Happy the Week of 17 December 2018
What’s making YOU happy this week?
It’s a rather mundane one this week, I’m afraid. I’m happy this week because I’m (mostly) caught up on the seasonal tasks that arrive with December.
The items that need to be posted have been sent (they won’t get to their recipients by 25 December, but at least they’re on their way).
It surprises me anew each year just how overwhelming and pressurized the Holidays are. A time that’s supposed to be all about peace, family and joy becomes more about “what did I forget?” and “where will I find the money for that?” and “cripes, this will never get to where it needs to be by Christmas.”
But I’m happy this week because the stuff that absolutely had to get done, is done. The rest is now watching the saved up cache of Holiday movies I have on my DVR, trying to finish another two or so books for my 2018 reading goals, and listening to the soundtrack to The Greatest Showman on a loop (but to be fair, I’ve been doing that anyhow).
Whatever you celebrate, however you celebrate it, I hope that the remainder of 2018 is good to you, and that 2019 is immeasurably better.
Happy the Week of 3 December 2018
What’s making YOU happy this week?
I can only plead laziness as to why I haven’t bothered doing these posts for the last several weeks. I’ve thought about it; I even said to myself “that would be a good one to use as my thing that’s making me happy this week.” Then I didn’t haul my lazy self to the PC to type it up. Ah well. My page, my rules.
This week, I’m happy because I made someone else happy.
My friend Amanda, who used to have a stall here in London, but is now tempting the palates of those lucky folks in St. Leonards on Sea, brought a tiny little future assistant into the World a few weeks ago. I’m so thrilled for her and her partner, and I know that that baby is one lucky little miss to be born into such a loving family.
I sent off a pair of booties that the little one will probably outgrow before I finish writing this, and a baby blanket that is slightly misshapen (like the person who knitted it). I got a message this morning that featured two tiny feet being adorned by something I made my very own self. What’s not to love about that? That’s making and keeping me happy.
I’m told I’ll get to see a picture of little miss enjoying her blanket a bit later, and I am looking forward to it to a frankly inane degree.
Happy the Week of 29 October 2018
What’s making YOU happy this week?
I’ve got to be honest. This week is challenging, for what I hope are obvious reasons. I’m digging deep to find the happy in a week where attending a baby naming service on Shabbat, or doing your weekly grocery shopping, can be fatal. Even receiving mail is deeply dangerous. However, I feel that giving in to the temptation to stay in bed is akin to giving the bully my lunch money, and I don’t want to do that. So:
Witnessing small moments of kindness. That’s where I find my joy this week.
A few days ago, a video went viral. It was of two young men and a lady about my age. Apparently, they had seen her trying to pay for her gasoline with pennies, and so they stepped in to pay for it for her. By the end of the 29 second video, all three of them were in tears, and I was, too.
It’s these moments, the moments when someone takes a moment out of their day to brighten someone else’s, that change the world, one kindness at a time.
Happy the Week of 15 October 2018
It’s been quite a while since I’ve done a post about Happy this Week, but for great reasons. I’ve been doing lots of happy things: I went on a road trip to attend the wedding of a family member (that’s a twofer); I spent the weekend with my DamFamily in Muskegon (part of another road trip); I visited Mr. Rogers’ hometown (or, his original neighborhood, if you want to get cute).
I ask you have you ever seen a more appropriate logo for anything related to Mr. Rogers’ legacy, than this?
I’ve been so busy doing the happy things, that I didn’t make time to write about them. You’ll have to trust me; it’s been mostly happy stuff.
I’m happy this week, too, and for a very simple reason. I’m home.
This matters. It matters because, every single time I traveled away from my hometown, I hated coming back with a depression-inducing passion. From the time I was four and was taken on my first trip to Mackinac Island, to the trip I made to London in February 2007 to see what was to become my new home city, the return was always the same. Dread, despair, depression. I may have been born in Milwaukee, but it never felt like “home.”
My father would walk into the living room to sit down (leaving the unpacking, laundry and organization to my mother and myself, naturally) and say “man, is it GOOD to be home!” I always turned my back so that I could roll my eyes and think “is he out of his freakin’ mind? What’s good about this?”
It wasn’t until the 21st of May, 2007, when I saw the London cityscape from my completely awful AirIndia flight, that I realized how good it feels to come “home.” I am reminded of that great feeling every time we return from anything from an overnight to a three-week holiday. I get into the house, get swatted by the cat, confront the unopened mail, and say “man, is it GOOD to be home.”
I’m home. I’m happy. 
Happy the Week of 13 August 2018
What’s making YOU happy this week?
For me, this week, it’s the supplies that help me remain comfortable during a cold that just. won’t. shift.
While we were on the cruise, David caught a chest cold, which he then of course gave to me, because sharing is caring, I guess. I thought it was getting better last weekend when we were returning home, but I was WAY wrong. I’ve gone through so many lozenges that they’ve become a food group, I have to knock myself out with NightNurse (NyQuil for you Yanks) in order to get any rest at all of an evening, and the Kleenex folks are going to have to put a photo of me up in their offices as their primary benefactor.
Representative photo of me.
So, not happy I have the cold, and that it doesn’t seem interested in leaving, but very, very happy that there are products to help me stay (somewhat) comfortable. An empty diary is a great blessing, too. Sitting in my jammies in my comfy chair with my cold meds, my tablet, and the remote is a great way to ride out a virus. My brain may only be operative enough for Love Boat reruns, but hey, Fred Grandy was a cutie in the 70s, so I’m happy about that, too.
Happy the Week of 23 July 2018
What’s making YOU happy this week?
For me, this week, it’s water. To be more specific, it’s being *on* the water.
I was delighted when, upon getting to know the man who is now my husband, I discovered that he loves being on (and in) the water as much as I do. In those first confusing, will-I-ever-adjust? months after I arrived in the UK, he found that when things were getting overwhelming for me, the best way to help me re-center was to get me out on the Thames (or even the Serpentine in Hyde Park). Heck, just getting to the beach is helpful.
In the intervening eleven years, there have many boat trips; little boats, big ships, paddle wheelers and pedalos.
On Saturday, I will be 50 years old. I don’t really understand how I got to this age. It seems it was just last week that I was arguing with my mother over practical vs. pretty back-to-school gear because Summer vacation was winding down. The years that seemed to crawl with unbearable slowness when I was working in the law offices are now flying past so quickly that I can’t keep up.
In any event, I will be celebrating (if that’s the right word) this milestone in a way that makes sense to me, and to the person who makes me want to celebrate. We’ll be on the water, watching the waves, and sharing a kiss at Sunset. Even if it weren’t for my birthday, I’d still be happy about that.
Happy the Week of 10 July 2018
What’s making YOU happy this week?
For me, it’s shorts, tank tops and electric fans.
I don’t do well in warm weather. It saps my energy and makes me feel nauseated. My one overriding memory of my visit to DC was of having heatstroke and throwing up on Capitol Hill.
There was a time when I went from my air-conditioned house, to my air-conditioned car, to my air-conditioned office, and back home again, five days a week, and managed, just, to deal with Summer. When I fell in love with my husband and came to the UK to be with him, I was appalled to discover that air conditioning is not really a thing over here, except in some public spaces. I spent that whole first Summer haunting the frozen food aisles in various grocery stores. I’m sure that more than one store manager wanted to know who that pasty lady was who had the obvious frozen peas fetish.
Sweet, Nourishing Freon
I’ve gotten a wee bit better at dealing with it now. I don’t make a lot of plans for the hotter months, and I dress minimally (tank tops and shorts not only are comfortable, but ensure that laundry isn’t a big deal, either – WIN) and move from being in front of a fan in one room to being in front of a fan in another. I also make full use of our (rare in the heart of the City) garden and the cool breezes that tend to appear in the evenings of even the hottest days here. On a gradually but inexorably warming Planet, these things are blessings indeed.
