Happiness is Sleeping Late . . .

~ Jenny

Which is why this happiness post is late. Stayed up working on Vermillion and forgot it was going to be Sunday. Apologies.

What made you happy this week?

106 thoughts on “Happiness is Sleeping Late . . .”

  1. I slept in too. I feel a little groggy but good.

    Happiness is time off. I took off Friday and Monday, so I am not grieving going back to work just yet. So far I am doing a little bit of everything and a fair amount of nothing.

  2. You’ve been going full tilt for a long time. You are forgiven.

    I read Rest in Pink, watched hummingbirds, finally got my hair cut, picked cherry tomatoes that are going berserk, and agreed to go with my family to see the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra play the score for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I, while the movie plays on a big screen behind them, in September. I played violin for years, even in college, and I miss hearing an orchestra in person. It will be fun! And I get to dress up!

    1. We try to do one symphony/movie combination a year. The Portland Symphony usually offers several. Next fall will be Raiders of the Lost Ark for us. I love movies with live symphonic music.

      1. I saw Raiders with the Atlanta Symphony a few years ago. Our seats were close enough to see the conductor’s computer screen with the score flowing beneath a mini screen of the movie. Great fun. Ditto for our visit for the original Star Wars. John Williams is wonderful.

      1. It really is. I was dubious on the first one we saw – Coraline – but it was so entertaining. And I think the Harry Potter would be a good choice too.

  3. Happy would be having a longer attention span than some of the gerbils I’ve raised. Did I sleep well? Yes, from about 2:30 pm to just after midnight. The ‘tension span refers to having four books open all at once, and not finishing any of them timely. The first is Rest in Pink, of course, open in the Kindle ap on the All-in-1. Also open there is the serial Variation on a Theme Book 4 in the Mobipocket Reader ap. I tested the Calibre Reader with an eye toward opening Bratva Baby for comparison purposes. Alas, I tested it with Four Kings, and now I’m at Chapter 16. The fourth book is something by Deb Blake – Wonderfully Wicked? It’s on the little Kindle device. I’ll get to Bratva Baby eventually.

    Sometime during the wee hours, I realized that I have plenty of fattening food, but nothing diet-accommodating. I logged on to Walmart and ordered “pulled rotisserie chicken” and Atkins chocolate covered almonds and diet soda, which was delivered and consumed an hour ago… in amounts that were not diet-accommodating. One Atkins snack has just 130 calories and almost no carbs, but they came five to the box…

    Still happy. Could be happier. 🙂

      1. I am! Very much! (I was teasing with the title.) 😉

        Yesterday I finished Four Kings and Rest in Pink in that order. I feel the need to post reviews, probably in my blog and on GoodReads, before rereading Pink.

  4. Happiness was listening to family talking about the “awesome “ time they had in Amsterdam and Italy; Anne Franks house and the Coliseum (3 hours) and the best food. It’s only the beginning to becoming world travellers. Then the girls played with their Barbies. My garden harvest.

    Yesterday we took my sister’s Snowhite Regency dishes to my daughter from another mother and father, for their family cabin in Pt Roberts. Everyone loves it. A very cool eclectic decor mix. We spent hours on the beach talking, laughing, and eating. It was heaven. I’d like a cabin too.

    And Rest in Pink. No finished. So good.

  5. We tried to take a vacation in Santa Barbara and while it won’t go down as one of the great vacations (tropical storm, earthquake, a longtime though not especially close friend died, a lot of work calls, and we are not beach people so we ran out of things to do before the week was up), we did catch up on sleep and do some fun stuff. Also we are some excellent breakfasts.
    I wore these sneakers and four separate groups of women asked for the brand. So I thought I would share with Lupe and Tammy.
    https://embassylondon.com/products/colorado-multi-signature-trainer

        1. Then, they were definitely worth it. I will pay more for comfort, and getting gorgeous, as well, is a real perk.

    4. Stockholm red butterfly sneakers on the way. My birthday present to me. Thanks for the link, Debbie.

    8. Ohmigod, that sight is full of glorious shoes! I’m not sure if I should thank you, given the dent it’s going to make in my wallet. But I do appreciate your sharing of the link!

        1. And yet, the devil on my shoulder wears your nametag. Coincidence? I think not. Oh well, my only regret is that the Barbie pink brogues are sold out in my size. The reviews look great! For wide feet too! Happy Day.

          1. The only thing that will get me into Birkenstocks is pink patent leather ones…which don’t exist. Sad!

    11. Sneakers are wowzer, def. I envision a buy in my future. But: you vacationed in SANTA BARBARA and ran out of things to do?!? I sense you won’t return.

      Anyone else who vacations in Santa Barbara, ask me. Of course, I have specialized tastes, but, again, I *sense* others here do too.

      1. Well, my aunt is there so I may well return. We visited the art museum, the wharf with the aquarium, the botanic garden, Lotusland, and Solvang. Took a couple of walks along the shore/cliffs. Went to the zoo. What did we miss?

  6. Happiness is finishing up our trip to the Shakespeare Festival at Stratford. We saw Much Ado About Nothing, Love’s Labour’s Lost and King Lear. Lear was played by Paul Gross, for those of you were fans of Due South or Slings and Arrows. Hottest. Lear. Ever.

    And for a little extra happiness – we had lunch yesterday two tables over from Margaret Atwood. I pretended to take a picture of my friend at our table so that I could get both of them on the same banquette in the same pic. Have posted on Facebook. I hope Margaret has done the same.

    1. Omg! I saw Paul Gross in Midsummer Night’s Dream when he was a drama student at the University of Alberta. It is burned into my memory and I firmly believe jump-started puberty for me. I think he played both Theseus and Oberon and I am positive that tights were involved.
      It would round things off nicely to see him as Lear now that I am post-menopausal 😆.

        2. There was for years a framed b&w photo of Oberon in tights and glittered up chest on the corridor wall at the University’s Studio Theatre (ok, there were some other actors in the picture, Puck maybe, whatever) but a dental patient of mine who is involved with the theatre told me a few years back that it was stolen off the wall.
          My chagrin is intense- I am not sure if it is predominantly that the photo is gone or that I didn’t think of lifting it myself.
          The Paul of that era had shoulder-length feathered black hair and the build of a young god. Justin Trudeau, eat your heart out.

    2. I loved loved loved Due South when it was on, despite it being hard to find as they changed its day and time of broadcast several times in the US. Did I assume that every Canadian was like that? Maybe. And from those here, it might be true.

        1. I saw them too, and actually liked them. Men with Brooms was funny. Of course, it also had Leslie Nielson. I’ve got Northern Extremes on VCR tape because it is impossible to find otherwise. Although admittedly, I haven’t watched either in years.

    4. Oh lucky you! I first saw Paul Gross in 1990 in a film called – Getting Married at Buffalo Jump (on tv in Canada, filmed in southern Alberta), then Due South and his other films. He appeared in television in Slings and Arrows (Rachel McAdams early work too) about the Stratford Festival and as his silver haired self in a miniseries called Caught (2018) – with another Canadian hottie Alan Hawco. All very enjoyable.

  7. I volunteer at an historical garden on Sunday mornings so I was up fairly early. Another volunteer asked me to help her in her section and since there was lots to do, the morning flew by. I also helped a friend pack the nuts and bobs from her old house to move into her new house. She rarely asks for help so I’m always happy to pitch in when she does ask.

    Our contractor confirmed he can start out kitchen reno this fall. Thanks to a very knowledgeable and helpful saleswoman, the appliances are selected and ordered. We’d picked everything else out last winter but the project got delayed. I’m happy that I’ll have a new kitchen before Christmas.

    DS went to the doctor who confirmed/validated his current mental health challenges. Next step is to find a counsellor, but in the mean time, he’s talking to his us, his friends and one of his managers who he trusts.

    1. I’m glad that he has so many people he feels free to talk to. Depression is horribly isolating and if you can get one thing you need from a variety of people, it helps make up for not having one person who can provide everything you need.

  8. Still coasting on clever (if I do say so myself) deployment of paid time off to get two long weekends in August and a four-day Labor Day weekend. Happy that the workiverse cooperated by not dumping any unexpected shit on me (the expected shit was plenty).

    Happy for good books. 🙂

    Happy that DH will be home in a couple hours from his week visiting / checking up on family in San Francisco, hoping we can have a substantive conversation very soon about whether or not he needs to get up there more often (I think he does) and also whether he needs to stop working 7 days a week while he’s in town (I think he does).

    Happy that the threat of 91-degree high for Tuesday has moderated to 87. And ‘partly cloudy’ which usually means overcast morning which usually means by the time things start really heating up, the offshore wind picks up to make it all livable.

    Happy with myself for using this morning to do some minor but needed housekeeping and get myself ready to go out for groceries later, instead of dashing out for groceries first and then being overheated and cranky and skipping the housekeeping.

  9. My roses are flowering again after their post-June break – Lady of Shallot in particular is spectacular this year, covered in apricot flowers and entwined with a rich terracotta trumpet vine. I went to a wonderful nursery called Pan Global Plants yesterday and treated myself to a yellow azalea (honey scent in May) and abutilon Orange Hot Lava, to fill a gap on the fence.

    I’m in Bristol, with a friend, looking after her brother’s garden. It’s on a hill, and the views out (through trees) are spectacular. We met up today with a friend we used to work with, and it was great to reconnect and explore around the harbour.

    My friend’s offer on the house round the corner from me has been accepted, so I may have more company nearby if it goes through.

  10. Sleeping in is totally happiness inducing!!
    I slept late, too.
    To the sound of pouring rain. Bliss afzer those weeks of scorching heat!

    No need for early posts imho!!

  11. I was struggling to find a happy for this week — nothing terrible happened, just nothing upbeat stood out — when a friend told me Ben Aaronovitch is going to be in Boston at Boskone in February! I thought I’d sworn off conferences, but I’m excited about this one!

  12. Happiness is taking a kid out for ice cream and a bookstore rampage, both of which filled her with joy, because that’s what she wanted to do before the first day of school. (

  14. I had an idea this morning that will make food prep much easier over the next couple of months, and with the surgery postponed I’ve got plenty of time to get it set up. Now feeling muchcalmer about not being able to walk or stand for so long. Whew! Happiness is no longer panicking 🙂

    1. Wait, so he was the Mountie? I liked the vibe he gave off when he was serious and being all upright and heroic and such, but he has one of those smiles that suggest he might be a bit full of himself. Which is a purely speculative reaction on my part, of course.

      1. Oops — above is a response to Tammy re Due South Man….

        Must have posted it as I was thinking of telling Kat I’m glad her surgery was postponed. You’ve got to have time to plan big life disruptions!

    2. Glad to hear you can manage the food situation. I hope the delay was not for a bad reason—when is it scheduled now?

  15. Happiness is finishing the reread of Lavender and starting Pink.

    And getting through another week.

    1. For me, too! And on my second Lavender reread, I did notice a mention of zombies, which did make me lol!

      1. Any mention of zombies is always an easter egg for all of you. If you suffered through the writing of these books, you should get some shoutouts.

  16. I happened to be at a tiny town 20km from here on Saturday afternoon and found there was a dance that night with a few bands playing, so decided to stay for that. Turned out one of them was a friend’s band. The friend lives in the city, so I totally hadn’t expected to find him playing there. And a couple of other friends were there to to support him too. So I got to catch up with all of them, which was lovely. And they were delighted to see me, which was lovely too.

  17. I made a major decision about writing that made me happy.

    I am working on a collage – poem combo that is making me happy.

    Laundry is done.

    If all tropical storm / hurricane Idalia does is take out our electric for a while – which is what is predicted – I’m ready.

    Rest In Pink made me happy!

    Sundays are my Friday since my days off are Mon, Tue, Wed. So I am Friday happy right now!

  18. Happiness this week was getting home from Yukon alive (but not leaving there), Amazon.ca finally having Lavender and Pink, and reading between loads of camping laundry and dishes.

  19. Happiness today was a (small) hot fudge sundae for lunch. It was a delayed reward that I had promised myself for successfully presenting (twice) at a big conference last week.

    Had big plans to start building a new garden shed from all of the random lumber I have in the garage, but the ice cream made me sleepy so I napped until the puppy couldn’t take it any longer and started dropping toys on my head in a not-so-subtle way to tell me it was time to get up and play fetch.

  20. I had a very happy weekend. It started with a pedicure and then shoe shopping, with dinner to follow, then a facial on Sunday, followed by an indulgent late lunch.
    So nice.

    On the shoe shopping, when Kelly S mentioned Fluvog shoes, I went and had a look, just out of curiosity, not thinking too much of it.

    I then found that they HAVE A STORE IN MELBOURNE
    AND
    MAKE LARGE SIZE SHOES!!!!!
    (Sorry for the shoutycaps, It was just such a surprise)

    Of course then I saw the prices, and even from 10 meters away my credit card winced, and I hadn’t even purchased anything.

    No mind, I am now so screwed, or at least my budget is, because THEY HAVE BEAUTIFUL SHOES THAT FIT!!!

    So I’m now the proud owner of these…

    https://www.fluevog.com/shop/7293-joni-black-emboss?item=38&of=429&anchor=true

    Thanks Kelly!

    1. Of course they other really happy making park of the weekend was reading Rest In Pink while being fed small amounts of really delicious food 😀❤️ at lunch on Sunday.

    3. My apologies to your budget but they are GORGEOUS! I’m so happy that you have found a beautiful pair of shoes that fit!

    4. Very nice and they are great shoes. I bought my wedding shoes at Fluevog – I was laid off with a generous severance a month before the big day so I splurged – it made up a bit for the years of crap I took at that job!!

    5. I have yet to actually regret splurging on really good shoes. They last so much longer than their more budget conscious compatriots and I can repair a scuff on leather. Plastic does not bounce back.

      My only shoe related regret is selling a pair of my Irregular Choice Heels. I knew it was a mistake as soon as I wrapped them up to ship.

  21. Well, reading Rest in pink for one thing. I couldn’t resist. I started it Saturday late and I read last night till midnight and I am so loving it. Today I’m going in for knee surgery. I get a brand new knee! I’m so happy. And also I get to finish rest in pink as soon as I get out from under the drugs which may be a while, but it’s something to look forward to. And in a couple of weeks will be One in Vermilion.

    3. Congratulations! May your surgery and rehab go well and (eventually ) bring you ambulation without pain,

  22. I made the mistake of reading the teaser chapters in the back of Pink for Vermillion, and I was half awake much of the night writing the rest of the book in my head. I think my imagination is more gruesome than some, and it was awful. I hope the real thing is much better. It will be.

    1. Jan, you are having the kind of helpless reaction that I would have if I started Lavender’s Blue, then had to wait for Pink, and finally found myself clawing the woodwork until Red appeared. Therefore I have to keep my eyeballs in chains until all three are in my hands under a reading lamp. *sigh*

  23. I am having lunch today with my sister and will remind her that one of the reasons she and her husband chose the suburb they live in is that there are plenty of things she can do there that do not require a car. Her oldest daughter hijacked my BIL to drive her around the outer suburbs and so the car was not available when her son (my sister’s grandson) needed it to get to school. Kitty cannot do much to stop that cycle as long as her husband continues to enable their daughter’s denial about her medical condition and ability to work where there isn’t reliable public transportation, but she can stop letting the situation make her a prisoner in her own home. I have lived without a car my entire adult life and there is a lot you can do without one, but you have to look in other places to find out about it.

    1. I love it that where I live you don’t need a car to get around thanx to our great public transport (plus it’s possible to go by bike to almost everywhere). Although I have a driver’s license, I don’t like driving and to be forced to drive would give me nightmares.

  24. I loved your book, which I finished last night. The Pink one. Looking forward to Vermillion. I have missed your writing SO MUCH! Which is why for me, happiness is reading one of your books uninterrupted. Thank you.

  25. I finished Rest in Pink (and read the new Connie Willis.) Loved them both, so those made me happy.

    I don’t understand publishers. You and Bob have written a great series. Why wouldn’t a publisher want it?

    Selfishly, I’m glad you are self publishing so I don’t have to wait years between books, and I hope it pays off for the both of you.

    1. Publishing is always weird, but it does seem to be weirder lately. I think the same thing is happening in movies, although the success of Barbie and Oppenheimer may make a change there.

      It doesn’t matter. Self-publishing has taken so much of the stress out this that I may never go back to trad. Of course Bob is doing all the work, so that’s easy for me to say.

  26. I’m happy that I got the most recent batch of ripe tomatoes processed (turned into a sauce), the muddy cat prints cleaned up, the raspberry canes tied up, and our new floor lamp put (mostly) together. I’m not as happy that a part was missing from the lamp so it will be another week or so before that task is done.

    I also spent time sewing sweetpea pods on Sunday as part of a sew-a-long. I have 6 of 12 made. I’ll post a photo of all 12 on Working Wed.’s post.

    I’m also happy that my hubby and I took our ancient cat to the emergency vet and got a diagnosis that was fixable vs. having to put her down on Tuesday. She was diagnosed with a UTI. They gave her antibiotics and other meds. It was a rough day and night for her, which led to the pawprints as she wandered from litter box to shower. She’s seemingly “normal” now but still isn’t eating enough, in my opinion.

    Of course, another happy moment was when my copy of Rest in Pink arrived (a day late). 🙂

  27. Since I am waiting to read the two volumes I have of Jenny’s latest trilogy, I can’t comment on that until the third one is out and about.

    But I am really happy that HGTV’s new series of Bargain Block is on the air again. The second episode will appear this Wednesday evening in the US, and it’s bringing me so much satisfaction.

    In the first series, the designer of this home rehabilitation duo finally went full-on crazy design for a project he called ‘the weird house’ which was my favorite episode ever. At the beginning of this series, he shared the fact that an artist bought that house and has kept it unchanged since then, which made me doubly happy.

    Although it’s only a single hour per week for 10 weeks, it’s a happiness that resonates for much longer.

    2. The weird house was great!!
      I love those two Bargain Block guys! I cannot get HGTV but found at least snippets on YouTube. At least I can follow them on instagram – and watch out for the second season on Youtube 😉

  28. I went to the Minnesota State Fair today.

    We have a route and early in our pilgrimage, there were lines everywhere.
    Third stop was the horticulture building. I love the crop art, the master gardeners, the flowers, the bees and tasting different honeys. It was hot, crowded, and lines to look at everything. So we left to get some onion rings and cheese curds.

    We stopped , later, on our way out, to pick up some basswood honey an hour before the buildings closed and it was magical. I spent time looking for the queen bee bought some basswood honey and watched people taking pictures in front of the garden display. The crop art was stellar.

    Also the seed art was stellar this year.

  29. What made me happy?

    I discovered Jenny Crusie is writing again and binged two books. Happiness! I loved them both and can’t wait for the third. The Agnes vibes were strong with these and they made my week.

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