52 Weeks of Happiness Week 21

Yes, you are supposed to have a picture to go with your happiness post.

I don't this week.

I just didn't think to do it! Hubby and I had a great date last Friday. We had matinee tickets for the final Harry Potter film, and we had a lovely dinner afterwards. I guess though we see each other a lot in passing, a little in the mornings, more at night, and even more on weekends, there is not a lot of real date time. Men think all time is quality time, but women really want a little something more...

We watched Harry Potter in 3D, mostly because we could, but it wasn't all that necessary. I loved watching it with him because we read the book when we were (very briefly) broken up (the second time). There is one certain character that dies, and back then when the book was new, he said to me as we got back together, "all I wanted to do during that part was call you. I knew you would understand how sad it was!" So seeing the movie together was more than just a movie.

We had dinner at Bonefish, which we love since it's not too pricey but has a very date-like atmosphere. When we got home, our little guy was fast asleep, and we soon were too.

Lovely, lovely date!

52 Weeks of Happiness Week 20

Wow! Week 20! It's been another wonderful one.

This week, 6 weeks into the summer, I finally got an afternoon for me. I had a million possibilities...pedicure, pool, movie...?? I had a movie girl night scheduled for Thursday, and Friday hubby and I were planning for Harry Potter 7.2, so three hours at the pool it was.

And it was a PERFECT pool day. I got a little pink, but it turns to tan on me pretty quickly. I took a book, dipped in the pool when it got too hot, and guzzled ice cold water.

Then I met a friend for a happy hour drink and appetizers. She was a little late, so I brought out my book and ordered my wine. I was warm from the sun, and reading and sipping Pinot Grigio, light and cold.



It was an awesome afternoon. Me time. Pool time, girl time. It was really, really wonderful, and the Margherita Pizza appetizer was DIVINE. Thank you, Carrabba's.

Season of Summer and Books

Each season brings new promise, farewells, and hellos. My summer has surely been a change from spring, and I welcome it all. Since I never really had me time in the spring, winter, or fall either, I don't think much about devoting my day 100% to my little guy. It is a tremendous pleasure.

When the school year comes around again, I will be there from 8-12. Not 7:30 to 4. Yes, my salary is gravely affected, but my life will be tremendously enriched. I am so happy to greet this new routine, though I am NOT rushing through the one my son and I have now.

As far as me time goes for this mama, I have almost made it through two books this summer. That's NOTHING to so many people, yet for me, it's pretty darn good. I'm a slow reader anyway, and with a toddler, you just never know when you'll want to pick it up.

I have found myself quietly slipping into a nap (even 15 minutes) after reading during his nap time. It's pretty nice, actually. And though I wish I could plow through more books, I also enjoy napping when he does, catching up on my favorite shows, and blogging.


I have enjoyed Heart of the Matter this summer, and Vision in White.
I dearly love Emily Giffin, and I love the feel of paperbacks. Not the tiny mass market ones, but the bigger ones. No other type of books feels better in my hands. So even though this one was out LAST summer, I waited for the paperback. I had plenty other books to read, anyway!

When I was about 8 weeks pregnant, my mother-in-law took me to her river house in Hardy, AR. She bought me food that would not turn my stomach, fed me well, and bought me silly, mindless books and magazines to read. It was for me to relax, and hubby to stay home to pack our house, since we were a week away from buying our first place.


Vision in White was the book she bought, and I didn't read it then because I was in the middle of another one, but I wanted so much to read it. I read all the bride fiction that looked decent when I was engaged, and this looked like plain, simple fun. Nora Roberts likes to write four books in a series, maybe three, and this was a "Bride Quartet" book. This was two years ago, and now all the books are out. I am just finishing up this one, and it's simple, plain, joyful fun.

My next book won't be the second in the Bride Quartet, as I rarely go back to back with the same author.

I AM still reading The Happiness Project book but am going slowly, since I can. And summer has turned things upside down, but hey, even that makes me happy. I needed a little shaking up at the end of May...time for a relaxing routine. Looks like the prescription that worked was mommy/toddler time and reading.

Happiness indeed.

52 Weeks of Happiness Week 19

It's Friday and I'm here for week 19!!

I love summer. I love reading. I love summer reading...you know, those fluffy books -- beach reads. Let me tell you--they are home-reads to me. Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer reads to me. And there is no reason I shouldn't read them whenever I want!

I love getting in bed, hubby's usually already there, and we both sit in silence for half an hour or an hour, reading. Totally different books. We're in different worlds. The other day, I was in Nora Roberts Wedding World. Hubby was in an Administering a School for Learning Disabilities world. And yet, we were really close.

He thought I was a little crazy to take a picture, but I knew this week had to be about these intimate moments, even in different worlds.



Bliss!

52 Weeks of Happiness Week 18

This post should have been made last Thurs, or Fri, or even Saturday. But no, summer has gotten the best of me. Here we go, you'll get a dose of happiness today and another dose by FRIDAY of this week. Setting a goal, here!

During week 18, I took a trip to Hardy, AR with my family. My MIL and I (and son) went Thursday, met friends up there on Friday, and were joined by hubby that day too.

I hadn't been up to my MIL's Hardy house since Labor Day, so it was way overdue! Poor little guy had a horrible night's sleep that first night, but once he figured out where he was and who he was with, he did fine.

I love all parts of trips there. We cook out, cook in, eat out, eat in, hop on a kayak to go very close to a place by the falls. You can have a beer at noon if you really want, because it's vacation.

I love the water. The mountains are fine, but I feel better with the water. And it was hot, but the river is very cool. I loved watching my son discover the river and was very grateful for all the help I had with my toddler. And I could stop for a moment, and just enjoy this, and listen to the falls.



A very happy few days.

52 Weeks of Happiness Week 17

I am a little late this week because I went on a weekend trip, but that's for this current week, not Week 17. For week 17, my birthday.

I have spent five birthdays with hubby busy doing something else, (grad school away for four years, conference this year). We celebrated Father's Day and my birthday this past Saturday, and I had friends to take me out on my actual birthday (Tuesday). We went to a restaurant that hubby doesn't like but I LOVE, so that was great! My MIL made me dinner at my house on Monday night, and Tuesday I arranged for a babysitter in the late morning so I could go poolside solo.

This WOULD be the day it rained. I came back home, changed out of my swimsuit, and since I had a sitter, I decided to make the best of it. Pedicure.

And of course, I must go to the place around the corner from my house that offers wine. There are a few places around here that offer it, but don't charge. No need for a liquor license if you don't charge, and I'm quite sure it helps business. So I headed there to get a spontaneous, much needed, first-time this year pedicure.



Maybe next year I'll have my hubby with me for my birthday, but I certainly can make it work going (almost) solo!

Happiness and Heartbreak

Almost a week ago, I heard of a friend's passing. She was 48. Lost her 5 year battle with cancer. Used to model in Paris, married for 15 years. Had four children, rising 9th, 7th, 5th, and 3rd graders. Model, but also model parent, wife, and friend. She was tremendously amazing.

She is someone I will remember for years to come. I cried when I heard of her passing. Cried a few hours later again. Then again at her memorial service on Saturday. I think what breaks my heart the most is knowing her children as well as I do. I have, in my 5 years, taught three of them, and my husband has taught the eldest. I taught one for one year, another child for 2, and the youngest for FOUR years. So I know this family well, and fell in love with them like so many at my school had.

Paula was nothing short of a beautiful woman. I am SO happy I knew her. I choose to see this as a time for mourning, but a time of pensive thanksgiving. I truly reflect on how grateful I am to have known her, and to have watched her interact with so many people. She blessed so many lives.

There aren't many people I can say who are simply, truly, beautifully GOOD. She was.

In the midst of heartbreak, happiness for being graced with her presence.

Paula was tremendous, and she did a 3-day 60 mile walk for breast cancer awareness (although she herself had another form, her mother had lost her battle with breast cancer many years ago) a year and a half ago. Here is her depiction of her experience, if you are so inclined. I wish I could point our friend out to you, but she is one who has little hair, and is very tall! Often in this video, she is wearing shades and a cowboy hat. Anyway...just a small part of her legacy.