Happiness is Making Somebody Else Happy

~ Jenny

I had a doctor’s appointment last week.  My cardiac doc is very serious, very low key–well, he would be considering his specialty–very practical.  He gave me my latest test results.  Then he high-fived me.  He actually said said, “High five!” and beamed at me.  Still makes me happy a week later.   If I can make a cardiac doctor giddy–my heart is back to normal function and normal size–then I am The Woman.  

How did you make someone happy (include yourself in “someone”) this week?

48 thoughts on “Happiness is Making Somebody Else Happy”

  1. That’s fabulous news, Jenny. I’m with the doctor.

    The two things that made me happiest were very nerdy: I noticed sun on the capping of my 18 ft shady fence, and put four canes in the bed in front of it as measuring sticks – and in between lots of cloud and rain they’re showing me that sun is getting to the area 6-12 inches out from the top half of the fence for at least a couple of hours a day – maybe more. In other words, anything I plant there will catch some sun – apart from the completely shady six feet nearest the house. So I should be able to grow some good stuff in this area that’s very visible from the kitchen and living room windows.

    And after much ferreting around in obscure corners of Word, I managed to delete the American publisher’s sporadic highlighting of words in the book I’m Anglicizing. I’m now going through and stripping out their zillions of ugly styles plus coloured lines down the left margin. I quite enjoy the craft of cleaning up a book – even all the dots and commas involved in reformatting the bibliography. Plus it means I’m working and earning for the next couple of weeks, so hopefully will feel entitled to the holiday I’m planning for the first two weeks in September.

  2. Absolutely fabulous news Jenny! That’s making me happy!

    This week, the vet let me know that Stanley is healing well, and could go back to normal activity. The cone is gone, he can go back to his normal diet, and even go outside again. All the other cats are happy too, since it means that the regular food is there for the taking, rather than being rationed. And my husband and I are happy that hungry cats are less likely to wake us up too early!

    We also were forced (by termite inspection) to deal with the garage. Some things were actually thrown out, and the rest is now back neatly arranged. I am giddily happy looking at it now.

  3. So happy for you Jenny, and for us, because we like you around.

    It’s good medical news week, apparently. My orange cat was acting very sick, so we took him to the vet. He has diabetes, and 4 days in on giving him insulin, we know this is doable. Needle is too small to bother cat, and vet said he had a cat on insulin for 11 years. Such a relief after our anxiety.

    Doing my summer mini diet and going well.

    Bought my plane ticket for a conference in Slovakia in September. The hotel has great rating, I will enjoy the conference and I get a day to sight see a castle! Also bought the ticket before we spent almost $1,000 on the cat. I might have wavered if the cat expense came first, so I weirdly feel it’s a sign I am meant to go.

    1. I had a diabetic cat for several years too. I poked myself with the needle (empty syringe) before I could make myself do it on the cat, but it really was so tiny it was barely noticeable, and the cat was totally unfazed by it, so the injections were easy to do.

    2. Will you be in Bratislava? We were there in the fall, and we really enjoyed it. The old town is adorable, and the food was yummy!

    4. Working in boarding kennels I have given insulin to a variety of cats and dogs, and they don’t seem to mind it at all, even when they’re new to it.

  4. What amazing news, Jenny! So glad you have a high-five Doc that keeps an eye on things. We want you around for a good long forever, so this is fantastic to read. Happiness!

  5. This cardiac doc report makes me happy. Hooray!

    I made myself happy be re-reading a comfort book and petting lots of cats while getting through a gauntlet of crazy, telling myself “it’ll be done by the end of the month”.

  8. Fantastic news! I am so happy for you. I am happy because I have a new project in the works. I am turning a sunroom into a screened in patio (catio) this fall. I bought my house last June and intended to use the sunroom as a living room. However, 3 floods later–yeah, global warming is real–and, thankfully before I moved it, we discovered that the sunroom was unusable because it hadn’t been built to code and was rotting away. We are keeping the metal roof and the concrete base. So my new-to-me cat is going to have a massive (30’x16′) place to enjoy the outdoors, and I will be able to enjoy fresh air without all of the mosquitoes and other bugs. I am thrilled because I get to decorate a new space. Plus, I will no longer have to look at the sunroom disaster through my sliding glass doors.

  11. Relieved for you, Jenny. Very, very relieved. 🙂

    So last week I was not posting in the happiness thread because the crush update for the week was very sad. See last Saturday for why if you missed it. Short version: dude pre-emptively told me he’s not up to dating anyone probably ever even though I never said a damn thing about the crush whatsoever, it was excruciatingly embarrassing for me because nobody has EVER figured out I like them before and I *haaaaaaate* being caught, and we still had rehearsal all week followed by the play. I didn’t talk to him much all week though he’d try and talk to me, and it was sad and awkward as fuck and I hated it. I felt like I’d only make things worse if I spoke. I’d respond if he said anything but otherwise kinda avoided. Yuck.

    My therapist’s response to this this week, among other things, was along the lines of “If I had a nickel for every time you, or me, or anyone else, said “never” to me….”

    This week, we all had a birthday party at karaoke for one of our friends and I admit I was going in with a game plan along the lines of “get drunk, sit far away from him, ignore him as much as I can and hope he doesn’t show up because of the awkward.” He thwarted that plan big time. (Note: as I’m writing this I’m watching YouTube music videos and one for “Endgame” by Taylor Swift is on, with the lyrics, “You’ve been calling my bluff on all my usual tricks.”) Seriously, somehow he DOES THAT and I don’t know how. Because not only did he show up second to the bar after I did, he hugs me, sits down next to me, mentions a few times that he parked next to me, was wearing the silly hats I brought for the party, and he was having a very “warm” night with regards to me. He made everything normal again. Seriously do not know how he pulled that off. We didn’t end up chatting for long hours in the parking lot (maybe we just should never do that again anyway), but things have been back to normal this week. Go figure.

    Our scatty director decided to schedule a last minute rehearsal for Thursday and most of us could not make it, me included, and I was sending sad texts to karaoke group text about it while working elsewhere. He definitely missed me, I’d say, from the stuff he was sending (didn’t like that I could not go!), and was passing on funny stories about folks trying to imitate me while filling in my part, and even he did it at one point. It sounds adorable. Were hanging out close by during the show this weekend, I came in early to fix an issue with his pants, were looking at pictures of cute dogs backstage, etc.

    Dude definitely likes me, at least, regardless of whatever issues he has going on. So there is that. Not sure if that makes it better or worse, mind you.

    Not sure how much I’ll see him in the future. Cast party tonight and another one for our previous show is going on next Saturday, and other than that, presumably weekly karaoke. No more shows or other excuses to see him for awhile, at least. I know I should try to wind down on this and maybe with less frequently seeing him, it might happen. Who knows. If I find someone more emotionally available who is into dating me and I am into dating him, I’ll jump on it, I swear. (But it’s not likely because it’s me, sigh…I hate not being attracted to 99.9% of people.)

    Maybe this just ends up being an odd romantic friendship that never gets off the ground, I don’t know. But I do like him regardless of this awkward situation and would like to keep him around … however that works. I suppose we shall see.

      1. Hah, nope. No worries on that. If it’s not sci-fi or on social media, he’s not seeing it :p

        Dude is…very observant, I fear. I am not used to that with people.

  12. I made my cousins happy by hanging out with them today. Bonus: It made me happy too!

    Does anyone else who dislikes their job sort of get so fatigued that you forget to hate it and look for new opportunities? Because that’s what I did. I just get swamped and can’t think of what to do for me.

    The favouritism and nepotism is one thing that I can handle, because I just don’t care, but actively sabotaging non-favourites is NOT OK.

    Ok, happy thoughts. I got a lot of sleep recently and I realise that The Nap Ministry is correct. Rest is a revolutionary act! Aaaannnd, I’ve just seen what I did!!! Truly, epiphany as I type.

    It’s circular. I didn’t rest, so I was too fatigued to try to change my situation. When I’m well rested, I’m dangerous to the status quo.

    1. Love this, just what I needed to hear this week. Thank you, and kia kaha (that’s te Reo Maori for stay strong pr key-ah kah-ha)

  15. Happiness is a healthy dog, a husband safely home, and a day off to watch tv.

    It’s also an early morning email from a dear friend and fellow Louise Penny fan telling me that Penny is going to be in Edmonton on book tour the same weekend that we are both going to be there for the fan expo (I live 2.5 hours north of Edmonton, she lives 3 hours south) asking if we wanted to ditch the expo and go to the talk. Umm, yeah. I was only going to the expo for the visiting and hanging out anyway.

  16. We got a phenomenal call from my daughter in Auckland and there is a seat sale to Vancouver in February So she is planning to visit us. Hooray!!

  17. #1 Happiness is your now-normal, high-five-worthy heart. All the rest of the happys are just bonus. But they include celebrating Lazy Day with gusto, a swell dinner with friends visiting from England, and getting back to my regular walking routine after travel and weather conspired to derail me.

  18. Oh congratulations Jenny! I am so glad for you and your family!

    I am watching my dog eat snippets of fancy hipster bison jerky – his eyes are closed with joy – and it is delightful. My helper went to the farmers market to get us some tomatoes and the jerky people recognized her from the dog park and sent a large bag of weirdly shaped jerky home for him without charging for it, which was so thoughtful and generous of them.

    Also, the tomatoes are good. They are less good than the Jersey tomatoes I was raised on, but I’m not in Jersey, so… I turn into my grandma during tomato season – tomato sandwiches, tomato cucumber salad, tomato cheese tart, fresh tomato sauce, tomato mozzarella salad. I spent my hospital week alternating between being mad about being fat from the farmers market and being wicked grateful to Andrea in the cafeteria who stealthed me many many cherry tomatoes of many varieties.

  19. As you can tell, Jenny, you made us all happy with this news!

    I made a person happy by tweeting my notes from the Global Leadership Summit. She thanked me for doing a great job capturing the speakers’ points which made me happy. #winwin

    I made myself happy by recruiting my husband to help work on odds and ends of our kitchen renovation. We put the new table together and set it in place. Two of the doors I painted are hung. I filled the new “kitchen” bookcase with cookbooks and refilled the bookcase in the dining room that had been holding the cookbooks with all the books that had been on top of it.

  20. Miracles always make me feel warm and fuzzy. Ask your slap-happy cardiologist how often he gives out news such as he delivered to you. Miracle.

  21. My 16 year old nephew told me yesterday he wants to be a cardiologist. That made me happy and proud. Actually, having my neices and nephews over to play with my kids for the day made me happy too – although 7 kids in the house meant I was fairly happy to wave goodbye too!

  23. Jenny, your health news has renewed my faith in the power of hard work and persistence. I hope this is the start of a long string of wonderful health news.

  25. I made my wonderful friends happy with lunch today. Haven’t seen Jilly for a bit and Jamie, my sweet spiritual daughter and I went to lunch after church. My old pastor friend, Adrienne was teaching today. I live over an hour plus away, so it was a happy day all around as I rarely go to church now. Made me happy and my friends happy.

    DH’s knee is healing very well. He is walking almost without a limp and driving too. He is happy which makes me happy. Physic tomorrow.

  26. I love your good news, Jenny. Consider yourself high-fived from upstate NY too.

    My biggest happy is still the buzz from the long-weekend vacation with friends last weekend. It was so great, it became clear that A) it had been long overdue and B) we need to not wait 8 years to do it again and C) holy crap we all needed the break. We had good weather, ate too much fried food and bacon (as if there could be too much bacon), most of us went to the Ren Faire for the day and had a wonderful time, we got to hang out by the fire pit and drink wine together, and we were across the street from Lake Ontario. All the fabulous, plus 3 1/2 days was just the right amount of time and then I wanted to be home again.

    In part because of the kittens I’m fostering (along with their mama), who have cornered the market on cute. They were 17 days old today and they are looking less like plump sausages and more like little cats. I go upstairs twice a day to feed mama and spend time with the kittens, and that’s a pretty happy slice of my day.

  27. High-five from Texas!!

    I got to have girl weekend with my bestie, (no husbands 😁), and my kiddo hung out with us some, too. I think we talked for 48 hours straight! It was wonderful to have time together, and we’re already looking for the next girl trip!

  28. Okayokayokay… okay. Let’s see if this makes anyone happy. I mean, Arghers talk about soups and cooking all the time, right?

    So, you all realize that boiling a funny bone results in laughing stock? That’s humerus.

    Ba-dum tsh.

  29. That’s fantastic news about your heart, Jenny!

    I made my mother happy by finally doing her tax return. It was due 5 weeks ago and I’d been groaning and putting it off.

    And I made some people at work happy by busting a gut to meet their very unrealistic deadline. I was pleased with the results, so that was cool.

    Then I made myself happy by sleeping half the weekend and reading most of the other half. I felt much better by the end of that.

    This week’s looking much calmer – long may it last.

  30. Hurray, Jenny!

    We saw the Schitt’s Creek cast “up close and personal” in a sold-out theater full of happy. Each actor was greeted with shrieks generally reserved for rock stars–with a roaring, raucous ovation for Catherine O’Hara. The cast did a good job of making it feel fresh, though they’ve told these stories many times before.

    And yesterday I accidentally cleaned my closet. I thought I’d do just one shelf, but that was easy, so I did another…and then I had a trunkful of stuff for Goodwill and a closet floor holding nothing but shoes.

  31. I took my daughter to her first major league baseball game. She loved it. My boss gave me his expensive seats (he was out of town) too. She wants to go again. She doesn’t much care to watch baseball on tv but live, she’ll be there.

  32. I am so delighted to hear your heart is behaving properly.
    Other news on the happiness front. I got into a glue fight with my three year old grandson. To be fair, he started it.
    I was trying to get him to help me make silly putty with white glue and Borax. Instead he dipped his hands into the measuring cup of white glue, smiled up at me and coated my hands with white glue. By the time we finished we both had glue in our hair and many other places, including the kitchen floor. Result? Uncontrollable laughter. Baths. Lots of laundry.

  34. Wow, WOW, WOW!!! Congratulations! Glad to hear about the heart. Add me to the ‘That makes someone else happy” list. That’s a Very Big Deal.

    I’ve been taking time for friends and my husband. I think that’s been making all parties involved happy. 🙂

  35. That’s fab news!
    I made my Dutch in-laws happy by booking a surprise steam train trip from Fife to the Borders on Sunday for them, us and the kids.
    We also went to the Edinburgh Tattoo on Friday which they have wanted to see for years.
    Feeling like a good daughter-in-law for once!

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