Happiness is Electric

~ Jenny

I’m still celebrating heat and light out here in NJ. Also yarn and hot food. Happiness is simple this month.

What made you happy this week?

44 thoughts on “Happiness is Electric”

  1. Well, Christmas stuff is mostly done, so that makes me happy. Work stuff should be done in about a week, so that means scrambling now, but anticipating happiness. My parents will be here on Thursday and best friend and family are coming over for brunch and visiting on Sunday. So lots of stress, busyness, and happiness combined. Tis the season!

  2. Glad you’re getting back to normal! I too am happy with getting a semblance of normalcy. I was able to go to the office for a full week, and I roamed through a grocery store on Friday night. I paid for the purchases, and was able to get some cash back, so there is some folding currency in my wallet for the first time in nearly two months. I knew I had been missing that, but didn’t realize how much – and it’s not like I spend cash often. I think it is more that there is the option to do so.

    One more week of a cast, and then on to the next step in healing.

    1. Paying cash saved money last week. They were only taking cards, so I gave my brother £4 cash to buy a sale cushion with his shopping, he put it in his wallet and then remembered to check the receipt to make sure it came out as sale price. They’d charged him for 4 cushions. Faulty machine. So he got a refund at the till. Always get a receipt. Then you can take it straight to customer services.

  3. Work is chaotic and the craziness will continue for the rest of the month and into January. I’ve started adding 80s song lyrics to emails to my boss – makes us both laugh. My Christmas shopping is nearly done – time to start wrapping and get packages in the mail. Cookie baking is underway. Almost all the amaryllis I planted 2 weeks ago have buds – I may have blooms for Christmas😀

  4. Had a good get-together at the community pub; and also bumped into a couple of fellow allotmenteers yesterday.

    Putting a couple of dozen pictures up has made me happy, although it was a bit of a shock to have the walls covered at last. Felt like the house was suddenly inhabited. And I like the collage I’ve made in the boarded-up fireplace (I’ll post pictures next week).

    And this afternoon I bought half my Christmas presents. I know what I want to get for nearly everyone else, and should be able to finish when I go to Shrewsbury on Thursday.

  5. What made me happy last night was a heater. I was going to move a 4″ fan to my night stand for the sound (and fury) I require to sleep – but then I remembered I have a “My Heat” 200 watt heater with a fan inside. It was perfect! It might stay there the rest of the winter.

    Our trip to Busch Gardens Christmas Village (or whatever they call it) has become contingent on the weather. It always was, but that was for the cold, and now it’s for rain. Cold rain is worse than snow for walking around an amusement park. Maybe. I have pictures and videos from last year. 2.5 million lights! They’re supposed to top that this year.

    In the meantime, I’ve started Krissie’s new book.

  6. It’s our end of school year and Summer holidays. We go back in January.

    I planned on doing a lot of yoga and reading of personal development texts, but attended an amazing workshop on trauma/grief and found exactly what I needed. I’m many steps closer to being more in tune with the universe. The next few days are going to be interesting and even fun.

    I also plan on reading work related pedagogy books and activity books with a view to implementing Imaginative Education and a Walking Curriculum for grade 2. If anyone has any free and non-subscriber web links for me, I’d appreciate it.

    Soon we’ll have mangoes and litchies for sale on the roadsides. Summer is the best.

  7. Two times happy last week. I volunteer at a bookshop that helps support our Literacy Central and we had our Christmas pub outing Wednesday night nice to meet all the volunteers and catchup.

    Then very unexpectedly a friend called she had been given two tickets to the Winter Harp concert, it was Wonderful all the instruments and outfits were medieval.
    A very happy week.

  8. Every year I put a great deal of thought into which books to buy for my husband and two daughters for Christmas. I always get them a number of books each, and I put masses amount of effort into reading reviews and browsing the shelves. It gives me a huge amount of pleasure to get just the right books. I am on my own for a few days, and have managed to sort out my list.

  9. I’m finally forcing myself to write my holiday cards. I’ve loved the idea of sending them, but the doing, not so much. This year I’ve put off starting for 3-4 days. I’m making progress today only by reading a section of the Sunday papers and writing out a card or two. It’s time to start cutting the list. That ‘resolution’ makes me happy.

    A while back I read a ‘recipe’ in , I think, the Washington Post for a hot dog substitute. Basically, thick carrots are broiled (quarter-turn every five minutes), steamed (20 minutes), and then the charred skins removed (like red peppers), brushed with toasted seseme oil, salt, and pepper and served like hot dogs. It sounded really weird but worth trying. They are amazingly good. I add some smoked paprinka to the oil. I’ve been craving them so I had one for lunch. That made me happy.

    My family has pretty much given up the gift exchange; dinner with everyone is plenty to do. And I cut down on my docorating. I’ll have to make 2-3 different cookies to take to dinner. Simplifying all of this makes me happy.

    Back to the cards. I’m halfway through 40 cards. Progress is being made and that’s always good!

  10. We are cat-sitting. I’m too allergic to have cats in the house permanently but they are delightful to have around for a couple of weeks.

  11. Working my To-Do list down makes me happy. Also, my recliner died two days ago (mechanism snapped, but I got Many years out of it, as evidenced by the worn cushions and stained upholstery) so I finally got to order a new one, hooray! Of couse, I couldn’t get a new one while my current one was “perfectly servicable” (I have Depression Era parents), so I’m actually happy the darn thing finally gave up! And watching football (American) today, in my son’s recliner, with a toasty fire – very happy. Go Seahawks!

  12. Some of the “finishing” energies from Wednesday came my way, and I got a few small but annoying things done. That’s enough happy for now.

  13. I’m only a little embarrassed to say that morphine made me really happy this week – I was in the ER for mysterious pains, and the morphine kept everything to a dull roar while they figured out what it might be. It was a mass – it was a monster mass! a teratoma on an ovary, and I was sufficiently wigged out and it was loose enough on its moorings that we agreed it should come out tomorrow. So I am gathering my strength and patience, and tomorrow afternoon a Dr with a good sense of humor has promised me pictures of the thing in questions. Sometimes (this is gross, but cool) these things have bits of bone, teeth or hair, in a valiant attempt to grow just one more human. Or something. Bodies are SO WEIRD, I tell you what.

    1. When I was in the hospital after cancer surgery, they gave me a morphine-valium drip. I want one of those again some day, that was awesome.

    1. Lee, Cazaril in The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold has a growth which is compared to your type (by a doctor who doesn’t realize that the growth is actually an act of divinity). I was surprised to do a little wikipedia wandering after reading the book to discover that your type of growth exists.

      1. It’s really wild – the name teratoma means “monster mass” in Greek (hence the ongoing chorus of Monster Mash in my head), and the images are not for the squeamish. I’m told that the really exciting ones are rare, mine is more likely to be boring.

  15. Only two more weeks at the day job makes me happy – ready to move on to the next phase of our life, even if that next phase includes getting rid of most of our possessions. 🙂

    Potted some poinsettias and hung wreathes on the front gate and garlands around the front windows, so at least the outside of our house is ready for Christmas.

    Parties start in earnest this week – I’ve got two weeks of events before things quiet down. My amvibert self doesn’t quite know what to do.

  16. Coming here after being so busy the last few weeks is my happy for today! I’ve been doing, doing, doing and will for a week or two yet, and then life will be back to normal. Happy to see you all still hanging out in the argh space. Peace out.

  17. My happy this week is that I spent a good 3 hours or more with a friend who is screamingly lonely. She is 94, has had a stroke or 2 and is struggling to stay out of a nursing home. I wasn’t the sweetest of visitors, but she was so involved with talking to me that she didn’t notice how late (and dark) it was any more than I did. So I feel good about that. I haven’t made any progress on what’s screwed up in my life, but at least I have an idea of one place I can ask for help. And I can cancel one of my friend’s deceased husband’s magazine subscriptions for her.

    Now if I can get my c-pap supplier to actually sell me a new machine instead of just calling me after hours to say,”Oops! We forgot to get enough information when we called your doctor a week ago. We’ll have to waste another week before we process your order.” Although I only have a mild case of sleep apnea, after 3 weeks without my c-pap, I’m beginning to feel really tired.

  18. I forgot my biggest short time happy. The store that had a sale on Ben and Jerry’s had most of my favorite flavors in stock so I bought a bunch of them. Then I managed to fit them all in my freezer. That hasn’t happened in eons. And when I rearranged the freezer to make room for the new arrivals, I found 2 pints tucked into the corners. I may have to invite some company over to help me celebrate. That way when I become a toothless diabetic, I’ll have company.

    1. How cool! Have you got a reliable recipe for the gingerbread? We made one once and it went soft and fell down. 🙁

      1. Fancy Flours has a set of plastic “gingerbread” house parts for those who want to focus on the decorating exclusively and don’t plan to eat the Art. They also had a plastic cookie to practice your decorating on before taking on the real ones.

        http://www.fancyflours.com/

        Notta Cookie – The Reusable Practice Cookie
        Gingersnap Reusable Gingerbread House

    3. Fancy Flours has a set of plastic “gingerbread” house parts for those who want to focus on the decorating exclusively and don’t plan to eat the Art. They also had a plastic cookie to practice your decorating on before taking on the real ones.

      http://www.fancyflours.com/

      Notta Cookie – The Reusable Practice Cookie
      Gingersnap Reusable Gingerbread House

  20. And the Drifters made me happy. I just played the clip again ( for the millionth time this year ) and it once again made me smile. It also linked me to some Sesame Street videos on You Tube that really upped my happiness quotient for the day.
    Thanks, Jenny!

  21. I have a tree! It is beautiful, I can see it from my bed (pros of tiny apartment life) and it’s making my apartment smell like pine.

  22. I have barely started Christmas shopping. I have literally bought 6 things, I don’t even have any stocking stuffers. And I have two kids (10 and 11) and a bazillion nieces and nephews and a goddaugher and other special people. We don’t go overboard, but still. The year we bought everyone charity goats did not go down well.

    And we go camping in 9 days. Nothing but good times ahead.

    All the kids’ teachers etc are getting vouchers for https://thegoodregistry.com/ (we did last year too) – it’s great. You buy a voucher, the recipient chooses the charity, and then feel good about not giving in 100% to consumerism. How many bottles of wine/boxes of chocolates do teachers need anyway (don’t answer that, teachers!).

  23. I began a long list of unhappies/happies then deleted it. All in all, I’ve been surprisingly efficient in getting holiday stuff done because I knew I faced more challenges this year than usual (such as my husband’s long recuperation from rotator cuff surgery in November).

    Snow kept me from attending The Queen of Spades opera in New York, but at least I showed you guys the hostess gift I came up with (I sent her a photo).

    Best news is that 20″ of snow did not affect our power. You’re tough, Jenny! (And when times were tough, I reread Dogs and Goddesses.)

  24. Well, my play is over. I’m sad about that, but it was fun. Had some time to talk to the crush afterwards (now that the other girl is going to be not around for awhile) so that was nice.

  25. Visiting my sister in her tiny little 1920 cottage. It always feels so homey between the architecture, wee fireplace, and vivid colors.

    I realized that I tend to buy practical neutral colored furniture and use neutral wall color.

    That’s got to change! Green boots and pumpkin orange couches ahoy!

  26. Well, it looks like I’m going to have to rethink holiday baking. I started a Toll House recipe this morning, preheated the oven and normally check the oven because during the 1970’s there was the bag of potato chips incident. That’s where I used to store them. My husband had put chicken legs and a container of ground beef to thaw. The chicken and beef are not ruined but my pride took a hit. And here I thought I was so smart because I remembered to put a kitchen towel over the mixing bowl when adding the flour so it wouldn’t create a cloud.

    1. Umm. I’m confused. You didn’t put the chicken and beef into the oven. While I remember to check the oven because my brother hid my school money there when I was a kid, I wouldn’t get mad at myself if I hit preheat without knowing that someone had put stuff in there.

      The kitchen towel is a great idea. In my old age I’ve started mixing flour in by hand so that I don’t get the snow effect. I’ll try a towel.

  27. I’m happy that the heat is now back on, after the thermostat and the heat register parted company the day before Thanksgiving — we had dinner in our outdoor jackets, so much for my planned seasonal outfit! However, the house is nicely warm right now!

  28. My husband and I went to see Knives Out, which is like a cross between Agatha Christie and Georgette Heyer. I enjoyed it immensely and definitely recommend it for the Argh crowd.

    Work stress is nearly at its peak for 2019 so I am extra mindful about appreciating moments of happy as they come along. Today’s particular happiness is successfully getting through a work project/client meeting – a significant relief. Now on to the next one…

  29. I am happy I don’t work tonight. I am also happy I am in bed and have central heating. In 4 and 1/2 months I will be happy I love in Minnesota. But maybe not now.

  30. I feel free I’ve had shingles since Oct 15 the past two days I’ve had no medication nor pain pills. I feel like myself again, of course I’m getting new lesions but we’ll see. GET THE SHINGLES VACCINE!

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