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Happiness is An Extra Hour

Look! More morning! Or less evening. Whatever.

What made you happy this week? Besides, you know, falling back.

(Do not fall back, you’ll crack your pelvis.)

97 Responses

  1. Happy that the Toronto Blue Jays came so far in the World Series. While this morning the news is all about the Dodgers winning, the Blue Jays gave them a terrific run for their money. Fantastic playing, lots of nail biting, many individuals creating a whole.

    1. It was a great World Series, even if it had a disappointing ending. But it was terrific baseball while it lasted. And Mad Max rose to the occasion twice more, in what was probably his last WS.

      1. It won’t be his last if he can help it but of course he needs to get a contract with a contender and then they need to get there ….

  2. A friend in Tazmania has a Zoom write-in on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings–for her. (Monday and Tuesday afternoons for me.)

    I used to attend her Zooms regularly, but then time changes made them start at my dinner time. Now they’re back at 3:00 PM for me. It’s been great seeing her again!

  3. I had a great time handing out candy Friday night. My neighborhood is small, with kids, so it’s always a little busy. I saw a couple of dinosaurs, an illusion of a person being carried away by a monster and my neighbors came by as three versions of Michael Jackson (outfit with the one sequined glove, the Thriller outfit and the white suit). By 8 pm I was tired, so I turned off the lights and kept the rest of the candy for us.

    Now it’s November and I’m thinking about my plan for my DH and BILs of creating an Advent calendar. I think it will be a hit and that makes me happy too.

  4. Very happy in Puerto Rico. The heat will however make you lose weight. Of course you gain it back the minute you drink water or other drinks….

  5. I watched the live action movie of How to Train Your Dragon and loved it. They actually improved it. The dragon skin looks more natural, and the actors are great. They kept only one voice actor: Gerard Butler, who voiced Stoick the Vast. He became vast with the help of 100 pounds of costuming. He said in the special features that he has always wanted to live in that world. Bob would like him, as he’s a very “manly man”. The new, young actors are excellent. The whole cast is very inclusive, with several female Dragon fighters and many different ethnic people. According to Dean DuBlois, who directed both versions, there is dragon lore in every culture of the world.

    I prefer Standard time, and look forward to it every year. It’s now just one hour’s difference between Arizona and Kansas.

    My new reading glasses came and I started using them right away. I was still seeing double! So I called the doctor’s office, and they got me in to see her that day. She tried some new tests, and when that was over, she told me that I’m seeing double, AND in 3D! She referred me to a neurological Opthalmologist, and the earliest appointment available is at the end of February. That is also the time that several experts told me I could heal on my own. Evidently, it takes the brain about 6 months to compensate for a stroke like this.

    She said my brain is doing everything it can, and it is working very hard. I’m automatically tilting my head. I don’t even notice it. I close one eye all the time. My right eye is trying to help the left eye. Sigh.

    2. Good luck with your double vision!

      One of my, kind of, happy things is finding a recommended surgeon to fix mine. It’s been years of resisting but I’m getting close to the max of Fresnel lenses. He has year of waitlist before me so not too soon but eventually.

        1. Oh no, the surgery to fix my version involves cutting the muscle that is pulling too hard. Or Botox, calling for a needle to the muscle every few months. Just..yikes. I had trouble just learning to use contact lenses, this stuff freaks me out.
          Fresnel lenses on the other hand, are very cool. It’s the same kind of lens as in lighthouses, to concentrate and direct the light. In the case of double vision, sending the light so the doubling resolves.

          But if your brain is to relearn you might not want to use the lens. Seems like it might interfere with the rewiring

          I hope it works out well, for us both, yes?

      2. One of my best friends has had double vision from early childhood, wears incredible lenses (trying to look through them gave me a headache), and has the surgery scheduled for during her husband’s holiday work break (he’s a teacher). We have all available digits crossed.

        Good vibes to all who are coping with vision problems!

    5. Ugh, truly sounds like you are in eye-hell. So sorry that you have to deal with all of this. I hope the brain gets to the healing loooong before February, but at least it’s good to have a backup-plan.
      Sending sooo many hugs!

  6. I definitely didn’t get an extra hour of sleep. I tend to wake up between 5am and 5:30 and not be able to get back to sleep. This morning, that was 4 am. I made myself stay in bed, hoping to reset my clock, but ha. Between the time change and the seasonal change, I am not all that happy…

    But I managed to change the battery-powered clock that over the TV without falling off the stepladder, so I’m definitely happy about that. I’ve heard that falling is bad. Forget who told me.

    Making some progress with my Cranky Crone book makes me happy, as does spending time with friends. Even if I’m cranky.

        1. My husband and I have different insomnias. I go to sleep later and later. He wakes up earlier. It’s a good night sleep is if we are both unconscious for any amount of time.

  7. The neighbour’s cat came to visit. That made me happy. We had mouse sightings. I asked to borrow her cat a few days ago. Today he came over of his own accord. Such a beautiful cat, all black. Don’t really care if he scares off the mouse if he’ll let me pet him

  8. “Well, I’m back.”

    Our Lord of the Rings trip to New Zealand is over, the fulfillment of a dream really. Now I have a bit of a trip hangover – what do you do when your dream is fulfilled?? Go for Starbucks apparently and then get your hair recoloured.

  9. We had a good Halloween. Lots of kids and families. I liked that most people stayed in the town’s time limits, so it was over by 7:30. We give an option of rubber ducks with the candy and we ran out of ducks before we ran out of candy.

    I broke down and bought some sweaters. Thos are one of the many things I haven’t found yet. I hate unpacking.

      1. Maybe next year you could visit someone in a more kid filled neighbourhood? I’ve done that when I lived where the little kids didn’t go.
        This year we had trick or treaters that sang! I’d never seen that before.

  10. I had coffee with a friend and we planned our holiday craft sale schedule. It’s our annual tradition. It’s more about spending time together than gift buying but we always find a few items (often for each other) and we support local artisans.

    I visited a friend in the hospital who had major surgery last week. She had sent me a message the week before the operation saying goodbye if it didn’t go well. I was very happy that it went relatively smoothly, although recovery will take some time.

    Continuing to work on organizing my craft space. Also making Christmas cards. So far, I have only used paper leftover from previous projects. I’m enjoying the challenge. I have a new glitter paste that’s lots of fun to use. As one of my favourite cardmaking instructors says, “glitter all the things.”

    1. Susan – at my job we have been having software glitches for several months. IT fixes one & we get another.
      One day it popped in my head that if glitches were glitter we would all be so sparkly.
      Now I can laugh while being frustrated.

  11. I posted some Halloween comments at the end of the Thursday Good Books, if anyone wants to see how mine went.

    I didn’t start watching the World Series until the second game and without strong reason to follow either team. But if you’re watching team sports, you have to root for somebody to enjoy it, and I chose the Blue Jays for minor reasons. I found that I was pretty invested in them by game 7. I did turn off the TV and start getting ready for bed soon after the game went into extra innings but I saw the bad news when I checked on my phone. *Sigh*

  12. Happy I got the outside Halloween decorations taken down and into the basement if not yet fully put away. Still have to do laundry before I am done with the clothes and towels and tablecloth parts of the holiday. And take apart the treat bags that didn’t get handed out. I made 11 and had 3 TorTers, one down from last year.

    The kind-of specialty grocery near me (Plum Market for you Michiganders who might be familiar) had a raffle and i won! Two large bags of Field Day products, most of which I can use, and the ones I wouldn’t were successfully given away to friends the same day. I felt a little bit guilty because I don’t *need* free stuff but then realized probably no one who shops there needs free stuff. So I just said thank you universe, and am enjoying

  13. Old news to many folks, but one of the oddities of the Series was that there was exactly one Blue Jay who one a Canadian citizen, and he a dual national. And the Dodgers also had one Canadian, again a dual citizen.

  14. Head cold/flu kicked my behind. It’s Sunday, the sun is shining. Happiness is feeling better. Left over candy.

  15. Happiness is free time. I was incredibly sore after a hard work week last night, but today starts my 10 days of PTO. I will catch up on some appointments but otherwise enjoy having more time to do whatever I want. Starting my Sunday with all your happiness makes me happy too.

  16. We had maybe 15 trick or treaters (I note parents were prompting them to say “Happy Halloween” instead which is certainly more polite but kind of misses the point.) That’s better than last year. Maybe more kids are moving in; maybe the pumpkin DH carved sent the signal we were open for customers. There are pluses to having a gadget loving husband in denial about aging.

    Happy that I finally saw the second orthopedic surgeon. Not exactly happy that surgery is the best option but happy that he took the time to actually move my leg around as well as look at the X-rays and discuss the options and made it my choice. Happy he agreed I should increase pain meds and use the elliptical daily so I don’t lose too much muscle tone.

    Delighted that Andrew is no longer a prince and will be in internal exile and is getting investigated at least twice. Amused that the Palace made a separate announcement about who will now have the Queen’s dogs —very British. Also delighted that a second Epstein survivor has a book out in December which I hope will create further pressure both on Andrew and on the many other predators including the one in the White House.

    Absolutely thrilled by the World Series although sad someone had to lose. For those who didn’t watch, one of my favorite aspects was Trey Yesauvage, 22, who started the season in A ball, moved through high A, Double A, Triple A, only made it in the majors Sept 15, and then threw 11 strikeouts in his first post season game and 12 strikeouts in game 5 of the World Series setting multiple rookie records. This is the young man that left the celebration for winning the American League east early because he had homework (for college).

    Happy that I had a long chat with DS yesterday and that DD and partner will probably come from London for the holidays.

    1. Son and DIL flew to Toronto for the game yesterday. They said they were on the edge of the seats. It was a game of a lifetime, still worth the trip in every way. Back today, we have Juno while they were away. I couldn’t watch after bottom of the 10. Followed Trey Yesauvage story. And Max Scherzer.

    2. Debbie- happy with you on Andrew being held accountable & experiencing consequences. I continue to be astounded that we have such a vile person in the White House not being held accountable or experiencing consequences.

      1. There are numerous vile persons in the government, now. I do hope consequences catch up with them, soon.

        1. You are SO right, Jan. Let’s hope they all find their own most dreaded Story Ending after their time plaguing us now finally ends.

        2. Jan, I entirely agree. The orangutan may have reduced or zero culpability because of mental disability, but that is not likely true of most of his many, many minions and facilitators.

          Nor am I sure how much better the Dems would be if put to the same test. Most of them have given precious little evidence of high principles, and when they did, it was not always (in my view) the right principles that guided them. But probably they would be somewhat better.

          Sigh.

    3. If it helps to keep you motivated to do the elliptical — my brother recently had his knee replaced after putting it off for twenty years. He’s a life-long runner who’d been unable to run for the last five years because of the knee, which was why he was having the surgery, so he’d be able to run again. He had about three months between deciding to do it and the actual day, so he committed to doing everything he could to be in top physical shape before the surgery (biking, swimming, walking, just no running), and it’s really paying off in his recovery after the surgery. Much faster than average at reaching milestones.

      Anyway, just saying that how fit you are going into orthopedic surgery is a big factor in the recovery and long-term success. Which I’m sure you know, but thought you’d appreciate hearing that it actually worked, not just in theory, but in practice!

  17. I got so low on snacks (sugary) I ate ritz crackers with peanut butter and chocolate chips, not bad. Booked some future craft classes this week, so have something to look forward to, future happies really. Started knitting again, which is good, knitting I’ll keep going, other crafts I want to do, but have to make myself dig it out first. Knitting defeats all my procrastinator tendencies. Just one stitch I tell myself and I am off.. I need to work on carrying that over to other areas of my life…

    2. It wasn’t that long ago that I would make Ritz crackers with peanut butter an a dab of Nutella for a bit of a chocolate fix. But once the Nutella ran out I never bought it again. It just was something to try. Good but not a keeper.

      1. I wish I could say that about Nutellla. I’m sure my blood sugar would be much happier if I did.

  18. “Watched” the final game of the World Series with my dad, meaning I was doing some puzzles and checking in occasionally, (which I just had to look up how to spell, for not the umpteenth time, but the 55th year.) Was rooting for Toronto, but kudos to LA, and it was quite a series!

    Forgot about a pumpkin, remembered to buy candy, but forgot to turn on the porch light.

    I may forget about a Christmas tree, too, if the spirit so moves me.

  19. Happy that Florence and the Machine has a new album out with many good songs. I will put a link to one of my favorites in the comments.
    A few days this past week I made time for forest bathing & that always makes me happy.
    Today I’m going to go to the beach for 30 minutes or so. Very happy that we decided to do one more winter in Florida.

    1. I love Florence and the Machine too and so far this album sounds great. Much prefer to Taylor Swift. Is that wrong of me??

    1. That is so autumnal and Celtic, in a way. I did not know that singer, but I like this song. The “All shall be well” phrase is a quote from the 14th century mystic, Julian of Norwich, from her work “Revelations of Divine Love.” It’s very reassuring, when repeated multiple times.

    2. Thanks for the link, Judy! I’ve been enjoying one of the rock songs on the album when it comes on the local alt rock station. And nothing beats bellowing out “The dog days are over!” whenever it pops out of the car radio. But with this I’ll have to check out the rest of the new album too. From hard rock to Enya. Wow.

  21. Yesterday my granddaughter came by and walked me through unsealing the vacuum sealed bags of sweaters that I packed away in the spring. Without poking any holes in the bags. I couldn’t believe, again, how heavy they were.

  22. Happy this week was getting a lot more organizational personal business done; my work area is tidier and I don’t have to worry about “did I do X yet or not.”

    We watched Game 7 last night, most of it with my sibling and her wife, but they had to go home at 9:30 or so. They were rooting for the Blue Jays. I was too, in my quiet way; DH was happy when the Dodgers pulled it out. I learned a bit about baseball but have not been converted to a fan.

    Happy is also a day off work tomorrow, my “birthday holiday,” even though I expect to spend much of it at the local DMV office working on getting my NC driver’s license. Went to pick up some pantry essentials, plus prosecco to drink with tonight’s dinner, plus a piece of birthday cake. Must go read the NC drivers handbook now.

    1. Happy you-day! Hope you will have a lovely birthday and that the cake was amazing. You deserve amazing cake!

    4. Happy birthday, the first in your new nest! And may you fly through the test tomorrow.

  23. Happy for little videos of my now 8 months old niece baby-babbling away at the speed of light. My brother has sent me a whole bunch last days. My mum also sent me one where she audio-described her crawling. Apparently she does it the same way I did, on hands and one knee and one foot, only the opposite foot of how I did it. She’s maybe a tiny bit mine in spirit. <3
    We had to cancel going to Queenie and Dazzler's Halloween-party yesterday because of dead tired, no sleep and migraine-hit. Was very sad about it, but happy I could be there for Queenie over whatsapp anyway, she was a bit anxious about the presence of one of the other guests. Being able to support someone through tough times feels good.
    Happy that (knock on wood!) Triple hasn't coughed anymore since I bought and set up a second air-humidifier for downstairs.
    Happy for books that make me want to make things. And I mean fiction this time, that inspires me to create, like how I want to make dragons with flower petal scales and kitsune with 3+ tails, and cat-dragons, and other fantastical creatures. I don't know how and I don't know when and I don't know in what material yet for some of these, but I want to make them and so many other things. Also this book I am reading now makes me happy, because fibre-crafts are the main source of making magic there: weaving, embroidery, knitting, you name it. Fantastical, magical books make me happy.

  24. I was just typing my third paragraph when I wiped them all out before I could post. I guess that’s what I get for trying to type while wearing heavy cuffs. This time I will just say that the fact that I have gotten only 3 or 4 robocalls today is making me VERY happy! And my new phone works, even if I can’t figure out how to set up my voicemail.

    2. aunt snack – when i first read “heavy cuffs” I thought you meant handcuffs. lol.

      1. Just a ratty old terry cloth robe. I would never trust myself to not lose the key to a pair of hand cuffs. Just this morning I came across the mouse that I had misplaced twice.

  25. Happy that I finally got to go to pottery today. Pottery always clears my head and I get to spend a few days enjoying a sort of post-pottery joy where the inside of my head feels like the blue of a perfectly clear sunshiney day~

  26. I am successfully resisting the urge to post Gary’s Semi-Annual Rant on the Topic of Daylight Savings. I had to adjust the time on a wall clock, an alarm clock, and the microwave. The batteries on four other devices have died, so twellwidem.

    Fourth grandkinder (Dotter’s 2nd) asked if I had a way for them to earn $10. So I made one up. They had to refill/top off all 14 of my hydroponic reservoirs. For this task I disbursed four singles, a dollar coin, and 20 quarters. While said task was in progress, I noted the flashing Feed Me Seymour! light on Crusie, the Harvest Elite with the most sophisticated electronic controls, So I broke out the syringe and the plant food bottle and inoculated all sixteen active gardens.

  27. I was getting all those annoying pop-ups telling me they could summarize the article I just clicked on to read. Finally went into my settings and found an option to disable them. It’s the little things.

    Lunch with my cousin and a friend. Election is Tuesday and I’ll be busy for the next 3 weeks or so with that. And all shall be well…

    1. I love (sarcastic) when I upload a manuscript for one of my novels to Google Docs, it notes that it’s a long document and would I like it to summarize it for me. Yeah, no.

  28. I’m happy the World Series is over and hoping 2026 will be the Padres year to win the World Series!

  29. Due to new medication allergic reaction, I sport a fiery facial rash (doctor’s been informed). What makes me happy is said facial enhancement will not prevent me from going out into the world tomorrow, thus proving a less swollen sense of vanity. Bare face to early exercise class, makeup ameliorated for additional activity. All to the good.

    Waves in autumn roll in more robust, splashing and gleaming in the light. I adore this time of year in Southern California.

    Back from the road trip to Palo Alto and the California Garden and Landscape History Society conference. Toured a Frank Lloyd Wright property; an impressive century-old Arizona Garden (cactus) on Stanford campus; and the former Sunset magazine office property, rumored to be demolished for a 40-story building in a residential neighborhood. The fight against the razing is fierce. In Menlo Park–next town over–we found a lovely used bookstore (cat!) filled with treasure. We came away with a photography book of Gertrude Jekyll gardens with her comments and a volume of a trio of Gerald Durell’s books. I read his stories as a child and found him delightful and funny. We hit up Carpinteria as our last stop, a favorite place for decades. Beloved stores and restaurants have vanished, but we found new ones to take their place. At the resale clothing spot, I found THREE Citron blouses, and they all fit! I will try to be modest in their wearing and not flaunt.

    1. Lucky, lucky you finding Citron blouses. Loved that brand. How exciting. They must be gorgeous.

      Years ago, i found the brand in a little store in West Vancouver. I bought a long silk dress and float-y semi sheer-ish coat. Can’t think of the correct term, head still fuzzy. Love that dress. I had tailored to fit better last year.

      1. Carol, thanks for clarifying that. I was picturing three yellow-green blouses. It’s always exciting to find things in “Your color” .

  31. I spent most of the afternoon and evening at a friends’ milestone birthday party. We capped the evening by watching the last few innings of the 7th game. Sad that the Jays lost, but it was a hell of a Series.

    Last week I signed up for my credit union’s 0% loan program for furloughed federal employees, which provided some relief from my 0% paychecks. Not sure how many pay periods they’ll pay out for, but even a couple will be helpful. I’m not in nearly the straits some people are in, but it’s still a relief.

    It will be interesting to see the results of this Tuesday’s elections. I want a complete rebuke of the administration, but as a Virginian, I’d just be happy to have a Dem governor.

  32. I really hope you also get a Dem Attorney general but the governor looks a lot more likely. The AG looks really close !

    Written by a Marylander whose World Series was punctuated by huge numbers of VA political ads. This at least was better than the wild card series which we watched online and got ads for survivalist supplies like three months of meals. Is that what baseball fans want?

  33. More happiness!

    My Mighty Mini Cherry Tomato Seed Pod Kit, which I planted in three of my Sprout hydroponic units are bearing fruit! Still green and unripe, but these are supposed to be RED tomatoes, as opposed to all the yellow/orange tomatoes that I’ve been harvesting for the last two months. Variety is good.

    As if that weren’t enough, Aerodarden has the Mighty Mini Cherry Tomato Seed Pod Kit back in stock, at least the 9-pod kit, and I ordered them. The reason I want them is because they grow in my units. “Produced on dwarf-sized plants (5 to 6 inches)” so they fit even in an AeroGarden Sprout, their smallest unit.

    Okay, yes, you can buy seeds for almost anything at a fraction of what AeroGarden charges. It’s just that I haven’t seen any seeds for these micro-dwarf sizes. The nearest is the Orange Hat tomatoes that said they grow to 8 inches tall (and grew instead to almost a foot.) Yes, I have lots of Orange Hat producing lots of tomatoes.

    I’m going to have cherry tomatoes year-round.

  34. I’m happy because it’s raining. Good, soaking rain that we really needed – it’s been a very dry winter and early spring in Tasmania, and it was looking like a dry summer too, but now I’m feeling more optimistic.

  35. “What do you like to do?”
    “I like to collect the tattooed corpses of dead trees and display them in my room.”
    “D-d-do you mean books!”

    Absolutely chortle-worthy!

  36. It’s my favorite season and I’m loving a beautiful place to experience it. I’m getting out to walk daily in the lovely autumn.

About the Author

Jennifer Crusie is the New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author and co-author of twenty-three novels, one book of literary criticism, miscellaneous articles, essays, novellas, and short stories, and the editor of three essay anthologies. She lives in a cottage in Pennsylvania, where she often stares at the ceiling and counts her blessings.

Find out more about Jenny’s published works by visiting JennyCrusie.com

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