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Beat with the FOMO stick

Today I drove my mom’s van into town to pick up the kids from school. After much arguing over who got shotgun, Jacob had it the first part and then switched at the recycling drop off with Jenna. 

So we are driving along, Jenna and I talking while Jacob is stuck way in the far back (the middle seats are out of the van). 

Suddenly we see a stick waving around between the front seats. I look and it’s Jacob waving an ice scraper in our direction and trying to poke it at Jenna. 

I look at him in the rear mirror and he says what? It’s my FOMO stick. Don’t forget about me back here. 


FOMO or the fear of missing out. It’s a real thing. 

Happiness moment. That kid makes me laugh 

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Recess

  

Jacob came home and said if we still lived in Roanoke I would be in school  until 3:30. Instead now I finish at 2:30 and I get two recesses every day!!

And I think that he’s right on by being excited. He used to get dropped off and go into school and not come outside again until the day was over. Now they have a morning recess and then one again at lunch time. You’re never too old for recess. 

I get stories every day now about what he’s doing at school and most of those stories happen at recess. It makes him bright and alive (full of ojas) when he’s talking about being outside with his friends. 

PLUS he gets to go to school camp this year! 

Happiness moment is the joy of hearing about the fun the kids have at recess. We should all take a recess every day and go outside and play for a half hour. 

I spend my recess on my walk or standing at the corral talking to the horses 

  

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Family ties

This afternoon my cousin helped me out and brought my kids home from school. I’m lucky because this cousin – M – her kids go to the same school as mine. Which made being the new kids (and the new mom) so much less scary because there were familiar faces this time. 

I returned home from my meeting to see her kids and my kids and her sister’s kids all playing outside. What a wonderful sight! 

M and I are only 4 months apart and spent most of our childhood running that same yard – having adventures, getting into trouble, climbing trees… You name it. 

When I moved away my kids were 4 years and 5 months old. Her kids weren’t born yet. So they haven’t grown up knowing us adults or each other. I feel so blessed that I am now getting the opportunity to get to know her family better and on an everyday basis (instead of as a visitor). 

Happiness moment for the day was watching those kids run up and down the field laughing and screaming while we stood out there and visited. 

Family ties. 

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No test zone

Two happiness moments for the day

My dad is home from the hospital. So wonderful to have him back where he belongs. Home is more complete now. 

Went into AMA to see what I needed to do to switch my licence from Virginia to Alberta. When we moved to the states I had to take both the written and driving test. Nightmare. I’ve need driving legally for 30 years. I was terrified at the thought of having to do that yet again. Well, I don’t have to do the test again. Just fill out some paperwork. Happy and relieved. 

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Baby steps 

Today was an absolutely glorious spring day. I grabbed the dog and went for a sun worshiping walk along the road. It felt so amazing to have the warm sunbeams giving warmth and love to my soul. I met my cousin on the road and we had a whole conversation about how glorious the sun felt on our skin today. No wind made a world of difference. 

So nourishing. 

At the beginning of my walk I passed a newborn calf. (S)he is the one lying down beside her mom. I didn’t want to stay for too long and upset her, but it was such a glorious sight that I had to stop for a little while.  

  

On my way back I was lucky enough to see the calf get up for her (his?) first wobbly steps. New life. It was so amazing and exciting   It most certainly was my happiness moment of the day. 

   

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Dear old friends 

Merlin is a horse that has been around the ranch forever   I’m not completely sure of his age but I can remember kids riding him around when I was in my early 20s and I’m now 44. He’s been a good friend to many kids and especially to my cousin’s daughter. She’s grown up loving good old Merlin. 

Today Merlin waited for them to come see him and then he went on to the happy hunting ground in the sky. He was taken and put to rest, with lots of love and heartache I’m sure, beside my dear old friend Pirate. 

Although this comes with some heart sorrow, my happiness moment of the day is the memories of my best friend Pirate and the moments of my childhood through to the moments of my childrens’ childhood that I shared with him. 

Those four legged beasts touch my heart in amazing ways. Much as I know there’s a little girl sad tonight, I know that we are always blessed to have the love of a horse.  It’s an honor to be able to have that kind of pure love. It hurts to let it go, but loving truly and deeply comes with that risk. 

Here’s an old photo of something I spent many days of my childhood doing. Out exploring with my two pals, Pirate and Buster. This is what my bliss looks like. 

  

Happiness.  

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Drive a fast car

When I was a kid I remember being packed in the Suburban with cousins flying up and down back roads at breakneck speeds. Once in a while we would find that magic road that had the right bumps in it that made me feel like I was losing my stomach when we would drive over it.  Of course once we found that magic road we had to drive back up and down it a few times squealing with delight the entire way. 

Today I had my kids and my cousin’s kids (the same cousin who used to do the driving on those magic roads) in my car and we were driving to drop off some recycling. As we drove past another relative’s driveway I told the kids of the magic road and how their mom/aunt had driven us up and down that road one afternoon while we giggled. 

But I didn’t turn on that road, I kept driving. I got to where the gravel road meets the highway and drove under the overpass. As I did all four kids squealed and Jacob yelled I think my bladder just fell out a couple of seconds later it happened again. A magic road. We dropped off the recycling and flew over the bumps on the way back. When I got to the turn into the back road all four kids started yelling for me to do it again. So around we turned and flew back up and down the magic road.  

Magic times. My happiness moment for the day. 

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Swans

Happiness moment of the day: driving by one of the sloughs today there were still swans swimming around. This slough goes right up to the road and the swans were only about 10 feet away from me. 

I really wanted to stop and have a good look at them and be one with nature. But there was a truck coming up behind me, and it was a gravel road. If you are lucky enough to be in first place on a gravel road you don’t give that up   So no swan picture…

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Pickle ball

Apparently this is a real thing. The kids and I saw it for the first time Tuesday. They laughed hysterically and called it old people ping pong. Today we went back and they were playing it again. We joined in. Not only is it awesomely fun, but we were much badder at it than we would have thought possible. 

Fun fun though. Happiness moment of the day:    

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Herd of bears 

 Happiness moment of the day today was playing an impromptu game of songify on the road this afternoon with the kids. There’s nothing like singing loudly and badly in a car to make me happy. Especially with them. 

Funny moment today happened on the drive to school when I convinced the kids, albeit briefly, that there was a herd of bears up on the hill. 

They aren’t the exact same bears, but I saw some more in a herd while I was out waking today. Magnificent views I have. 

   

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