happiness

A rainbow on a cloudy day

I broke down yesterday and got some pain medication for my shoulder. For the last couple of weeks I’ve used my oils and that’s about it. Unfortunately the pain level was staying pretty high and it was time to do something about it. 

They gave me something less intense than Percocet but with more punch than Tylenol. It seemed perfect. Except my body hated it. I was up all night having a reaction to then meds so this morning there was yet another trip to urgent care. It seems things are sorted out now and I have some different meds to try (ugh). 

We came home, I had a nap, and was trying to figure out how I was  going to feed us when my guardian food angel appeared. A neighbor and friend from church has supplied us with two huge meals already (and some awesome cookies and banana bread). She announced that she had made a meal, was heating it up, and would bring it over shortly. 

Talk about a rainbow on a cloudy day. 

She brought over the best Shephard’s Pie I’ve ever had, garden carrots, and garden beets. With every bite I heard things like “ohhhh potatoes, mmmmm taste the carrots” come from the kids. 

It is so incredibly kind and I am so completely humbled by how we have been looked after. That is happiness. 

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happiness

Girls’ night and a guy 

The boy joined me this evening for an impromptu girls’ night supper at the donair shop. I’d like to think he came because he loves me, but he came for the donairs. And at 7$ how can you go wrong?

Interestingly though, he really enjoyed himself. He laughed at the silly stories right along with us, and jumped in with a few of his own. 

As we were walking back to the car he said now I get why these girls’ nights are so important to you. They’re hilarious. 

I am so grateful for my girlfriends. I don’t know how I’d get through without them. 

That is happiness. 

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Laugh until you cry

My soul sister brought out supper tonight for a girls’ night in. I continue to be humbled by the way people are stepping in to hold us up. 


When bellies were full (oh so full – there’s something about  Italian food that sits so well in the belly) and kids were gone, we moved to the couch for some girl talk. 

Omg the stories. At one point we were both laughing so hard our tummies hurt and I was crying. I love laughing until you can’t breathe properly. What a great feeling and how lucky I am to have a friend like this.

This is happiness. 

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Taken care of

So my shoulder is broken after my little spill off of my horse yesterday not really the ideal way to spend the rest of  the summer but it is what it is. 

I have been humbled and amazed at how well I have been taken care of in the last 24 hours. Kids, cousins, aunts, friends, my mom and my sister – everybody has called and asked what they can do to help out, and I feel truly blessed. I talk a lot about my tribe and this is exactly what I mean. I couldn’t do it without these people. This is happiness. 

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Old friends, old times

Today at lunch I caught up with an old friend from high school. I can’t believe that next year it will be 30 years since we graduated – or that our kids are the same ages or older than we were when we met. Unbelievable

We had a great time reliving old stories and catching up on where each other was in our lives. So much has changed, and yet we are still the same people we were all those years ago.

Old friends -that’s happiness.

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The House

Today I got some things done around our house – still clearing clutter here. Then I went to the house of my cousin-in-law for lunch. We share the same insane sense of humour so it’s always a guaranteed laugh fest. We also always break it down into really serious “what’s going on with life” stuff – then back to crazy laughing. This is a valued friendship. 

The day ended by seeing The House with my boy. It was hilarious and we laughed ourselves silly. There were only 3 other people in the theatre which made it almost ideal. 

Happiness in many forms today. Life is good and I am grateful. 

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Keep faith keep focused 

I had my first success coaching call today and my take away from the session was to stay focused on having faith that it’s possible for me to succeed. 

I sometimes still have all those nasty words dancing in my head that I heard for so many years. The problem is even if I only heard them once I relayed them many more times over. I’m learning to change that broken record. 

Things are changing. 

I went out with a girlfriend tonight and we talked about just that (among many other things) – things are changing for both of us. And it’s ok to embrace the new normal, the good, the bad, the happy, the scary – and just be in the moment. 

That is happiness 

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Fondue with friends 

One of my lifelong friends rolled into Alberta today and the kids and I got to join her and her family for some fondue and laughs at the Grizzly House in Banff. 

I love and am so grateful for this friendship. We live a long ways apart, but when we get together it’s like no time has passed. I’ve been lucky enough to get to see her twice this year – once where she lives and today. 

Good friendships carry me through the good and the hard times. They’re some of my most important relationships. And that is happiness 

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Bag of chips

I had coffee (or tea for me) with a couple of dear old friends this morning. I’ve known them since forever and our families are tied way back. I love these kinds of relationships – where the common bonds are so close it’s just easy.

We were laughing about how much different it is for kids learning how to drive now. One of them mentioned how bad it is now that texting exists. I said but when we were learning how to drive we had a coffee in one hand, and were usually waving the other one around doing something stupid. And one of them piped in and there was always a bag of chips stuck between our knees.

I laughed and told them a story of how I once almost ditched the suburban doing a turn while eating chips. The steering wheel got caught on the chip bag and for some reason my hand refused to let go of the bag almost sending me crashing into the ditch. They giggled and said the same thing had happened to them except they hit black ice and the driver had a hand in the chip bag. After doing a 360 and ending up in the ditch the chip bag was still intact – car needed a little help.

I love sharing these kinds of stories. Stupid, silly laughter stories of days gone by. That is happiness.

 

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Sharing stories

I have made a “mom friend” at ball this season. We bonded right away and the more we have talked the more we have realized that we share much of the same story. The details are different, but the theme of our marriages and subsequent breakups are pretty much the same. In a really unique way we understand what being this type of single mom means. And while that means there’s a lot of shared heartache, there are a lot of familiar funny stories.

Tonight we sat at the ball field and laughed while we shared some of the highlights from over the years. We both commented how nice it is to have someone who just gets the situation we are in. It can be a difficult one to explain to others and it makes it so much more simple to just be able to give the eyeball to each other, a quick nod, and say yep, I get it. 

I really like this woman, making good friends does not happen very often so I’m really grateful for the moments when this opportunity presents itself. That is happiness.

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