Tag Archives: family

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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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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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Doing the right thing 

A few days ago I rented a rug doctor from our grocery store. I love the instant gratification of cleaning carpets. And with the rug doctor I get to choose what I put on the carpet. This time it was vinegar and my DoTerra Wild Orange essential oil. The house smelled so good after. 

Then the movers came. Now our house is dirty again and covered in boxes. Chaos. I can’t wait until it’s all sorted out again. Calmness. 

When I went to return the rug doctor everything seemed fine. After I was doing some shopping and the lady came and said the filter was missing. I knew I’d seen it when I put it in the car. We searched the car. Nothing. Went back in and said we’d have to go look at home. She was adamant we needed it (fair enough, it was a part of the vacuum). 

We went home and wham chaos for the next day and a half. There was enough big stuff going on there was no time to deal with small things. 

But in the back of my head kept playing the conversation I’d had with Jacob on the way home. About how frustrated I was. About how we’d already returned the vacuum and had our deposit refunded before she noticed it was gone. About Jacob chiming in that then it was her responsibility. That was not setting well with me. 

It may not have been my fault the filter was missing but it certainly wasn’t her fault either. 

What kind of example was I setting for Jacob? Aside from that it wasn’t sitting well in my conscience. Once the other fires were out I knew I had to deal with it. 

I called her today and apologized for not getting back sooner. Said (without any details) there had been a family emergency and I hadn’t been able to deal with it. That I’d looked and looked and couldn’t find it. That I would drive into town in a bit and find out what we needed to do to make it right. 

Thinking ughhhhh how much is this going to cost???

She called me back a little while later and said she’d talked to rug doctor and they’d agreed to just send a replacement. That family was the most important thing and my focus should be there not worrying about a silly filter. 

My happiness moment for today was the good feeling of knowing I did the right thing and the added bonus of being rewarded for it. 

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Glamping

Today ends our Glamping (glam camping) trip. For the past few weeks we’ve had a whole house set up with borrowed furniture (some of it lawn) from family. Which has been so kind and actually sort of fun. But today our stuff cleared customs and tomorrow it gets filled (somehow) into the house. We are so excited. 

But today we made use of the empty space. Ella started climbing up the dog kennel and scratching at her kennel this morning. This was odd behavior because it was just bought for her flight here and isn’t a safe place for her to go. I went over to see what she was doing and found a mouse that my husband had snuck inside for her to play with. Almost 3 weeks go by and she decides to find the mouse. 

So we played fetch across the red carpet 

  

See the Glamping style chairs? They’re actually very comfortable. 

  

I am so jealous because while I was out at customs the kids built a huge fort city in the open rooms and are going to have the sleepover to end all sleepovers with their cousins tonight. 

A happiness moment. 

  

However, my happiness moment today was out on my morning walk when the swans flew honking along with me. I love them. 

 

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