Friday, September 14, 2018

7ToF: Oddly happy

1. It is an absolutely gorgeous fall day here, while on the East coast they are bracing for hurricane Florence. We have family in the Carolinas, so our hearts are definitely with the folks who are bracing for impact.

2. You probably think that when I say I write this blog for me, I'm just saying that. But it really is true. Every day since I posted the phone update, I've reached a point where I've been on my phone five minutes longer than I meant to be, and I've caught myself before it turned into an hour, thinking-- I said I was working on this. I'd better stop.

3. Even though I'm not working, I've signed myself up into busy-ness this fall. I've never stopped doing the food bank on Tuesdays, and now I have choir on Monday night, band on Thursday night, and I started a three-year term on my church's session (leadership team) this week, which looks like it will average out to about one meeting a week. Plus our book club, and blogging and instagramming. It's less structured than work, but I think it is going to be good. In fact, I'm more excited about what I'm doing right now than I have been for a couple of years.

4. I even caught myself with a generalized feeling of happiness this week. I've been happy plenty of times over the past few years, but it was usually connected to a specific event or situation. It's been awhile since I've felt that sort of generalized contentment. And that makes me-- um....., well, happy. :-)

5. Deb Perelman, of Smitten Kitchen fame, has been the source of some great recipes PellMel and I have tried over the past few years. This week she pulled together her favorite recipes with 5 ingredients or fewer. I'm equally grateful for the recipes and that she said "fewer" and not "less."

6. Dean and I were in the mood to watch Jane Austen this week. We started with the BBC's 2009 version of Emma, starring Romola Garai as Emma and Jonny Lee Miller as Mr. Knightley. Emma is a horrible snob, so it is only due to good writing on Jane Austen's part and good acting on Romola Garai's part that you end up liking her in the end. And she and Mr. Knightley have some great, very entertaining arguments. The first time I saw this version four or five years ago, I didn't care for it, but it's grown on me. We both give it thumbs up. And yes, I do realize how lucky I am to be married to a guy who will watch Jane Austen.

7. I'm writing this on Thursday, and one of the Instagram photo challenges I follow had this prompt today: "[post a photo of] a book that was released the year you were born." I had no idea what books were published in 1961, but of course Google knew. Turns out I have copies of four books published in the year of my birth: James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl, The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart, and The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie, which I just picked up at a used bookshop last week. Since James and the Giant Peach and Phantom Tollbooth were two of my very most favorite books when I was in elementary school, and even better, today was coincidentally Roald Dahl's birthday, it has made me oddly happy.

Hmmmm. Oddly happy would be a good title for this post, yes? Have a great weekend, and if you're on the east coast, be safe and stay dry.

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