My happiness moment today was the look on Jacob’s face when we showed him the Yoda Santa Christmas lights that we had to get for him.
I love it when something so simple can make someone so happy.
Saturday will be a very exciting day in our house. Normally it would be regular excitement about the beginning of Christmas break, this time it’s all about going to see the new Star Wars movie with his cousin.
Truly wonderful the mind of a child is (Master Yoda)
Yesterday we went out for our annual Family Christmas Tree Hunt so today was tree decorating time. I realized when we pulled out what boxes I could find crammed in the back of the mud room (where I had stuffed them when we moved here last spring), that the last time we had used our decorations was likely in 2011. If we put up a tree in Virginia in the years since then I don’t remember it. We were always packing and coming home for the holidays and getting a tree for a couple of days enjoyment didn’t make sense, not when we were going out to get one here.
Because of that, it was kind of fun to find some of the old treasures we had forgotten about. Lots of ornaments that Grandma had given to the kids (she was smart enough to write on the back of each one who it belonged to… smart lady she is). There also were ornaments the kids made when they were little (a little wreath made by Jacob with a story written inside it about how Jenna ate an ornament when she was little). Both kids really enjoyed the little trip down memory lane.
We cranked on the Christmas Carols and dressed up our tree. My favourite Carol may be Mary’s Boy Child (Jann Arden, why didn’t you put that on your Christmas album, I can only imagine how wonderful you must sound singing that one), but I had to fight for it to play over Jacob’s favourite O Christmas Tree and Jenna’s Feliz Navidad.
When we had put up all the decorations we could find we headed over to my Mom’s to decorate her tree. She had offered to get her assistant to put up the lights so we wouldn’t have to deal with them, but Jacob very strongly responded no, putting lights on the tree is part of the ritual. We are going to do it ALL. And do it all we did.
It was a different decorating experience without Dad there guiding us, and without my sister and her family helping. But, it’s a different Christmas and we are going to enjoy all the beautiful parts of it. I think we got the best tree we have had in years and it was really fun decorating it with Mom and the kids.
While my happiness moment today was decorating the trees with the family, we had a little side happiness moment while walking back and forth to Mom’s. It’s a beautiful, clear, bright night tonight. The moon is small, but shining strongly, there’s enough snow to really reflect those moonbeams, and my cousin has lit up the yard with their Christmas decorations (which I love) so the walk was amazing. We stopped part way and looked up at the constellations. Both kids can find the big and little dipper, we all need to work on a lot of the other ones. It was a beautiful time in nature, so healing for the soul.
Going for the annual Christmas Tree hunt is a big deal in my family. It’s a tradition dating back before my time, and one I’ve participated in every year that I’ve been home for the holidays. This year we were extra lucky because it was really nice out. I think back on years when it has been -30 and we have shivered through the fields trying to find a tree as quickly as we could.
This year we only had to worry about being done while there was still daylight, it was pretty sweet to be able to slowly walk around and check out all the options.
As you can tell, everyone was busy looking in different directions for their perfect tree. Somewhere along this ridge they looked at me and said that they would see this moment in my blog as the happiness moment (it’s like these people know me or something).
It was so nice to have so many great tree options to choose from. I think everyone got their own perfect tree this year.
The girls were looking for little Charlie Brown trees. Jenna picked this little one out to sit in the sunroom at her Nana’s. Photobomb courtesy of Echo the dog.
Jacob not only picked out the tree for our house, but with a little help from his uncle he cut it down as well. He was the saw man last year too. I’m more than happy to pass that torch over to him.
The tree
Photobomb by Jenna
It was so lovely to get out on the ranch and breathe in some nature (and the Christmas-y smell of the trees) and spend some time with family. I am so grateful that we are home again. I love it here, it’s a heart happy place for me.
My happiness moment, being in a place I love surrounded by people I love. We are blessed.
Today was a fun-busy day chasing around doing our activities. It was the city finals for Jacob’s wrestling and even though he wanted to spend the morning sleeping in he went and did his thing. He’s gotten so much stronger than he was last year it’s amazing. He came in second in his division, nice to get a reward for all his hard work and training.
This evening the Santa Parade went through Cochrane. While it was only -8 or so it still was a lot colder than the ones we have enjoyed in Virginia the last few years. Still, it was nice to be a part of the Christmas celebration in our town where we feel rooted.
Waiting, waiting, waiting. It felt like it took forever (really we waited 15 minutes and the parade started exactly on time). 
Yay!!! It’s started.
And finally…. The man himself!!
Double happiness moment day today. Getting to go cheer on Jacob and see him become so much more confident in a sport he loves, and enjoying the parade with Jenna this evening.
Now for some Home Alone with the girl before bed. Life is good!
Grounding myself again is something I’ve been seeking for the past few years. I firmly believe that a lot of the problems I had with my feet a few years ago were the result of me not feeling like I belonged, or like my feet were firmly planted on the ground. I’m sure it’s part and parcel of a lot of the issues I’m dealing with right now. After a lot of work and praying my feet are better, but that feeling of grounding is still a work in progress.
It has gotten a lot better since we have come back home. Living in a family home with a view of the barn that I spent my childhood in has really helped with that cause. But, still I notice that usually my feet don’t feel like they’re firmly planted on the ground so to speak. The other day I wrote about my yoga practice, and since then I’ve been dedicating some time every day to my gentle yoga (it’s a by an instructor I was lucky enough to have lead a few classes I’ve been in at Kripalu). Basically I’ve spent the last 5 days working on mountain pose. You would think that an hour and a half spent working into one pose would drive one bananas, but it turns out that’s exactly how long I need to get there properly (well we do a few other things, but the objective is getting to mountain pose).
Today I noticed as I was working through the final stages of the class that my feet felt different. They were touching the ground in a more firm, centered, balanced way than they have since I can remember. Almost like they were grounded. Which of course is one of the objectives of mountain pose.
My happiness moment today – a little bit of grounding, it’s a good thing.
It feels colder outside today, and when we got home (in the dark) we were hangry and tired. Hungry is bad enough but the hangry combo of being so hungry you are angry can be quite scary!
I made our supper as quickly as possible. I had started a veggie curry soup in the slow cooker this afternoon, so there were just bits and pieces to add to it – the kids each had a steak because they were having a red meat craving. While we waited for supper to start I reminded Jenna that we had some Christmas shows that we could watch at some point.
With a vote of 3-0 we decided to opt for supper in front of the TV tonight and choose An Abominable Christmas. Apparently the kids had seen it before but it was new to me. It didn’t make my list of favourites, but it was cute.
Part way through supper my parental guilt kicked in and I said “tomorrow we will have to sit properly at the table and have a fancy supper to make up for this one.” To which Jacob responded “mom, you’re lucky I’m wearing pajamas.” So I looked at him closely for the first time and realized that somehow he had managed to sit and eat with only the pajama bottoms on (sadly this is a reoccurring theme in our house). I appreciate his wit though.
I love these Christmas shows – partly because they’re cute and funny – but mostly because it means that we stop what we are doing, cuddle up on the couch, and spend some time together watching a movie. To tie down a teen and a tween for forced family fun time can sometimes be a challenge and I’m grateful that they also look forward to this time. My happiness moment.
Today we got to prove the fact that it is actually better to give than it is to receive (although it was pretty awesome to receive as well). Jacob and I made our morning run to Tim Horton’s and fell into a delightful and unexpected happiness moment. First of all, a kind gentleman came up and held the door for us to go in (this happens a lot here, the customers have great manners). Then when we went to the till and two ladies came running up, barely able to contain themselves with their giggles, and announced that they were buying our coffee for us.
It’s West Jet’s mini-miracles day and they were doing their part to pay it forward. They jumped around, huge smiles on their faces, as they explained what they were doing and we took a group selfie so they could post it on Instagram.
When Jacob got his coffee and we sat down we could still hear them at their table giggling away and trying to upload the picture with all the right tags. I said to Jacob that even though we had thoroughly appreciated their kindness, it really seemed that they had received a lot more from their gift than we had. He looked over at them with their heads together laughing as they talked about what they had done and agreed with me.
As we were getting ready to go a lady walked into Tim’s and I said to Jacob that he should go buy her coffee. He grabbed my money and ran over to her as she stood at the till. I couldn’t hear them, but I saw him jumping up and down with excitement (just like the ladies before had done with us) and I saw a huge smile come across the lady’s face. Jacob said afterwards that she had said to him that he had made her whole day.
All the way to Jacob’s school he smiled and bounced and talked about how wonderful he felt having done something nice for someone else.
He had both received an act of kindness and given one within a half hour. He was thrilled to have been given the free coffee, it made his soul sing to have given one to someone else.
Both giving and getting are pretty sweet, but the feeling is euphoric when you surprise someone by doing a small kind act for them. It may sound cliche, but happiness really is contagious and it is easy to spread.
If you can, make someone happy today by performing a small act of kindness. It makes for an awesome happiness moment.
I’m finding this Christmas season a confusing one emotionally. I keep looking around for Dad to do my getting ready for the season things with and then remembering that he’s not here. I miss him so much I am left with a sad tinny like taste in my mouth. How can it be that he’s gone? Then on the other hand, I’m so happy that for the first time since 2004 I’m either not coming home for the holidays and pretending to be ok with that, or packing up all our presents and fly home as soon as the kids are done school (lots of work). We would decorate our house, but not get to fully enjoy it, and by the time we arrived home there would be only a few days before Christmas so we were behind the game there too.
So, I’m so happy that we are here, settled in one place for the holiday season. We have more things to decorate than we have time for. The kids and I can bake cookies and make hot cocoa whenever we want. I found the recipe by the girls who own Crave Cupcakes for their shortbread cookies (the article includes an interesting story on how they became Crave) and we made cookies tonight. They are supposed to be for Jenna’s school tomorrow, but we may have eaten enough of them I’ll have to make another batch. Totally worth it though, they were melt in your mouth delicious. It’s a great recipe!
I have had my Christmas Carol playlist going for about a week now, but somehow I forgot all about Mary’s Boy Child, it’s one of my favourites. It came on the radio today and when I got home I had to pull out all three of my versions: the Anne Murray one (which reminds me of childhood and home and good feelings), the Boney M one (which is the one I always heard on the radio) and one that was on a kid’s mixed cd. We sang the carol over and over and ate too many cookies.
My happiness moment was an evening of cookies, carols, and then a cuddle with my girl while we watched a bit of Home Alone.
I wrote the other day about how doing yoga has made me a better person, albeit not a more flexible one. Since then I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what it was that really drew me to the practice of yoga in the first place. Mostly it was the way it calmed me and made my soul happy. When I would really get into it I wasn’t as bothered by the fact that that I don’t bend as well as I want to because my spirit would just feel so good.
I was really good and faithful about my practice before I fell into my dark night of the soul years. I’ve struggled as I’m finding myself again to really develop a solid routine that makes me feel good.
I realized that maybe I’m doing the wrong kind of yoga these days. Now, I’m doing my Healing Light Yoga Therapy, which is a completely different kind of practice. One that is so important to my emotional and spiritual well being. But, it’s not something I do on a daily basis. It’s something I need to do in addition to some kind of regular yoga practice.
I had to sit down quietly and think about what it is that I want from yoga. What I came up with was that I needed to go to Kripalu. Lovely, but not really possible at this moment in time. So, I had to think what is it about Kripalu that makes me feel so good? (ummmm everything) and what can I do here to replicate that feeling.
Lightbulb went off.
On several of my visits to Kripalu I have been fortunate enough to have attended a class led by Rudy Peirce. The way he leads a class made me fall in love with yoga in the first place. Yoga based on compassion and love. Every time I have done one of his classes I feel so much better about everything.
He has some CDs that he sells and I had bought a couple of them on a visit to the Berkshires years ago. I loaded a class on my phone (they’re audio) and spent some time this morning reconnecting with my spiritual practice of yoga.
I felt so much better when I was done. This morning I had felt really anxious and ungrounded and when I was finished my yoga I felt more like myself again. There is something about his voice and the way he so calmly and patiently guides one through the poses that calms me down. I knew it was working because Ella the Yoga Cat showed up on my mat and purred her way though most of the class. She only does that when she’s really feeling the bliss.
My happiness moment was the wonderful feeling I had after my class this morning. I need to keep attracting all that love and bliss into my soul so that I have more of it to shine back out into the world.
As a bonus happiness moment, Jenna spent the entire ride into school this morning looking out the window of the car at the moon shining brightly with Venus underneath it . I love how being in this space is getting us more and more in tune with nature.
Years ago I put myself on a leash. I tried so hard to be the person that I thought other people wanted me to be, I stifled a lot of the things that made me me. Interestingly enough, the people I was trying to impress with by being someone other than myself either didn’t notice or weren’t impressed. Of course now I know that trying to be someone other than who I really am is an exercise in futility, but it took me a little while to get there.
The unfortunate byproduct of all of this sadly though was that over time of not being true to my self, I lost touch with who I really am. Thus years of anxiety, unhappiness, and tears.
One of the great things about this happiness journey that I am on is that I have started finding myself again. Not all of the stuff I’m finding is fantastic, but it’s all really me. And I’m happy about that.
It’s a beautiful day in Southern Alberta today. Apparently we are in a heat wave – experiencing above average temperatures. It isn’t beach weather, but it’s about +5C which for this time of year is pretty warm. I took the boy and the dog out on the ridge for a walk (I made it both times past where we scattered Dad’s ashes without breaking down in tears…. progress!). I listened to Jacob go on and on about the new Star Wars movie and I watched the dog run and jump in the snow.
Dottie looks like I feel. Poor Dottie had to live life on a leash for 8 years until we moved here where she has the freedom to run. She is an entirely different dog with all the freedom she has. As I’m letting go of the idea that I need to be anyone besides who I am (my leash), I’m feeling more and more like she looks.
Happy.
Freedom
My happiness moment today was walking with my kid and my dog along a ridge where my footprints have been hundreds of times before. I used to ride here, walk with Dad here, toboggan on the hill below here, and I know we have lots of new memories to make along the ridge. Off the leash.
