The Happiness Project

My reading certainly hasn't slowed down. I love using my Shelfari shelf (as seen to the right) to keep track of the things that I read. Sometimes I request books and realize that I have already read it. Now I have to double check with the shelf to make sure I haven't read it already.
One book I read recently was The Happiness Project by Gretchin Rubin. I am interested in those not quite self help books that help me think about things I might not normally think about. As a stay at home mom, I don't have a lot of things checking my work and keeping me on track, while making sure I don't stagnate as a person. Reading books, especially non fiction books, makes me feel like I am still learning about the world while raising a couple of fun girls.

Anyway, this particular book got me thinking. It also made me feel better about myself. One of the things this author learned to do was letting go of things that we, especially as women, might feel like the world thinks we are losers if we don't do or have. One of the things she learned was to Be Gretchen, or in my case, Be LCM. Living in New York City she fell under the influence of such things as Sex and The City, that were teaching her how she was supposed to feel, act and what to wear. While she was coveting the lifestyle, she came to realize that those sort of things didn't make her happy. She would think to properly Be Gretchen she had to be honest with herself about whether a certain thing would make her happy or not.

For me, I was reading everyone's Facebook statuses talking about standing in line for hours to see the midnight showing of the last Harry Potter. I felt myself getting envious, I am a big Harry Potter fan and I save my movie viewings for really worthwhile things and this is the last HP movie! However, if I was honest with myself, staying up more than half the night in a cramped, full movie theater, isn't my idea of a good time. We have plans to use coupons next Saturday for at least a half price showing in less crowded theaters. That's the sort of thing that makes me happy. I am glad I read this book because whenever I find myself becoming envious of a certain thing or wondering if something would make me happy, I use the Be LCM test. The more honest I am with myself, the happier I can be about the things I do.

Kitties

A long time ago, I mean seriously long ago, I knew I was a cat person. Apparently I got my first cat at the ripe old age of 2. I spent the afternoon with my dad, in the yard. He was doing yardwork, I was leaning at the fence, trying to get the cat, on the other side, to come close enough for me to pet. He went in the house and told my mom, " Go get that kid a cat."

We arrived in Texas with T, but he only lasted a year before he went off and never came back. I think he had used up all of his nine lives during his short life, he was always getting into scrapes.

Moe and I went and found Dukie and Tessa and they have been with us for about 3 years. About four months ago the girls brought Davey to my attention. He seemed to be the cul de sac cat, but apparently he belonged to someone at the further end. They moved in from the country and felt like they couldn't leave him behind. When the girls brought him to our back door, he was scrawny (his ribs were showing) and he seemed to have mange or something. I felt like we couldn't leave him like that, so we started setting out a dish of water and a dish of Meow Mix (or cat crack, as we call it around here). He lasted outside for a couple of months before it hit 100 degrees.

He does wear a fur coat, after all, and I just couldn't let him sit outside. So, I let him in. He's sort of a country cousin kind of cat. He wandered around our house, purring, for the first two hours he was here. He mostly laid on the tile near the back door for the first several days. His arms, legs and tail seem shorter than our cats'. His head is much broader and his eyes are bigger. I am not sure what kind of cat he. His owner came by to make sure he wasn't annoying us, that's how we learned he was a barn cat. She tried to take him back home but he bit her. I guess he's figured out this is a house made for cats and he wanted to stay. I had to laugh though. I had some of the young women over from church and all three cats were circled in the dining room. It was after 3pm and that is special treat time. I told them I am about half a cat away from crazy cat lady.

But, the way I figure, one cat per about 900 square feet isn't that bad, right? My kitties are giving him a wide berth and he seems to be content with laying on the cool tile or the wii room couch. I think he's just happy to have a regular supply of food and a cool place to hang out. What can I say? I am a sucker for cute, fuzzy little faces.

Okay!

This is for Kelly. (Who I hope to see down here in Texas, visiting, sometime in the next year or so!)

What have we been up to? Buttercup finished her second and last year at her Intermediate school and will be headed to Jr High in August. Can you believe it? She has spent the last year or so with a lot of metal in her mouth to correct her massive overbite. She is doing really well with it and she no longer looks like the daughter of Dracula. I told her next time she feels like someone is teasing her about it, tell them she is only half vampire. (My skin is a little bit darker down here than it was in Oregon.)

She has also been having monthly movie nights. It started when she got her first bad metal put in her mouth. Google a Herbst device and you will get an idea about this medieval torture device. Anyway, I told her that we would invite her friends over to eat something soft, like ice cream, and then watch a movie. It started out as a sort of pity party, but now we just have fun. Sometimes a little too much fun I think. They watched The Day After Tomorrow, but I think it was more inspired by earlier viewings of The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. It's a good thing Fiona is such a good sport.

Moe got married!! How exciting, huh?
We all went back to Oregon to be part of it. My part included making 200 cupcakes, which turned out pretty lovely, if I do say so myself.

I wish I could have gotten a picture of the final product. We put sugar daisies on top and sprinkle large blue sugar crystals over them. They were beautiful...and tasty!



The best news of all after that was they moved down to Texas! Moe is back here to hang out with me and go back to work at TD's office. I need to come up with a good name for him. He's getting used to being an uncle to two wild girls (among many others, but mine are training him) and he's doing a pretty good job of it.


Fiona is fabulous, as always. We are coming up on the fifth anniversary of her diagnosis next month. I can't believe it was five years ago, it seems like such a long time and yet her life continues to be defined by her experiences. We have one last trip to the actual oncologist this summer and then, after that, we will be kicked downstairs to the long term survivor's clinic.

Here's a pic of my little mini me. She is as happy and cheerful as ever. I get sad when I contemplate her getting to be a snarky teenager. She promises me that it will never happen, but I am preparing myself for the inevitable.

She had a rough year this past school year because she didn't have the best homeroom teacher. She was an older lady who seemed better suited to teaching older kids because she really scared Fiona with her gruff manner and screechy voice. Her teacher missed a lot of school, as well, which is tough in a major testing year. I was on top of it for 4th grade, though, because I already wrote a letter to the principal asking for some consideration when choosing next year's teacher.

TD continues to be run ragged at work. The light at the end of the tunnel is that he has just about completed his MBA and that should free up some of his time at home to be off the computer.

And me? I am up to my same old tricks. I was home room mom for Buttercup, both 5th and 6th grade, and I volunteered in her library during her library time each week. I was excited that I found a way to spend time at her school doing something I like to do.

My health problems seem to be the same. I ended up seeing an endocrinologist (something I should've done a long time ago) when I was diagnosed with high cholesterol. One thing I found out was that my good cholesterol was so high it was pushing up my overall number. Then I gave up my beloved Cracklin' Oat Bran and took some fish oil and dropped my numbers 22 points in a month. Not too shabby.

I am an assistant librarian at church and was co camp director. TD wanted me to hang out with Buttercup, as it was her first year. (Did I mention I was now the mother of a YW? cuh-razy!) It was a ton of fun and I wouldn't mind helping out again next year. Hopefully next year I won't be feeding everyone every meal, phew!

Well, that was a basic sketch. I will try and post something regularly!