Author Archives: Melissa

happiness

Ray a drop of golden sun 

This evening the kids and I were bouncing along the road chattering and giggling when we had to stop to let a herd of deer pass in front of the car. 

  
Then, because it’s us and all, we started singing very loudly and very badly Do-Re-Mi from the Sound of Music. Jacob even kindly rolled his window down so the deer could hear us howling out the song. 

As we went around the corner we turned into the ray a drop of golden sun part of the song 

  
I always wanted to live in a musical. Tonight was about as close as it’s going to get. My happiness moment with the kids. 

Home. This is what my happiness looks like.   

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Kid-knees and whoopee cushions 

Tonight we celebrated the February birthdays in the family – my nephew (today) and my sister (tomorrow). After having missed years of these family celebrations I am continuously thankful that we are here now to participate. Having this extended family around us is so incredibly important in helping guide us and give us that sense of grounding and support 

  
While the entire evening of the family gathering together was my happiness moment, I had a couple of events stick out as especially funny ones. 

The first happened as I was reading a book with my niece about the different parts of your body. We were on the heart page which she was convinced was the kidney. Once she realized it was not (after her mommy confirmed that for her, because she’s still at the age where mommy knows best) we continued searching until we found it. Once we were on the correct kidney page, my niece put her bent  leg up towards me, pointed and said see auntie Melissa? Here’s my kid-knee. Priceless

Next, I walked in the room to find my nephew (who turned two today) jumping up and down on the whoopie cushion yelling fart fart fart over and over. 

There’s nothing like kids to being unexpected and delightful laughter. What a blessing that we have all these cousins around to enjoy. 

In a sentimental moment, I heard my uncle playing with my nephew, and the noises my uncle was making were exactly the sounds my dad made. For a minute I stopped and my heart thought dad was here. But my uncle is like another dad to me – in fact we call uncle dad – and it was so fitting that the laughter and joy were coming from those two. 

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Less anger, more laughter 

The kids and I stopped for a cup of tea today while doing our errands in town. Our cups came with these life lessons on them: 
There’s a lot about the situation we are in right now that we can’t change. But a lot of these tips for good health are totally within our control. We decided to focus on the last one less anger, more laughter. 

We realized that we needed more laughter to help pull us into a better place. With that in mind we got in the car and began our drive home. We had a couple of stops, so it took us about an hour. During that time we told jokes, acted silly, and laughed until our tummies hurt. You can’t be angry and laugh at the same time. 

I am so impressed by these two. They are brave and strong and so full of love. Silly laughter, a blessed happiness moment. 

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Stretch it out 

I woke up this morning and realized that it was time to deal with the fact that I’ve been ungrounded and out of sorts the past few days. 

Thank goodness for my Ayurvedic training. I’ve already been working at my sleep routines, but today I kicked it all up a notch. I cancelled other plans and put work to the side and spent the morning doing yoga, meditating, and going for a centring walk along the ridge with the dog 

This was the early morning view from the ridge. The moon had already gone to bed by the time I made it out there (this was yesterday morning’s photo)   
Because this was the walk I always did with dad, I stopped by where we had scattered some of his ashes and had a mini meltdown. I could feel him loving and guiding me as I gathered myself back together and carried on. 

As I was walking I was filled with gratitude that we are back in this place that is home – where we are safe and loved. 

My happiness moment was realizing that even in times of turmoil I have learned how to nurture and ground myself. Learning Ayurveda was one of the best things I’ve ever done. 

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Light it up 

My kids have a very special bond. Actually, the three of us are an extremely tight unit and I consider that one of my greatest blessings. We have been through a lot and it has drawn us together in a very unique, but strong way. 

They may at times be each other’s worst enemy, but they are also best friends and have each other’s back no matter what. I am so happy for them that they will go through life with such a friend. 

Jenna came from school today with an assignment. They had to create something that lit up and moves. She decided to build a tree of lothlorien from Lord of the Rings. Because that’s in Jacob’s wheelhouse she told me she was going to ask him for advice on how to build it. 

We came into the coffee shop to wait for her lesson and the two of them sat down and brainstormed. It is amazing to listen to them as they’re planning or building something (I sometimes hear this when they are playing minecraft together). 

They’ve figured out how to light it up and are still figuring out the movement. 

Everyone needs a good friend who knows exactly who you are and loves you for it. I’m so happy that these two have that. We are such a blessed little family. A lovely happiness moment.  

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When opposite views come from the same thing 

This morning I had to stop everything and run out to the barn to look at the sunrise. 

We often get pretty beautiful ones, but today it was absolutely stunning 

 This is no filter and the sun really was shining that huge beam straight up into the sky.  
As I was standing there doing a happiness-gratitude dance, I received a text from my cousin who lives about a mile and a half away. 

Look at the lavender sky and the full moon!! She said. We couldn’t see the moon from where we were (and we were now getting late for school) but we did take in the beautiful colours over the mountains. 

She sent me a photo of the view from her window 

Breathtaking morning view of the moon and the mountains   
As I was driving home I was thinking how great it was that we had been sharing the morning beauty at the same time, and that she had thought to reach out to me to make sure I was enjoying it. I also appreciated how our opposite views – mine to the east and hers to the west were so incredible. They were completely different, and yet a product of the exact same morning light. 

What a great happiness moment. I just knew today would be a day filled with joy and blessings. 

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Matching cousins 

A few years ago these cousins got together at our house and dressed themselves in very cool matching shirts (that their very cool mothers bought for them). They’ve grown up  thousands of miles apart but always managed to maintain a close relationship through visits and FaceTime (FaceTime is great for keeping people connected).

Now that we are back home, all each one has to do is stand on their front porch and yell across the yard to see what the other one is up to. It brings great joy to my heart to watch these two girls outside exploring, giggling, and enjoying each other’s company.

My happiness moment today was that they once again got themselves organized for a matching shirt photo (this time shirts provided by my very cool mom). They’re growing into such beautiful young ladies.  

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A happy belly and a happier heart. 

 This afternoon my aunt invited my kids along with their cousins over to her place for some Italian cooking lessons. They cooked and had fun all afternoon and then us adults got to go enjoy the spoils. 

I can’t even begin to describe how much I have missed these family get togethers and how grateful I am that they’re part of our regular life experience now. 

Seeing how much fun the kids had and then visiting with some of my favorite people in the world – that was my happiness moment today.  

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Family is family wherever you are 

One of the great gifts Dad left us with last spring was reuniting us with his family. There’s a great distance between Alberta and Ontario, and even though we now have email and FaceTime and texting, it’s still not the same as the in-person stuff.

A few days before Dad died my aunts and uncles (his sisters) came out to see him. He actually ended up passing away as they were getting on their planes and heading home. Just in case there was any doubt that it was important for him to see them – he hung on just long enough. They pretty much got home and  then turned around to come back for the funeral.

But, the benefit of those intense visits was that it bonded us together in a tighter way than we had ever been before. Through all the grief of losing a brother, husband, father, and grandfather, we found our way together into a closer unit. I know Dad would be so happy about that. Family was so incredibly important to him.

This afternoon we had my cousin’s daughter (Dad’s great niece – his sister’s granddaughter) and her boyfriend come out for a visit. I think the last time I saw her she was about 4, and she’s 21 now. It’s been a long time. Yet she called us up because she was out here and wanted to see us. Family – there is that special bond.

It’s so weird because we know all the same people yet we didn’t know each other at all. However, because of that bond it was so easy and comfortable. She is a lovely young lady (good job parents!) and it was such a delight to get to know her a little bit better. A great happiness moment.

We went out for a little drive. I love seeing home through other people’s eyes. One thing I really noticed about her is how excited she is about life. She has so much energy and joy about what she’s doing and was so engaged in what was going on around her. That’s a great way to live.

we had to stop to see the deer

I love this church

I may have ended up in jail…

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Early spring

Days like today are the reason why I find March to be such a challenging month. My body already thinks it should be spring, I’ve got friends posting photos of flowers popping up (ah to be on Vancouver Island), and it seems like things have been either white or brown for a very long time. Then we get this warmer weather (actually we’ve had a lot of warmer weather lately) and I start to get fooled into thinking it’s spring. I get all happy and believe that this will be the year that spring comes at a decent time in Alberta. Then, without warning, March arrives and the temperatures go down to -30C. But, ever the optimist I get sucked in every year believing that it’s going to be different.

Maybe it will be this year. I hope so….

I decided to play hooky from my work this afternoon and I grabbed the dog and headed out for a walk along the ridge. I always have lots of memories pop up on this walk. I remember galloping across the field on Pirate, walking with my dad, tobogganing down the hill, and swimming in the creek. It’s one of my favourite places to be. I had to stop part way through and just breathe in the beauty of home. I am so grateful that we are here. We are home, safe, and surrounded by loved ones.

My happiness moment. There’s no place like home. 

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