Happy Place: Gratefulness And Smiles

[PRgal]

Amazing time at my son's "Day in the Life of a Kindergartner" event today.  We got to have lunch together (they served chicken fingers and roasted potatoes.  Salad was available too, which is what I took (I'm pescatarian/vegetarian before dinner...long story) and fruit at the table for anyone who wanted any.  My son refused, but I gave him a few grapes, just in case.  He did have cucumbers and cheese (I suggested that he use the mini cheese slices as sandwich filling with two cucumber rounds as "bread"), but also refused at first.  I wonder if it had to do with showing face in front of his buddies...lol) and then he showed me what he was doing in class (like his weekly journal where he writes out what he did over the weekend.  His printing is very neat for a 5 1/2 year old!).  We adults also got to sit through their French class and helped out with art.  We made handprints on clay!  It was a lot of fun. :). 

[RealHousewife]

I'm so grateful for the new job I'll begin soon. 

[Anduin]

46 minutes ago, RealHousewife said:

I'm so grateful for the new job I'll begin soon. 

Doing what? You don't have to share the actual workplace, just the industry. You can't leave us hanging like that!

[Anela]

Last weekend, when dad stopped at Starbucks to get me an iced chai, they’d just closed, when dad tried the door - and this lovely girl who serves him there, said “we open the door for Nick.” Neither of us expected them to do that, we were just going to leave. 

[Mindthinkr]

My daughter was driving her son to a friend’s house last evening. She was on her way home when she saw a lightning strike to her right. The tree fell, caught on fire, but it knocked down the power lines which landed on her car. So it’s raining (she knows that water and electricity are not friends so she didn’t get out to investigate) and she’s watching the fire growing on the side of the road. She called Fire and Rescue who responded. After they were able to lift the live wire off of her hood, she backed up under their direction, made a U-turn and was able to drive home. Crisis averted. Today she is still shaken up, but we are both grateful that it wasn’t more serious. 

[Bastet]

2 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

she knows that water and electricity are not friends so she didn’t get out to investigate

Even without rain, people should stay in the car; you're safe inside the car if live wires have landed on it, but if you don't know how to get out of it without electrocuting yourself* you can wind up dead.

(*Which is not the easiest thing to do, especially if you're not particularly agile, so unless the car is on fire, it's best to stay inside and wait for help even if you do know how -- I do, and I'd be sitting in the seat with my hands in my lap.)

I'm glad she knew to stay put, just wanted to put that little PSA out there.

[EtheltoTillie]

We saw the cherry blossoms in the park today. The dog enjoyed sniffing around, as she always does.  We tried a new ice cream flavor we liked:  Haagen Dazs Vanilla Caramel Pecan. 

Edited April 14 by EtheltoTillie

[Mindthinkr]

30 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Haagen Dazs Vanilla Caramel Pecan. 

That sounds good! 

[ECM1231]

1 hour ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Haagen Dazs Vanilla Caramel Pecan. 

Edited 1 hour ago by EtheltoTillie

That sounds very yummy!

On 4/13/2024 at 11:20 AM, Mindthinkr said:

Today she is still shaken up, but we are both grateful that it wasn’t more serious.

Amen! How frightening! 

[Anela]

I’m supposed to be sleeping, but I still haven’t made my cheesecake, and I was still thinking about this.  
I didn’t want to get up when I woke up.  Just distinctly aware of who isn’t here anymore, and I didn’t hear my dad downstairs. It was early, and it took me a long time to get myself moving.  I’m very, very lucky to have my dad. I have been trying to shake things off, for that reason. 
 

anyway, we went out for a while, and when we got home, I briefly sat at my computer, to check something.  I clicked on YouTube, too, and the first thing recommended to me was “the bump” by the Bay City Rollers.  My mother LOVED them.  They had the UK number one single when I was born (Bye Bye Baby), and one of my earliest memories is dancing with my mum, in our living room, to their album.
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz5nVuP5jF0

I haven’t listened to them in a long time.  I think I’ve only remembered them a few times in the past decade.  

[EtheltoTillie]

8 hours ago, Anela said:

I’m supposed to be sleeping, but I still haven’t made my cheesecake, and I was still thinking about this.  
I didn’t want to get up when I woke up.  Just distinctly aware of who isn’t here anymore, and I didn’t hear my dad downstairs. It was early, and it took me a long time to get myself moving.  I’m very, very lucky to have my dad. I have been trying to shake things off, for that reason. 
 

anyway, we went out for a while, and when we got home, I briefly sat at my computer, to check something.  I clicked on YouTube, too, and the first thing recommended to me was “the bump” by the Bay City Rollers.  My mother LOVED them.  They had the UK number one single when I was born (Bye Bye Baby), and one of my earliest memories is dancing with my mum, in our living room, to their album.
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz5nVuP5jF0

I haven’t listened to them in a long time.  I think I’ve only remembered them a few times in the past decade.  

I looked at a couple of other videos, as you mentioned this.  There was one where the Rollers appeared on an Ann-Margaret special, and she dressed in their odd short pants. They sang Saturday Night, and the entire audience consisted of what appeared to be Scottish old-age pensioners.  Mostly women.  It's like they went to a nursing home to do the show.  One lady was shown knitting.  Another was using an old fashioned ear trumpet, the better to pick up the noise.  But they seemed to be really into the music, which surprised me.  I'd more expect this audience to rock out to a rendition of "We'll Meet Again." 

What do you know about this?  Were the Rollers popular among all age groups? 

[ECM1231]

I think your mum was paying you a visit, @Anela.

[Anduin]

Today I'm going on holiday. I should be back in late May. While I'm gone, I'm going to try and avoid both news and social media. Try not to have too much fun without me, or miss me too much. :) Bye!

[Annber03]

Have fun! Safe travels!

[PRgal]

Have fun, @Anduin!

[JustHereForFood]

Have a nice holiday @Anduin and come back safely! Avoiding the news is a good idea if you want to relax and have a good time.

[Cloud9Shopper]

Went to a Bingo fundraiser today and won a designer purse!* I pretty much never win anything, so it was pretty awesome to get to yell Bingo and end up being the winner of the tiebreaker (if there is more than one Bingo, whoever draws the highest card wins the prize for that round and the other person gets the consolation prize) to boot. 

*Designer purse Bingos are popular where I live, but the one I was at today had other prizes you could win too. The actual purse Bingos are…cutthroat lol. I only went once and probably never again. 

[PRgal]

Bought an oven-ready lasagna for dinner tonight.  It was vegetarian and yes, both my husband and son inhaled it.  They - especially my husband - don't really like vegetables that much (my son is improving A LOT on the vegetable front.  I packed carrot sticks last week and he ate all of it (they aren't allowed to trade food at school due to allergies)).  Still a carbs and cheese kind of guy, but I don't see that disappearing.   

[supposebly]

I heard from a former colleague today. She got married and moved back to Japan over 10 years ago. That was nice.

I also got a grant on Friday that I've applied for three times.

[PRgal]

This should probably go on the family thread, but to me, it's more of a happy thing (while the family forum is more about complaining - LOL).  I found my own baby book, the one my parents bought when I was born.  Like most families, it was never completely filled out until I started school.  But anyway, I asked my dad to phonetically sound out my great grandparents' names (as well as my paternal grandmother's, since I never knew it either.  I only knew her maiden name).  Happy I was able to do that. None of my great-grandfathers' names were written down for some reason.  I also don't have my paternal grandmother's mother's name.  Even my dad doesn't know much about her.  

[Trini]

There's nothing like a surprise visit from relatives who will definitely gossip to all your cousins about your slovenly ways to motivate one (me) to finally clear out a few more clutter piles! So yay! more progress on the messy room front.

[BlueSkies]

I went to this good restaurant today.  It was really busy and it looked like the workers there were getting overwhelmed and stressed.  But at the same time they managed it all well.

 

Stuff like that I use as motivation.  I know I couldn't do their job.  It's just not how my mind works.  I'd be awful at it.  And it looked dangerous as well.  The one girl was carrying hot coffee with her arms.  She or actually all of them could easily have burned themselves.  

 

 

I have plenty of posts in the work vent thread here and I'm sure there will be many more to come by me.  But yeah the staff at that restaurants hard work motivated me in a way.  To try and be somewhat grateful to have an office job.  

[ECM1231]

Loved your thoughtful post, @BlueSkies. 

[Anduin]

I'm back! As much as I like Britain and Ireland, who put them so far away from Australia? The flight there was hard, the flight home was worse, probably because I only brought bad books for the flight back, instead of good ones. Ah well.

There may be pictures later. I'm slowly emailing them to myself. Lots of partying, women in bikinis, alcohol and drug-fulled fun.

Kidding! My idea of fun is visiting Callanish standing stones in the cold, or Chepstow Castle on a good day. :) I hope you like large amounts of stoneworks, because that's what you're going to get!

[Browncoat]

4 hours ago, Anduin said:

My idea of fun is visiting Callanish standing stones

I love the Callanish stones.  I honestly was more impressed by those than by Stonehenge.  I'm looking forward to your photos!

[EtheltoTillie]

I never heard of the Callanish stones.  I just looked them up.  I have been to Stonehenge and also Machu Pichu, Tulum, Chichen Itza, Pompei and Rome. I just marvel at these ancient structures where they have no idea how people really built them. 

[Mondrianyone]

My birthday is this Saturday, but the universe just gave me the best present, two days early.

[Browncoat]

Happy early birthday, fellow Gemini @Mondrianyone!

[Mondrianyone]

Back at you, @Browncoat! Is yours already past or still to come? Happy either way!

[Browncoat]

51 minutes ago, Mondrianyone said:

Back at you, @Browncoat! Is yours already past or still to come? Happy either way!

Still to come -- next Thursday.

[Mondrianyone]

I'll make a note of it.  📅

[Gramto6]

Happy Birthday @Mondrianyone! Mine was yesterday!  Yet another Gemini! I made it to 75!!

Edited June 5 by Gramto6

[Mondrianyone]

All the best people, clearly! 😉 As Geminis, there's two of us for one of everybody else. Hope you had a very happy birthday, @Gramto6!

[emma675]

Happy birthday, @Mondrianyone and @Gramto6!

[Mindthinkr]

8 hours ago, emma675 said:

Happy birthday, @Mondrianyone and @Gramto6!

Happy Birthday to both of you 🎉

[Mondrianyone]

And today's the day (I made a note of it) to say happy birthday to @Browncoat! I hope you got a cake, or the day off, or even a pony--whatever you want to make it a great one!  🎂

[Browncoat]

2 hours ago, Mondrianyone said:

And today's the day (I made a note of it) to say happy birthday to @Browncoat! I hope you got a cake, or the day off, or even a pony--whatever you want to make it a great one!  🎂

Thanks, @Mondrianyone! No day off, no pony, but I do plan on stopping by the cupcake store on the way home from work for a giant cupcake.  Which I will eat with ice cream and chocolate syrup.  And that may or may not be my entire dinner.

[emma675]

2 hours ago, Browncoat said:

Thanks, @Mondrianyone! No day off, no pony, but I do plan on stopping by the cupcake store on the way home from work for a giant cupcake.  Which I will eat with ice cream and chocolate syrup.  And that may or may not be my entire dinner.

It's your birthday, do whatever you want and eat that giant cupcake for dinner!

[EtheltoTillie]

Happy birthday to all!  

[PRgal]

On 6/4/2024 at 9:21 PM, Gramto6 said:

Happy Birthday @Mondrianyone! Mine was yesterday!  Yet another Gemini! I made it to 75!!

Happy belated birthday!  

[Browncoat]

On 6/6/2024 at 3:52 PM, emma675 said:

It's your birthday, do whatever you want and eat that giant cupcake for dinner!

It was delicious.  And then I had to have a handful of salty potato chips to cut the sugar.

[Anela]

I finally got my cat back in. He came home for food, left for the ferals, the way he used to come back for food every night. He started to walk off when he saw me, but stopped to talk to me, and I grabbed him. 

 

[Anela]

Fresh Thyme is now stocking Risewell, and Boka toothpastes. Now, if they'd stock the cari-free toothpaste and mouthwash I was using for a while, that would be good, too. I didn't get a chance to see if they were really helping, because I couldn't order them both, every month. 

I want to be free of Amazon, when I can, and I also just want to be ordering less in general. Amazon card, credit cards, it's all building up too quickly. 

[Blergh]

After more than a week in the hospital followed by rehab, I was finally able to bring Mama home recently and am VERY grateful that she's back home. I'm helping out as much as I can until she regains her former momentum but I'm so GRATEFUL that she does appear to be on her way to doing so!

[Anela]

I shared a post about looking for your glimmers, the things that light you up. A friend responded, "Friends like you." ❤️

[TattleTeeny]

Oh my goodness, I forgot we had this forum here! I want to read it more to balance the peeves, haha!

Sometimes, some of my peeves actually make me laugh -- not that they're not annoying, but sometimes typing them out adds a sense of ridiculousness, like "WHY is this particular thing [an ugly font, an idiotic meme, a cabinet that closes stupidly...] causing such a reaction?" And it's funny to see those of others too.

Lately -- or over the last few years, really, with all the changes to and hurdles in ordinary daily life, I have tried to make a point to absorb, for lack of a better word, the small good things that happen. Like all the stuff that goes with working from home (which does have a few negatives): being able to take a break from work to sit on my balcony or have coffee there in the morning before logging in -- and seeing the hummingbirds, having a cat on my lap while doing my job, getting housework done during the week so that the weekend is pretty much free and clear, that kind of stuff.

Today I'm stoked because the lantanas in my balcony flowers are reblooming! I love them.

Edited July 18 by TattleTeeny

[isalicat]

8 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

I'm stoked because the lantanas in my balcony flowers are reblooming! I love them.

I am happy and grateful that *your* lantanas are thriving and that they are at *your* house because when they spring up in my garden and I touch them I get a very bad allergic reaction! 😿 So do enjoy!

[TattleTeeny]

Oh no—like a scary-bad reaction? I have to be careful too, but it’s just usually random hives from so much shit that I don't even keep track anymore. The good thing is that they also go away fast. Example? The rope on the cat tower; when I brush against it for all of 3 seconds…hives. I have to re-rope it soon too—that should be an adventure!

[Bastet]

It's common for lantana to cause mild skin irritation, but for someone with such an extreme reaction, I certainly understand not wanting it around. 

I'm one of those who just gets a mild case of itchiness and sometimes red spots that go away fairly quickly after I wash my arms (interestingly, I don't get it on my hands).  I cut mine down to virtually nothing recently, and all the green sprouting out from thick branches that looked long dead is similarly making me happy -- I'll be able to go out and cut down even more, now seeing what's capable of new growth and what isn't, basically starting over as if I have two new plants instead of the overgrown monsters I'd let them explode into in recent years (I first planted them about 15 years ago, but used to maintain them better).

[Anduin]

11 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

Today I'm stoked because the lantanas in my balcony flowers are reblooming! I love them.

Lantana is an invasive weed in eastern Australia. I'm guessing you're nowhere near the place. Funny how a weed in one place is a balcony flower in another. :)