a peek inside the fishbowl

It was a great day. It really was, all except for one small incident that happened when I was trying to exchange Sarah’s mittens. 

I was practically accused of lying.

I have a thing about lying. I’m not a liar. I am the straight goods. I don’t even know how to lie, and even if I did, I couldn’t even live with myself.

“I don’t even know if she bought them here!” said a haughty saleslady. I felt all the warmth and kindness seep out of me, as if the bottom of a barrel had suddenly cracked open. All that bubbly liquid warmth was replaced by a cold hard sweat.

I turned to face her straight on. I had trouble maintaining an even keel.

“I did buy them here.”

I felt like adding something else, like how I’ve spent four freakin’ hundred dollars at this store in the past year.

Then someone checked their customer database. And lo,’ there I was.

Mittens were readily exchanged.

–

Perhaps I will make Operation Feelin’ Great a monthly thing. The whole day served as a giant reminder to me. And I don’t want to get all melodramatic on you but the truth is this:

I create my own days.

Fer chrissakes, I even have it typed out in my own sidebar as a reminder to myself! Life is an adventure of my own design. Every day is a gift.

For sure, there are people who suffer from depression and things like that. I’m not one of those people. I only know what works for me, and what kinds of things make me happy and feel great.

Here’s a few:

Tidyness
Notice I didn’t say cleanliness. Ha. I don’t need my floor to be so clean I could eat off it, but I definitely don’t like stepping over piles of crap. (Mark is reading this right now and is very close to typing out a comment like “THEN WHY DON’T YOU DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE BASEMENT?” Well hon. I don’t like the mess, but as you know, finding the energy to tackle it is something else altogether.)

Fitness
Going for walks, fresh air, and yes, even going to the gym.

A sense of acheivement
I recently had a special preview screening of a video for which I wrote the script, and it looked fantastic. I always enjoy seeing The Finished Product, no matter what it is. CheapEats Ottawa v2 is out now, and my name is in there as a contributor. I went to the launch party and felt postively glowy inside. That’s a good feeling.

Planning and thinking about special projects
Like the Trust Experiment, or the Shopping Embargo.

Positive feedback
In other words, acknowlegement. Oh, and FLATTERY WILL GET YOU EVERYWHERE. Related to this: reciprocal kindness. It makes me feel great to be nice to someone, it’s a double whammy if that kindness is returned.

Time to focus on myself
No need to expand on this one. The self-encouragement, the long shower, the healthy breakfast, the socks, the time at the coffeeshop, the (free!) meditation podcast I listened too … these all contribute immensely.

Love and friendship
I have lots of love in my life, but to be honest, few people whom I would call Very Good Friends. This is a sore point, perhaps worthy of it’s own post someday. Culivating friendships make great days too. I hope to improve in this area.

I don’t have the luxury of time to do this kind of thing every day (i.e. lying in a puddle of sun while I’m meditating, taking long coffeebreaks and eating baked goods at the local coffeeshop), but it really doesn’t take that much mental effort to stay positive. The best advice is this: Act how you want to feel. Smile like you mean it. And be kind to others.

It works.

I need to start taking better care of myself – ’cause you know what they say –  if mummy isn’t happy, no one is happy. Right?

ETA: Looks like HP took the link down. Sorry folks.

Mail is good, especially for kids. Not only is it exciting to receive mail, but it also encourages a host of things we want to encourage in little kids who are learning to read/write and express themselves verbally. [Speaking of which, click on the letter I scanned to see an enlarged version of (what I think is) a draft of a letter Sarah wrote to a little friend. (!?)]

—

In Little Women, the girls establish a mail box with Laurie, the little boy next door. They use it to send letters and packages to one another.

How sweet, I thought. I want to do that too.

So I found a template for a cute mailbox on the HP website. Note: If you want something to hold larger packages you’re going to have to rig up something else. This is for letter mail!

If you have a few sheets of white cardstock on hand, scissors or an exacto-knife, and some glue you’re set to go.

I’m not going to duplicate the instructions here, but I will add that it’s important to make sure the front flap is glued on to the side that says FRONT. ;)

I will probably make Sarah’s today. Emma’s is upstairs, attached to an Ikea magnet board we have in the hallway between their two bedrooms. I’ve already sent her some mail. And she loves it.

The poor kid is home sick today. She woke up with a fever at 4 a.m., which was surprising because she was perfectly fine yesterday. She’s tired and feverish, not to mention sad that she’s missing a field trip to skate on the Canal. Perhaps some more mail will cheer her up.

p.s. More thoughts on Operation Feelin’ Great to come later…. but I will say this, it was a GREAT DAY. :)

(This post is written throughout the day. So start at the bottom and read upwards)

9:43 p.m.
What? You thought I was kidding about the board games? Mark and I just played a couple rousing rounds of Bananagrams. (And no, that is not a metaphor for anything else. Pervs.)

8:16  p.m.
The kids are in bed! Dinner was great. I can’t believe I didn’t get a photo of it. (I guess I was too hungry!) Dessert was strawberries and PC organic vanilla ice cream. And now… more wine, and perhaps some… boardgames. ;)

4:47  p.m.
A nicely set table makes me feel pretty good. So do candles. The floating candles in the linked photo are ones the girls bought for me years ago. I do not know what I was saving them for. I have stuff, and don’t use it. What’s the point of that?

Next: a glass of wine and more time with my book.

3:06 p.m.
Have picked children up from school. They’re playing outside while I think about dinner. Perhaps I will stretch out on the couch and read? First, I need to take an Advil. I think I hurt my neck while taking a photo of my socks. (Don’t ask!)

1:33 p.m.
Breakfast for lunch (inludes yummy cheese)

 
Drive to LCBO to pick up some wine. The Superstore for strawberries and organic vanilla ice cream.

Cheery walk to the village to exchange some mittens for Sarah, buy coffeebeans, and take some photos:

Plan secret art project:

And now I’m drinking tea as I sketch out the aforementioned project. But I tell ya, it’s a good one. ;)

10:55 a.m.
One long hot shower? Check!
Fave socks and underwear? Check!
Kitchen tidied? Check!
Hubby coming home for lunch? Check!

Now, I’m going to take my iPod and meditate. Ahhh.

9:00 a.m.
I’m back! I thoroughly enjoyed a buttery croissant and latte. The fellow even made the foam out in a heart shape. I wish I had my camera. It was coffee art! I half-read the paper, chatted with a few people I knew, and walked home. It is sunny and bright. Operation Feelin’ Great is off to a great start.

BTW, here is a scan of Sarah’s Valentine gift to me. I was so surprised. It’s a paper finger puppet. I don’t know where she gets all these great ideas.

7:42 a.m.
We’re a go! I’m walking (both!) girls to school, then heading to Bridgehead for a coffee, a newspaper, and a decadent pastry.

Hee hee!

(It’s not too late to join me in having a great day you know…)