happiness

Teamwork

I always avoided team sports like the plague. I loved the partnership I had with my horse, but I never really got into being part of a team. 

I have learned a lot watching my son who is so drawn to team sports. It hasn’t left me with a huge desire to go out and join one myself, but I am understanding more and more how important and fulfilling they can be. 

They had a game tonight and I walked into the gym when they were all standing in a little huddle. 


It’s cool to see how they all support each other. Sure, there are some conflicts but they have to work them out so that the team can succeed. 

My boy really needs this and he thrives in this kind of environment. And that is happiness. 

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The race marked out for you

The sermon at church today was about the race marked out for you. Meaning we are all here to run our own individual race, we can’t run someone else’s race, can’t run ours the way someone else does, can’t compare our results to that of the other runners. Our journey is ours alone to walk with God and we have to listen to how He wants us to walk it. 

This was big for me as I have spent years trying to live my life to make others happy – even when I knew that it was causing my own soul pain and taking me away from my spiritual path. These past few months I have really felt things like up in a way that they never have before and I’m feeling like I’m walking the right path. Honestly, a lot of it has to do with my decision to not give a f*ck about all the things that used to bug me. They were all distractions from my journey and took so much time and energy away from what I need to be doing. 

I’m finding I make myself go to church lately even when I don’t feel like it because his sermons always seem to hit exactly what I am struggling with at that moment. I consider our decision to start attending regularly last fall one of my greatest blessings. It has opened doors and put me back on my path. 

Happiness 

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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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The Friday tradition 

After what feels like a long break the kids and I did our Friday night shopping trip at the Italian Centre. It’s one of my favourite parts of the week. The boy has his list of meats he orders to make his favourite sandwiches and there’s always lots of other yummy stuff to look at. 

This week I got figs. I love figs and was kind of sad when I had to leave my beloved fig trees behind when we left Virginia. 


The boy sat and had an espresso with an older Nono type gentleman and they discussed Italy and what constitutes a good coffee. That was happiness. It was cute to watch them together. 

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Memory lane is a strange place 

Tonight I watched my boy play basketball in the high school my best friend went to a bazillion years ago. Lots of other things may have changed over the last 30 years, but not in the halls of that school. 

It was weird to take that walk down memory lane. We were best friends from birth until we hit the age where we got married and started having kids and then our friendship seemed to have run its course. A lifetime of things have happened since then and I hadn’t thought about her in a long time. 

It was weird, fun, sad to sit in that gym where we had watched games, gone to dances, crushed on boys, and laughed with our friends. It was having a little memory movie run in my head. 

That part of my life seems so long ago. At the time everything was so urgent and important and I’ve since forgotten so much of it. There were lots of good times though. 

And to add more weirdness to the weird memory lane path, we passed the hospice dad went to right before he died on our way to the school. Another thing I’ve worked hard to banish from my mind. So there was an unexpected hit of emotion before I even walked into the school. 

But there was happiness in there too. Bringing myself back to the present and being in the moment allowed me to watch my boy and his team run up and down the court. They have such great heart, and although they didn’t win they never quit. I drove my boy and his friend to and from the game and I loved listening to them discuss strategy and be so excited to play. It’s awesome. 

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For the win!

We had a wonderful trip down Rhode Island memory lane tonight during the superbowl. Not only was it an exciting game, but it brought us to some really good times in the RI part of our gypsy life. 

The boy learned to be a huge Patriots fan while we lived there. They had an amazing sports culture and we all learned to cheer for and really enjoy the Patriots and the Red Sox. The girl spent most of her years there singing to Katy Perry, Black Eyed Peas, and Lady Gaga, so she was thrilled with the half time show.  

It has only been in the last few weeks that we have been able to dive into and enjoy some of the good memories from RI so tonight’s New England experience was a perfect extension of that. 

It was huge happiness to watch my boy jump and scream at the tv in those last few minutes. It was a good reminder to never give up as we watched the Patriots pull themselves to victory. And Lady Gaga…. that was amazing. I love her. 

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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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On the court 

Tonight I got to watch the boy run up and down the basketball court. Being one of the younger and more inexperienced players he often spends a great deal of time on the bench. Tonight was different though and he was in for most of the game. 

They didn’t win, it wasn’t even close, but man did he ever enjoy playing. That was happiness – watching someone I love experience the bliss of doing something they love. 

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Hippie chicks in the mountains 

Today I was treated to a morning in Canmore with a dear friend. We had business to do, but afterwards we had enough time to walk the streets and have lunch. How lucky am I to get to be in the mountains two days in a row? 

It was beautiful and clear and the only issue we had was being stuck in traffic 


Yep, we got stuck behind a zamboni while driving through town. If that doesn’t scream I’m in Canada, I don’t know what does. 

I treasure this friendship with this dear soul whose crazy lines up with my crazy. We have a lot of fun together, but we get each other on a really deep level and that’s pretty rare. It brings me happiness and gratitude. 

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