Tag Archives: family

happiness

Blankie!!!!

Today my mom and I looked at old photos of both of our childhoods. It was fun to see hers as most of the photos I had never seen before. Cool to see how she really does look so much like my sister and also one of my cousins. Fun to talk about some of my childhood events (and a huge heart hug as I saw photos of our beloved cat Torts – he was a cool one). 

And there in the photos was an old friend I haven’t seen in over 40 years – ever since he went missing on a family trip. My old blankie. I loved  him and was devastated when he got lost. It was a wonderful happiness moment seeing him again. 

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When they get along 

I had to leave the monsters unsupervised at the hair salon while I did some errands. I knew they would be fine because they’re basically good kids, they’re old enough, and our stylist would keep them in line (she’s awesome). 

When they were done they went to Tim’s for a snack and I stopped in at the salon to pay before getting them. 

I was greeted by Tiara, our stylist, who told me how awesome they were. She said it was amazing how well they got along, the deep level of affection they have for each other was obvious in the way they talked with each other. 

❤ Happy mom moment! They are really good friends, in part because of all the moves and some of the family issues. They have this amazing deep bond. They can also be known to wrestle each other to the  ground in the blink of an eye. But they have this amazing bond that they both cherish. 

Happiness moment- hearing how happy my kids are, how well they got along, and how Tiara enjoys their company. They are a huge blessing. 

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Part of the community 

We had our community general meeting tonight and I volunteered to be on the board (or was elected or whatever the proper term is). I did this years ago, before we moved, and it was a great way to get to know our neighbours. I’m thinking it will again as we are settling back in. 

Our community is pretty special, given that we are almost all related or our t families have been here for well over 100 years. There’s a unique bond that comes with that and I’m so grateful to be a part of it. 

It was happiness getting to see some neighbours I haven’t seen in a while. It’s happiness knowing I can give a little back to the community that has been so good to me. It’s happiness knowing this is our tribe. 

It is where we are from 

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Where we are at 

My mom, sister and I did a little house organizing today. In the midst of the not-fun part of the job, we discovered some old photographs. Photos of when mom was in her 20s, old photos of people at the ranch, golden forgotten memories. It was fun to see mom get excited about old times and to hear a few stories. 

It really hit me today we were looking at old family treasures how long and settled our family has been in this exact spot. I often still feel the effect of our gypsy life and I love those moments of grounding that remind me that I’m exactly where I am supposed to be. 

We had a family supper tonight – mom, me, my sister, and all the kids – sitting around the dining room table. The perfect place to be building new memories for the next generation. My sister recently had turned into quite the cook, and it was awesome to get to enjoy her creations. 

Happiness today was weird. It was happiness going through old family things. It was weird because there have been so many changes and I feel like I’m running to catch up. But there is huge joy and gratitude for being exactly where I am right now. 

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Birthday Boxing Day 

Some of you may know that Boxing Day is my favourite day of the year. I love it because all the stress of Christmas is over and you get to lie around and enjoy family time. 

Today was the Boxing Day of my birthday and it also was a favourite day. I went out for lunch with a cousin – and had the added bonus of running into another cousin and nephew who were at the same restaurant for a brief visit. 

We had a wonderful lunch, enjoyed great food – and more importantly enjoyed each other’s company. We are walking very similar paths, albeit in different ways, and I love sharing and learning with her. It’s sacred time. 

Supper tonight was with that other cousin and nephew and some of the extended family. The nephew has his birthday the day before mine and I love sharing life celebration with him. I was thinking tonight as we were sitting around the table how incredibly blessed I am.  God gifted me into an amazing tribe and if I ever took it for granted before, I certainly don’t now. 

Today was a day filled with big happiness moments. Lunch, laughs, cupcakes (really awesome ones from my sister), delicious food, home, family – this is all I need to make me happy. Because what all of that represents is love. And we have a lot of that here. 

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Another trip around the sun

Today is my birthday. Two years ago I started this happiness journey with 44 days of happiness. The life I was living was completely different from the one I have today. We were living in SW Virginia, I was so unhappy, scared, alone, fearful, anxious, and lost. I decided to start looking for something every single day that made me happy and since I was turning 44 I would do it for 44 days.

When I started it was really difficult. Some days the only thing that I could find that made me happy was seeing the heron on my morning walk. There was not a lot of joy in my life and I had to work really hard to find any kind of sunshine. After the 44 days I felt a lot better, but knew I had much more work to do to get to where I wanted to be. So, I kept up with my happiness seeking – looking for a moment of happiness in each and every day.

The last two years have seen huge changes in my life both externally and internally. The kids and I have come home, we are safely and happily living back in the middle of our tribe. We still have struggles, but we have a grounding that I could never manage to create before. It may be a slow pace, but I feel us all moving ahead on this journey of healing and discovering.

Every year I have set an intention for the upcoming year. For 46 my intention is to believe – to have faith and trust that what I am doing is the right thing, to listen to God to know that I am on the right path, to believe in myself.

Also to remember that I gave all of my fucks away in 2016 and that I no longer have any more fucks to give. I am not going to spend hours stressing over things that could happen, things that are happening, things that have happened. I’m just going to let it be (and if you know me in real life and are laughing hysterically right now – remember this is an intention. I am a work in progress).

My happiness moment today: I had supper with my kids and my mom which was special and I treasure that. I don’t mean that lightly, after 10 years of being away to spend my birthday supper in grandma’s kitchen with my family is a big freaking deal.  After, as we were munching on our cupcakes, we shared memories of my childhood and of the kids’ childhood. We seem to have broken into this space where they want to talk about happy childhood memories and that brings me a lot of pleasure. For a long time no one wanted to talk about anything from the past, I’m glad that we can bring back some of the happy times. It’s also the best day of the year to be on Facebook and I was humbled and flattered by all the friends who sent me well wishes. I am a very blessed person.

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Turning 12

Today my baby girl turned 12. I can’t believe she’s that old already and yet I can’t imagine life without her. She is such a blessing and I’m so glad she’s been gifted to me to love and care for. 

Her concussion was really giving her a hard time today which was kind of sad. Her birthday has always been a really big deal, and I feel like we didn’t celebrate it like we usually do. But we had our meal, she wore her special birthday hat, and we were together.  That’s all that matters. 

She has taught me so much about love, kindness, and compassion in her 12 years. I can’t believe what a good, pure soul this little human is. 

She is my happiness moment. 

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Relaxed 

We were talking today about the fact that these last two weeks of Christmas vacation have seen my little family more relaxed than we have been in years. I consider that a huge success given all the anxiety, fear, panic, stress that seems to have been part of our life for years. I mean, it’s a  really big deal. 

I’m not sure exactly what the shift was but we all seem to have really taken unwinding seriously. Even with regular Christmas stress, some divorce angst, and a death we still managed to chill ourselves to an impressive level of relaxation. I’m pretty grateful for that. 

Happiness moment today was taking the boy to the Italian Centre for what seems to be our weekly grocery shop. I love this time with him. I feel really blessed that we have the kind of relationship where he actually wants to spend time with me and talk with me about his life. It’s something I have worked hard for, but still… the pay off is so much more than I ever imagined. 

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High tea at Banff Springs


We had high tea at the Banff Springs Hotel today to celebrate my niece turning 6 and my daughter turning 12 (today and on Monday respectively). It was a girls only event including the birthday girls, my sister, and our mom. We don’t have girl days often enough – and this one was pretty elegant. 

The difference between 6 and 12


When we were kids our family vacationed a lot on Vancouver Island, and we have many fond memories attached to high tea (and clotted cream). It was fun for us three adults to step back in time a little and reminisce about teas past. 

And fun to share our traditions with the next generation. The girls loved having a fancy tea party 

Her face when she was told she could eat 

She gets it from her mom 


It was a really special day, and one that I will treasure in my memory bank forever. Those family bonds, our sisterhood, it’s pure happiness and there’s so much gratitude in that. 

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Mr. Bean 

We had a family showing tonight of Mr. Bean. I have laughed with him for 25+ years as has my sister and mom (not sure about my brother in law), and my kids have enjoyed him since they were little. 

We all overdosed on him a few years ago so it’s been a while since he has played on our tv. I had forgotten how hard he can make me laugh, and with such simple and honest humour. It was a pretty fantastic way to spend the evening – laughing and reminiscing about our favourite episodes. Happiness. Thanks Mr. Bean. 

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