3 Happy Stories and 1 Bonus

1. I was sitting on the couch listening to the husband laugh, out loud, really hard, almost to tears. Then I asked him to read me what was so funny on the internet and he laughed even harder. I love that.

2. I was at the gym watching day time tv and listening to my ipod. As I was watching what appeared to be some ladies win a car, it hit me how much I love to watch people win. It doesn't matter if it's some sports team I have no vested interest in, or dudes winning poker tournaments, or middle aged women winning prizes on the Ellen DeGenerous Show. The genuine happiness comes through the tv and hits me hard and I smile big. In my excitement I may have even peddled a little faster on the bike*.

3. I used to see this more when I worked at Filenes in college but I love when other people in line offer to share their coupons. This doesn't happen very often, but it happened to me today and it was awesome. While standing in line at the Gap holding an armful of denim and more gray sweaters (everything is gray this year, it seems that dressing like a communist is in style. FINALLY!) I realized that I had the wrong coupon. That morning I had read something about 30% off in my email and desperately needing new jeans I thought "Yes, the stars have aligned and I will no longer have to wear pants with holes!" With glee, I grabbed the latest Gap flier that came in the mail and headed out the door. Only, what I realized while standing in line was that I had not brought the magical 30% off coupon. No, I had brought the crappy $15 off a $75 purchase. Poop! However, the very nice lady behind me in line (who was also buying an armful of gray sweaters) called me a friend and graciously lent her coupon to me. This lady rocks! She saved me about $50! Let me say that again...A perfect stranger saved me $50! Man that made my day. I thanked her profusely and told her I would do something nice for someone else. Pay it forward, as the husband would say.

*Have you ever started a workout on the stationary bike at the gym, but set the difficulty level slightly above what your body can actually do? You know, you somehow set the bike to the level that would be named "so hard that were you riding an actual recumbent bike up a hill that steep you would most certainly fall over still stuck in your toe clips". About 10 minuets into my workout this morning, my legs were moving so slowly that the bike actually thought I stopped and it shut off! The nerve! Not to be deterred I just kept on peddling and have decided to just leave the fancy work out selections alone for the time being.

things are happening

with any luck by the end of the day this:















will be transformed into a finished product thereby making the kitchen actually look finished!!

my happiness about this transcends the fact that i am paying for someone to do this for us. in fact, maybe, my happiness concerning this is actually increased because someone else is doing the work. all the productivity and career bloggers talk about out-sourcing, so why not give it a try? i mean here i am writing a blog post while my kitchen is fixed. oh, i guess i failed to mention that the contractor is also painting the dreaded stairwell and that ugly back room.

so this has become a little clearer now. my happiness is increased by the fact that 3 projects are being worked on at once. three projects that the husband and i have procrastinated doing for TWO YEARS!

oh and another small triumph will be to remember how happy this makes me tomorrow- when i am melting in the 90 degree heat forecasted for the next few days.

10 things i like

1. today was the first snow we've had of the season and the husband shovels the driveway

2. the silly border collie that lives on our street was trying to herd the shovel his owner was using to clear the sidewalk when i drove by.

3. this post about ugly oatmeal - i too enjoy my own brand of ugly oatmeal that i eat at my desk every morning while reading the important and unimportant daily news.

4. the street are filled with the soft glow of christmas lights which makes my drive home and my walks with the pooches a little nicer.

5. my drive to work was uneventful, despite it being the first snow of the season.

6. school was delayed two hours which meant that the angry dad at the end of the road was not waiting at the bus stop blocking my view of oncoming traffic.

7. tucker the ninja dog steals briggs giant bed every day, and briggs is just fine sleeping on tucker's small bed even when it's under a table.

8. i started to refinish a chair i've had in the garage for over a year.

9. yesterday i baked banana muffins, which meant we didn't waste the brown bananas

10. that we finally bought a new battery charger for the camera

whats all the buzz

i was so excited to read this post this morning on the happiness project. quieting the buzz in one's brain is a challenge- for me anyway. and i liked the tips. even if you were just to use a couple of them on occasion it seems there would be some benefit. maybe i can post this list around the office. of course what i really loved about this post was that it reminded me that gretchen rubin had this great idea for the happiness project while she was riding in a cab. she's a new yorker, so i doubt very highly that she drives daily so to speak- but this is close enough.


Happy Thanksgiving!

time out

Being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect. It means you have decided to look beyond the imperfections. -Unknown

happiness project

you may have noticed the link i have to to the happiness project on this page. this is one of my favorite blogs. grethen rubin has devoted significant time and effort to studying happiness- how to find it and how to maintain it- what works and what doesn't- what the research shows and what her own personal experiences are. i always find her posts to be pertinent to my life and my surroundings. recently she has put the idea out there that everyone should have their own happiness project. since reading that I have been contemplating this idea....why shouldn't i devote time to research what makes me happy, why it is important, and how to maintain happiness? i thought about this a lot while i was away last week but took no action. i was feeling paralyzed by the thought of having to come up with a set of commandments.

when i originally started to think about my guiding principles for happiness...nothing came immediately to mind. actually, that didn't make me happy at all. it bummed me out. was i so removed from myself that i didn't know what made me happy?

on the way to work on tuesday, i was stuck in a long line of traffic, moving at a painfully slow pace. suddenly, as happens often while sitting in the car, i was hit by a handful of ideas that would be become my own guiding principles (or commandments) for happiness. i whipped out my new sidekick and jotted down some notes so i wouldn't forget.

my commandments:

• breathe
• enjoy the process
• do it anyway
• let go
• notice and encourage the things you love
• take chances
• be honest and kind
• learn and apply that knowledge

gretchen has 12- i came up with 8- if i think of more that suit me i will add them as i go. i look forward to studying the idea of my own personal happiness project.