yes I WAS FEELING A BIT ANGSTY THIS PARTICULAR MORNING, why do you ask?

By now the child in question had the sunglasses on and had come back upstairs. Imagine my surprise and delight when they made a point of coming down the hall and saying very sincerely: Thanks, Mom. I would never have found the sunglasses without you.

My heart burst into a hundred happy butterflies. For every dozen criticisms and complaints, there are moments like this…

That’s a wrap on this week. We have a busy few weeks ahead and I’m going to take another step back from writing here to focus on time with family and rest! What are some happy things in your world today?