2024 Happy Blog Challenge Continues

Here are some happy things from today: Even with all the hiking I did in the fall, I still feel very out of shape.  I walked to the store again today and it really felt like I was dragging.  But I did it.  Four miles into the city. Yay! Most of my time at DIY Craft & Thrift was spent reorganizing the stationary/scrapbook section.  It looks much better than yesterday, but there could still be more work done.  There is so much paper there!  There is lined paper and notebooks, construction paper, photo paper, origami paper, and scrapbook paper.  And there are so many stamps!  The store is going to look great when it reopens on Tuesday.   Keziah played sword fighting (the swords were florals) with a friend. So much fabric got reorganized by another friend today. A very small part of the scrapbook section.  Currently, I'm working hard to get to bed early.  Tomorrow is my transition day back to working nights and I want to start ...

 December 21st at 4:20 AM was the official time of Solstice.  I woke up shortly before that time and was not able to get back to sleep.  I let things distract me.  Exhaustion aside, here are some happy things from this cold Winter Solstice: Keziah got me earrings as a Solstice gift (or birthday or Christmas gift).  It has been a while since I have worn earrings, but I got them in.   Keziah and I went to the mall in the morning.  For the last Saturday before Christmas, it wasn't too busy. Keziah had a package she had ordered that needed to be picked up or we wouldn't have gone.  While there, we also looked through the Manchester Craft Market.  It is a store filled with arts and crafts from local artisans.  Two of the artisans I actually know.  It is nice that there is a place where local people can sell their crafts.  Photo credit to Keziah.  We got breakfast from Cinnabon.  That was delicious.  After that we...

Happy Thursday things: At work, I helped to train people all night. One of the things I think I said most was some variation of, "Bend at your knees." What I want to work into my coaching time more is that mistakes are good learning opportunities. On a personal note, I should try to learn more from my mistakes. 😂 Pretty much all I did for Halloween was wear my "This is my Halloween costume" t-shirt. After work I ate, did my last Inktober drawing and went to sleep. It was supposed to be a nap. I really should learn from my mistakes and set an alarm. The final Inktober prompt was landmark. I went to my photos and pencil drew a geomarker that I saw on one of my hikes. Then I drew a house because, for whatever reason, an old joke kept coming to my mind. I don't remember it well but it has to do with giving directions with a New England or maybe that classic Maine accent. Part of it was something like... you go that way, towards the Smith's house. It...

Here are some happy things from today. At work, I survived a shift of stowing.  For this, and other reasons, I should practice squatting more often.  Perhaps it is time for me to find an exercise challenge.  I seem to do well with challenges like that. On the way home TF called.  We hadn't talked for a while.  Embarrassingly, I eventually fell asleep during our conversation.  I guess it has been a long week.  We ended our conversation and I took a nap.  My alarm goes off at 3:30 every afternoon.  Soon after that Keziah called.  This helped wake me up enough to go eat.  Food is important.  Keziah thought Zed was going somewhere tonight and I might like to join him. He wasn't, so I went and rested for a few minutes.  Hours later I woke up.  I missed Craft Night and had eighteen minutes to get a DuoLingo lesson done before midnight.  🤣 It was a work, sleep, eat kind of day.  Thankfully I thought to get a pictu...

Here are my happy things from Saturday: After sleeping longer than I expected to yesterday, I went back to bed and slept for a little more than an hour and a half.  That put my sleep total at almost nine hours.  I usually get around five, I think.  When there was an opportunity to work today, I stayed in bed another hour, debating it and doing DuoLingo.  In the end, I decided to go in from 8:45 to 11:50 this morning.  A nice, short shift that was all overtime. What did I do when I got home?  I rested for a while.  Then I went for a walk to enjoy some of this absolutely lovely autumn day. I'm still behind with the Inktober drawings.  Today I chose the number ten prompt, nomadic. ☮ Currently listening to:  Sabriel , by Garth Nix. Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Here are some happy things from Friday: Looking at my Facebook feed I was reminded that the aurora borealis was supposed to be visible. Many people saw it and shared some wonderful pictures.  I'm happy that it was visible to so many.  I left for work early and drove north of the city, but it was overcast and maybe too late.  No northern lights for me.  City lights reflected in the cloud cover. At work, I was trained to do the position of QA.  This isn't what I would expect the Quality Assurance position to look like, but I didn't name it.  Maybe it stands for something else?  Basically the person oversees the people stowing in a section of the building.  But oversee is maybe too strong a word?  Guides and coaches, moves people to the work, and problem solves what can be done before sending things to problem solve.  But not oversee as in discipline.  Whatever the correct word, I was trained in this last night.  It is also redire...

Happy Autumn! Last night I slept on the couch and it didn't go too bad.  I expected to hurt more this morning.  Since I am still the parental figure for Gideon while his parents are away, I'm sleeping on the couch tonight, too.  I'll need to be up in the morning to get him to school and me to the dentist. Gideon, his friend, and I went to a cafe this morning where we met up with my friend (his friend's aunt).  The kids got to spend more time together.  I was able to do a little bit of hiking research.  I've decided I need to do an overnight somewhere before winter hits.   There was archery today.  I'm not shooting as well as I'd like.  However, I shot longer today than I have been and the very last six arrows were pretty good.  I forgot to take a picture of my scores.  The red, white, and blue Arrows are mine. Four of them were in the red and one in the blue for 19 points.  It was a timed round at 20 yards.  That is g...

Again, I fell asleep while trying to write this.  I know I needed the sleep, but falling asleep with my finger on the screen only means I have to start over again.  Here are some happy things from today: This week at work I was all over the place. I liked that.  I ended my week taking care of all the hazardous waste.  I had some weird things to dispose of.  What I ended up doing was to ask a bunch of questions when I wasn't sure how to do things.  This was the right thing to do in this case.  Also, I was given a cool travel mug. It's Orange!! It was National Cheese Pizza Day.  We got pizza at the end of the day to celebrate. After a short nap when I got home from work, I sewed.  The TV went on with the first season of The Rings of Power and I sewed while listening to that.  I sewed while Gideon did his homework.  The sewing came back to my room and I sewed while I talked with TF on the phone.  I'm about a third of the way done...

Happy things from today: Work went well.  I was moved around a few times which kept things fresh.  It made for a good way to start the week. While briefly outside at work I noticed the quarter moon with what I think was Venus near it.  Seeing that was a bright spot in my night.  At home, I seem to keep drifting off to sleep whenever I stop doing anything.  That is, until now, when I am hoping to sleep soon.  Which should mean that I don't make stupid-falling-asleep-on-the-keyboard mistakes.  🤣 I'm choosing to laugh at this now instead of letting it frustrate me.   The view outside my window. ☮ Started listening to: Tehanu , by Ursula K. Le Guin. Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Some happy things from today: Yesterday I wrote about applying for a position as Learning Ambassador. Today the Learning Coordinator asked me and two other potential candidates to train some of the new hires in the Pick & Stage process.  I really enjoyed it.  Unfortunately, I still think my schedule will be a big enough factor with getting the position that I won't get it.  It was a fun diversion from the normal routine.   It also inspired me to look at different options and training I could get through my job.  If only I knew what I want to do when I grow up!  🤣  One weird thing that has been on my mind lately is how the company I work for is international.  Theoretically, I think I could relocate to different parts of the world.  I actually looked up costs of living in some other countries today.  It is more expensive to live in Iceland than the US, but less in Spain.  What if I was brave enough to move, temporarily, to ...

It took me about four hours to fall asleep last night.  This meant that I had more of a nap before work than a good sleep.  Here are some happy things from today: Work assigned me to the Problem Solve Area.  I was exhausted, but this was the best place for me.  There is less strain on my body and more on my brain.  I was kept engaged, and it was good.  The area was also a mess when we started.  Some coworkers and I were able to sort through it all and get things done on time.     At home, I fell asleep.  I had a short nap and was able to get a few things done.  Yay, productivity! The apartment is a mess.  Bins of things from Pennsic are spread around the place to dry.  Everything is just a little moist.  The happy part of this is that I pushed myself  to get my things out of the trailer, with Bel's help.  Things only need to be all over the place for a day or two.  It is much better to deal with th...

Here are some happy things from today: The nap I took at the movie theater yesterday was apparently all I needed.  I was unable to fall asleep at home.  However, I made it to work on time. I left work two hours early to go to the dentist.  I may not have slept much, but my teeth are clean! At home, there was a bunch of rummaging,  and then I found my solar charger.  It was almost exactly where I thought it should be.  It wasn't in the box I thought I left it in.  When I stopped looking for the box, it made it easier.  This will hopefully mean I can take pictures and blog from Pennsic.  That was about all I did to prepare for leaving later this week.   With the little energy I had left, I took a picture of some Queen Anne's lace.  Enjoy! ☮ Currently listening to: Dune Messiah , by Frank Herbert. Started reading:  My Wandering Uterus-tales of traveling while female , edited by K.A. Laity.  This book is an anthology. Tha...

Happy things from today: It was my fifth day working ten hour shifts this week and I was assigned to induct packages coming into the building.  The person assigned to unload packages for me was on day six.  They were tired.  They were not fast.  This did not help to keep me awake at work.  It did help me have more energy for the second part of the morning when we prepare packages for delivery.  That was good.  I ended the work day being able to help others tetris their boxes.  Tetris is still one of the best parts of the job for me. After work I had a message that my friend was visiting Keziah's store with her sixteen month old son.  I arrived just in time for him to be drifting off on a nap.  His mom and I talked quietly for a little while.  She handed him to me to hold for a bit.  Listening to and feeling his breathing while he slept almost put me to sleep too!  He woke up while I was holding him, we played with my phone...

Some happy Wednesday things: Yesterday I went to bed on time, but couldn't get to sleep.  I feel like the first seven hours at work I was in an autopilot/dream state.  Then I got a second wind.  I'm happy that I didn't fall asleep on the job!  🤣  I also left almost an hour early so I didn't get free pizza.  It was worth more to me to come home. At home I did a few chores and had some food.  I have been so busy that I have done very little for downsizing.  There is a binder I was trying to empty a week or two ago.  I'm happy to say that everything that I don't want anymore has been removed and either shredded or put into recycling.  I'm even happier to say the only thing left in the binder are a couple sheets of blank paper and a recipe for pretzels.  Maybe the binder can become a place for recipes?   Outside the milkweed has started to go to seed.  I'm hoping to collect the seeds and spread them out on the back prope...

Some happy things from today: At work I spoke with my supervisor about time off.  We have Mandatory Extended Time (MET) for the next two weeks.  My actual vacation starts before the MET ends.  So I'm leaving for Pennsic when they want me to be working.  My vacation time for the next week was approved, but I can't ask for time off that I'm not scheduled for.  And they won't approve vacation time when there is MET.  So, the end result of all this is that my supervisor assured me that I would get the time off with no bad repercussions.  For that I am happy. An eighteen year old that I babysat, at least once, drove me to the event in Maine today.  I worked until just after noon and I was falling asleep on my way to his family's home to pick him up.  I'm so thankful that he was able to get me to this event today. It was another hot July day.  I'm really thankful that Keziah was able to get the common tent up. A little while after I arrived, w...

Happy Saturday!  Here are some happy things from today: Did the almost seven hours of sleep I had last night make up for my lack of sleep on Thursday?  No.  But I feel a lot better. When I came home today I noticed a purple flower growing by the driveway.  According to Lens it is a Platycodon grandiflorus (Balloon flower).  I know I have seen this kind of flower, but I don't think it was in that part of the yard.  There is part of me that wishes my memory was better.  However, I love the way flowers come up unexpectedly.  At the studio, I finished painting the Stonemarche sheet wall.  Now I just have to remember to get it to Pennsic.  I am very thankful that other people in the Barony got this project started.  They did the hard part. For downsizing today I tried to go through three notebooks.  I made it through two before my back was bothering me and I stopped.  I have taken apart two more notebooks and separated them int...

I've been awake for over 24 hours.  However, here are some happy things from today: Yesterday, I slept.  I slept around six and a half hours.  That is a lot for me.  It meant that I had more energy than usual.  This was good in that I got some things accomplished after a part day at work.   Keziah and I were able to talk a while and work out some plans for the next event.   Friends came by in the evening and I was able to visit for a while.  It was good.  Some of the folks and kids went outside to do fireworks after dark.  The rest of us stayed inside and watched a comedy show.   I caught a little peek of the sky before the sunset. ☮   Currently listening to: The Book of Margery Kempe , by Margery Kempe.  Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Yesterday I got very little sleep.  What I did get was a broken sleep that probably totaled around three hours.  Because of that I'm going to try to sleep instead of being productive.  Here are some happy things from my day: Even with the limited amount of sleep I managed to work my full 10 hour shift.   I've decided that it is a good day for a proof of life photo.  Very little of me is in the photo.  This is about something I'm choosing to keep.  The daisies in the picture were painted for me by my maternal grandmother.  They are on my hopechest.  I wish my memory was better, the chest once belonged to some ancestor whose name I have forgotten and who died before I was born.  Great Aunt Sally comes to mind, except I'm not sure if I ever had a Great Aunt Sally.  Either way, it is special to me.  In my new room it is on top of my closet where I can see it.  It was hiding before.  It is a little worse for wear, but...

Last night  I was only able to get around five hours of sleep.  I tried to sleep in, but couldn't.  Here are some happy things from today: My morning was productive.  Not only did I get most of what I needed for this weekend's SCA event packed, but some cleaning, laundry and other random chores also got done. With my downsizing tasks I was able to go through another notebook and get rid of a few more things.  I got the shredder and filled the bucket one time. Keziah was around in the afternoon and we were able to sit and talk for a little while.  It seems like it has been a long time since we were able to just sit and talk about things.   It was nice.    At the studio, the person I've been trying to help make garb, finished all but the hems and embellishments.  It is good first garb.  I am sleeping at a friend's house so we can get up early to head to an event in New York in the morning.  I was able to see someone about th...