Here we are . . . the last Friday in the longest month of the year. (So far, at least.) Here at Happy Hour, it’s all about sharing something GOOD that you noticed in your life this week.
Anything at all!
The drinks are flowing . . . so, c’mon friends.
Spill it!
And I’ll get us started . . . with something plain and boring and mundane. But GOOD all the same.
I’m in the midst of a long-term project here at my house. Cleaning and organizing my files, my shelves, my closets . . . everything everywhere throughout the house. (Tom is working on this, too.) We’re calling it Round 1 of Swedish Death Cleaning. It’s a gross project, really. And we’re not doing it quickly. But we are doing it! And I’ve discovered that it makes me happy to see our progress.
This is the (still in progress) closet reorganization in my office. I’m still in the “messy middle” phase of my office-reorganization, but I can see that it’s coming together now. I have a functional closet. My file cabinet is nearly empty. I have a bookshelf with plenty of space.
Turns out that clearing out my sh*! . . . bring me moments of joy in otherwise difficult times. And that’s GOOD.
How about you?
What have you noticed this week that made you feel GOOD?
Tell us in the comments. Happy Hour will remain open all weekend, so come back and see what others have shared.
(And if Happy Hour pans out, maybe we’ll make it a regular occurrence.)
It has been A Week most certainly! But… this tiny sliver of good has been a boon all week. On Sunday night a water main broke on our street… which is not a good thing. And the “repair crew” from the water company who were there most of the day on Monday determined at about two in the afternoon that the best way ahead was to open the fire hydrant at the top of the street creating a fast flowing river of water in freezing cold temperatures. It’s kind of crazy how fast water can move… and soon the water was flowing down everyone’s driveways. Yes, yes… a fast flood. But in the midst of all this insanity neighbors from unaffected streets came over with shovels, one man had sand bags that he began placing on the driveway of the poor people at the bottom of the street. Literally, within 20 minutes at least 15 neighbors from other streets were on our street helping. It was quite heartwarming. Without those 15 hearty souls, I believe that more flooding would have happened. AND!! Several of them have been back multiple times this week to help hack away at the inches thick ice that is covering most of the street and almost all the driveways. So my little corner of the world restored my faith in humanity this week… in a very good way.
A friend and I compete to spot the first red winged blackbird of the season as a sign of spring. There’s been a lone rwbb at our feeder for the past two weeks. Not good news for him, but certainly for me because…..spring!
I’m thinking he was fooled by our January thaw a couple weeks ago or he got caught on a wind that blew him here. The juncos, cardinals, bluejays, and mourning doves have been keeping him company until his mates arrive.
PS This is the earliest spotting I’ve had. They usually show up around Valentine’s day
I’ve been keeping track of good things this week just looking forward to this!
* The best thing is that we were very lucky and didn’t lose power during the storm. I am grateful every time I flick on a switch, turn on the oven, and sit on the radiator to savor the heat.
* I witnessed a frozen finch come back to life. Sunday as the storm was winding down I saw a finch lying down in my window feeder. Its feet were curled up and it was covered in sleet and freezing rain. I felt sad that this poor bird had died, but Monday morning when I came downstairs, I saw the finch sitting on the edge of the feeder and warming up in the sun. I was thrilled and put off getting my tea so I didn’t disturb it, but I just sat at the kitchen table, watching and hoping it would get warm enough. After about half an hour it did, ate a few seeds and flew into the closest oak to sit in the sun some more. It felt like a miracle!
* I had forgotten to get hyacinth bulbs to force, but I found really cheap ones on etsy, they arrived the Saturday before the storm, and now I have hyacinths growing and reminding me that spring will come. Thanks for holding this Happy Hour, Kym!
I don’t know if this is a thing elsewhere, but here in Western Pennsylvania, we have a tradition known as the parking chair. When we get a big snow and it’s an effort to dig out a parking spot, people will put a chair when they pull out to reserve their spot on the street for later. Often it’s just your average folding chair or lightweight plastic porch chair, but sometimes people get creative. Earlier this week, when I got out in my car for the first time after this most recent snow, I got a good laugh: In addition to putting out a parking chair in a spot, someone had posed a skeleton on top of it. I know that cleaning up after this storm has been a frustrating experience for many people, so I love that someone injected a bit of humor into the situation!
Love your idea of a Happy Hour Kym. And I am having a beverage…it’s coffee, but it’s hot and good. My happiness came from 3 visits this week. First (naturally) to see Iris – that’s ALWAYS a happy time. Second was an excellent visit with my Primary Care Physician yesterday – my blood work was excellent, I’ve lost a bit more weight. All good. And lastly, I had a great eye doctor visit this morning. My pressure is monitored every few months and today it was spot on – just where it is supposed to be!
One of my favorite Portland yarn shops is giving the Melt the Ice pattern (by purchasing it for the customer, not just giving away pirated copies) for everyone who buys a skein of red yarn from them. I love this because instead of just enjoying the boost in yarn sales, they found a way to join in to help folks in MN.
And yesterday, we had lunch with some friends who’ve moved away to Seattle. They were in town for an appointment, and sent a text asking if we were free. Sometimes when I’m feeling glum, I find it exhausting to reach out and ASK. But it was such a delight to catch up and be invited.
It’s also pretty good to wake up on the west coast and see some of your goodness on the way to my late breakfast.
I write grants for a non profit in my little beach town and learned that we will receive two grants this week! One is for a steam table for our meals on wheels program, fully funded! The other–well, we asked for $60K but only got $17k. I was disappointed but then remembered that is $17K we didn’t have a week ago and that will fund replacement of our ADA compliant (and often broken) front doors so that’s a pretty good win.
I agree that the “purge” of things we have accumulated over decades is definitely a positive experience for me. I continue to do that routinely since my husband died, and it is so freeing! Less stuff means less burden, in my book anyway. This week we have had catastrophic weather in the South. I have thus far kept power and water, which is a huge blessing. My gate was frozen to the ground and my dog got out, but my neighbor saw him and called me. He was so concerned about me being here without help that he came the next day to dig out the 4 inches of ice around my gate. He, his sweet daughter, and I had a great visit while we worked. What is better than a fabulous neighbor?! And I know I told you about my aunt Minerva, but did I tell you about my uncle Bernie who came to think he was a banana? You might think that unappealing, but he was diagnosed with split personality. OK, enough of the puns for now! Happy Hour is a fabulous idea, Kym. It’s so life affirming to read all this positive news.
I love that you’re on Round 1!! So smart. And I think it’s so smart to not do it quickly… or even with a deadline.
It’s great to read all these GOOD NEWS comments!
I saw a headline a while ago about how some offices are now letting employees not wear shoes. The thinking is similar to not wearing shoes at home. Well, every morning when I change from my slippers to my “work” shoes (should we call them hard shoes the way we called jeans hard pants during Covid to signify something other than soft and cozy?) I think to myself how much I love my slippers and wish I could wear them at work. My slippers are a good thing!
This morning a good friend and I met for coffee. Instead of our usual coffee shop, we went to a place called Rose Kat. Rose Kat is a small coffee shop set up to employ adults with disabilities. I had a decaf latte and it was good. The prices are a smidge higher than other places but it enables employment for six or seven adults with disabilities. My friend and I were knitting and the young woman working came over to ask us if our drinks were ok and then asked about our knitting. She recently learned to crochet and told us about her scarf in progress. Turns out a bit of a helping hand makes a big difference.
Oops. I spelled the name of the coffee shop incorrectly. It is Rose Cat. https://www.rosecatcoffee.com/ if you want to learn more.
I met a friend that has moved away for an overnight in Woodstock, VT. It was SO COLD up there but we met the nicest folks in the stores we visited and had the BEST conversations. What a treat!
Another cafe story: I wanted something light but filling at a local cafe while doing errands so the young cashier suggested the perfect choice: avocado on sourdough toast with an arugula topping. It was light and delicious and kinda made my day.
My “good news” was, simply, turning the calendar page to February.
January was a tough one this year.
We can’t complain much about winter since we have no even had ONE inch of snow. The mountains have less than they were have. I love February in comparison and we’ve heard storms could roll in by late next week! (Yes, crazy to be so happy about snow, but there you have it.) That was more of a complaint, I think. So..
The days are just > < that much longer and seeing more light at the beginning and end of the day tickles me so much! I miss walking Mylo in the morning, but when we are out around noon there has been a mostly blue sky and the SUN! We're very happy to see the sun and shake off the chill of morning. Thank you for Happy Hour! The best idea running around blogland.