Friday, May 15, 2020

Focusing on things that make me happy



Been so long since I posted something. I seem to say that on every post. But, you know, life keeps you busy.

Lately it’s been a different kind of busy. The first few days of the stay-at-home order the kids didn’t have school and some of my demanding work assignments were halting as travel and restaurant visits were prohibited. I spent the week before doing a little panic buying. I wasn't hoarding toilet paper, but I was definitely stocking the pantry and fridge not knowing what was to come. I just wanted to be sure there was plenty of food on hand in case stores closed or we had a complete lockdown imposed. So I was a little anxious about having enough food and being out touching things others had touched, but once I was stocked and staying home, I was good.

I’ve settled back into a busy routine. Work that was lost has been replaced with COVID-19 coverage. Almost all my assignments have taken on a coronavirus twist. There’s a million different angles.

But those first few days of quarantine were sweet. There was, of course, concern for so many who were getting sick and losing loved ones. It was sad. I've been feeling such sympathy for those working on the front lines. 

Here at home, though, it was kind of like going to that cocoon of having a newborn where you don’t leave the house for days and get used to life in pajamas or to the time when you get an unexpected snow day and you can take a big breath and for a day just let everything else go.

I’ve enjoyed my time at home being around the boys more. They’re growing up and it’s a rare day when they are all at home and no one goes anywhere. There really have only been a handful of those as hubby and my two oldest boys have continued working through it all.

But having everyone here at home more often than normal during the pandemic has been a silver lining to all this. Nights of doing puzzles or playing board games together. Not setting alarms or worrying about them sleeping late. Hearing their laughter as they play a video game together or share a funny YouTube video. Seeing them snuggle with the dogs or taking them for walk or to the lake. Sitting down for meals together. It has been the best kind of happy.

Things are moving along and at some point - although it still seems in the way-off future - it will be back to normal. Everyone going different directions, running kids to work and activities, no time to stop and eat lunch, seeing the kids up late stressing over homework, a full calendar. I can’t say I miss it all that much. I’m probably happiest on the snow days.

Speaking of happy, I started jotting down random things that make me happy and I’m just going to leave them here so that when I have a day I’m feeling overwhelmed or just down, I’ll can come back and be reminded of some of the little things that can cheer me up. I’ll continue to add to it.


Mariachi music

Superbowl half-time shows

Fresh tomatoes from the garden

Looking at doggies and puppies (but not petting them. They make me itchy.)

Sunflowers with bees buzzing around them

Surprises

Elotes

My mom’s chicken and dumplings

Penguins

Floral prints

When my dog hangs out next to me

The song “What a Wonderful World”

New fleece blankets

Freshly-painted fingernails

When a handsome elderly gentleman smiles and you can see in his eyes that he was a really handsome dude in his younger years

Sausage pizza with really thin crust and lots of cheese - but not so much that the crust gets soggy

Baseball

Spring flowers poking out of the ground

Bacon

Any movie with Chris Farley

Rainbows

Chocolate candy bars with caramel and nuts

Baby giggles

Oversized recliners or chairs with ottomans

Food events where I get to sample lots of stuff

Being in Chicago (but I hate getting there and parking there)

Music by George Straight

Christmas Eve

Christmas Day

Date night

Plopping down on a hotel bed with a big fluffy comforter and lots of pillows after a busy day of exploring a destination 

Smelling a baby’s freshly-washed head after a lathering of Johnson’s Baby Shampoo 

Old ladies who tell it how it is

A text from my Dad

Buying a dress for a baby girl

Being on an observation deck where I can for miles

Singing Go Cubs Go after a Cubs win

1980s movies by John Hughes

Bowling, even though I suck at it

The Office

Breakfast skillets

Seeing an American flag flapping in the wind

A long walk in the woods

The color blue

Country music

A road trip with a beautiful blue sky in front of me full of fluffy clouds

A southernly gentleman who says “yes, ma’am”

When someone compliments me on an article I’ve written

Pocky

Hearing my kids laugh

The Beatles

Elvis

Visiting a new place

Getting a letter from my aunt

The show Parenthood

When I get through all the unread emails in my inbox

A fresh tablecloth on the table before anyone gets crumbs on it

British accents, French accents, Australian accents - really almost any accent

Taking a ride in a small plane

When my husband drives when we go into the city and I get to sit back and relax

Being in the presence of a military veteran, especially those of the Greatest Generation

Being up early before anyone else in the house and hearing nothing

Looking out the window at falling snow (that I don’t have to drive in)

When hubby gets me flowers or picks them for me

Thin, fresh English toffee 

Bath bombs

Tiramisu

The Blues Brothers

Watching a children’s choir sing

Parades

Chocolate covered peanuts or pecans

Peach Belinis 

Spending time by the water - especially a large body of water where I can’t see what’s on the other side

Saturday Night Live Skits

A nice new shirt that is a pretty pastel color that doesn’t have stains on it yet

Sunshine

Sunshine coming out after a light rain and seeing drops on leaves brightened by the sun

Sitting at Wrigley Field on a warm (but not hot) spring or summer afternoon for a day game

Pork Schnitzel with lots of lemon squeezed on it


Live concerts

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