Life is Sweet!

As I created my to do list this morning, it occurred to me that I have been letting Brian carry the ball around here and made a note to fix that!

Today I was a Dad

Today I was a dad.

I made breakfast for 5 rowdy kids.

I kissed 4 boo boos.

Cleaned up one potty accident.

Broke up 5 arguments (it was a slow day).

While peeing got hugged tightly around my leg, just because someone loves me.

Got told I was mean twice and "I hate you" once.

Made 10 sandwiches.

Poured countless glasses of varying liquids.

Cleaned up puppy mess in the living room floor.

Made two grumpy kids take naps.

Grilled out for 11 people.

Went to the park.

Watched the movie Cars, again.

Tucked 5 beautiful children into bed.

Got 6 goodnight kisses.

Heard I love you more times than I could count.

Today I was a Dad. I am a Dad everyday. I like this job.

Happy Quote

How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something but to be someone.

~ Coco Chanel

Happy Birthday, Christine!

Yay! It's your birthday, Christine! And in celebration of the occasion, I found you a yellow Iris.

I hope the whole day is bliss!

Happy Birthday

Today is Christine's Birthday. I dare not ask how old she is and it doesn't matter. It just makes me happy. Happy Birthday, Christine.

Happy Quote

Happiness doesn't depend on any external conditions, it is governed by our mental attitude.

~Dale Carnegie

Happy Quote

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.

~ Anne Frank

Happy Quote

I like not only to be loved, but to be told that I am loved. I am not sure that you are of the same mind. But the realm of silence is large enough beyond the grave. This is the world of light and speech, and I shall take leave to tell you that you are very dear.

--George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans)

TACA is a Happy Place

Yes, it is a picture of Oatmeal in a Bowl.

What does that have to do with TACA?

It is where we get our bowls... and plates... and other really cool craft stuff. There is a wonderful collection of all sorts of potters and jewelers and crafters there.

I love eating out of pretty dishes that I purchased from a lovely neighbor. Everything tastes better!

This bowl is Kathy Veverka's work. We are sllloooooowwwwllllllyyyyy collecting a set of her dishes. After several years we are up to 5 plates and 6 bowls.

I can hardly wait until TACA comes back in September--I have my eye on a green plate...

Happy Birthday, Ned Andrew!

Some folks really struggle with birthdays. They complain about how old* they are, beg out of celebrations, and dread that day on the calendar.

I suppose if you really believe that there is some advantage to being young** then I can almost see your point.

But I really love birthdays. I get to celebrate someone I love. I get to wax nostalgic about all the years I have known them. I get cake.

What's not to like?

I especially enjoy Ned Andrew's birthdays. We get to laugh and play and go to craft fairs*** and the only difference a year makes is that I love him all the more.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Boy!

* Old? It is relative, I suppose, but the folks who seem to complain the loudest are the furthest from 113. When I turn 113, I'll talk about being really old.

** Young? Sure, my body might have been a little more limber a few years ago, but my mind was pretty rigid. ::shrug::

***The TACA Festival falls the first weekend of May in celebration of Ned's big day.

My Boy makes Me Proud and Happy

Today I got a call from my ex-wife. My children's kitten had been hit and killed by a car. My boys were absolutely inconsolable. There is not much worse for a parent than to have to stand by while their child hurts. It broke my heart to hear the sobs of my boys and to be too far away to even hold them while they grieved.

My ex-wife asked if I could come over tomorrow and dig the hole to bury their pet. Of course I would. Anything that I could do help ease their grief I would do.

Here’s the kicker, about two hours later my oldest son calls me, still crying, and says that I don’t have to come over to help bury his kitten. He’s already done it.

I was floored. My son just turned eleven this week. This is a level of responsibility and caring I never expected to see quite so early. Right there, in that moment, I saw an inkling of the strong man I have been trying to raise.

I have an amazing boy, who I am amazingly proud of.

On a side note: Brennan was given the option to stay home since his cat died, and he turned it down because he had tests he did not want to get behind on.

This wonderful child is making me happy today.

Pretty Pictures Blissify

My long-time friend, Robert, took this delightful shot of Dogwood blossoms this week. He sent it to me to cheer me up after I shared how un-happifying the news around us was this morning. (Thanks, Robert!!)

I try to choose the information that I invite into my day. As a rule, I stick with sources of happy information. I want to be thoughtful about how much time and energy I devote to negative, draining news stories--and how much time I spend talking, thinking, and tweeting about them.

Being informed doesn't have to mean being inundated with all things ugly and mean and scary.

Quite frankly, I would much rather spend my precious moments on positive pursuits. I don't always manage to be in that sweet, happy space--but as I practice being happy, it becomes more natural.

If I believe life is sweet, it truly tends to be just that.

Irides Make Me Happy

I love irides--or irises, as some would call them--more than any other flower. We have them all over our yard and they are just starting to send up their 3-foot stalks laden with blooms. As soon as they open, I'll trade out this stock shot for one of our prized blue and purple bearded beauties.

Author Katherine Swift must love irides, too. More Magazine included a quote from her book The Morville Hours on page 30 of their May 2009 edition that sings the praises of my favorite flower more eloquently than anything I've read on the subject. She writes:

Don't blink. Beneath the wall the bearded irises are in bloom, the tall upper-most petals so gauzy, so delicate, that each bloom, once opened, lasts hardly longer than a day. Look, you can almost see through them. As fleeting as a rainbow, and with the same rain-washed colours. They were named after Iris, the messenger of the gods, who as a rainbow linked heaven and earth. It's the same derivation as the iris of the human eye, the coloured membrane which separates the inner from the outer chamber. Both have the same mysterious, shifting, shimmering quality, the colours depending on the viewpoint of the observer, one colour flecked by, veined with, shot through with another.

Wonderfully said.

Happy Quote

“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”

Buddha

Happy Painter

We are uniquely blessed to live on nearly 7 pastoral acres bordering a large nature preserve. Today the luck of location and weather and inspiration hit our son in his creative bone. He set up his easel and painted one of our Bradford Pears.



What a lovely way to spend a Saturday morning. I'm delighted that he is already of the mindset that it is "worth it" to get out the materials to express his bliss. That makes me happy. I hope he never forgets that he's a wonderfully talented painter!

Time to Think

Our calendars are so full of responsibilities and promises and appointments and commitments to other people that we sometimes we have been squeezed out of our own lives.

It is vitally important that we schedule appointments with ourselves--to set aside time to do those things that fill and nurture us.

One of the incredibly important--but often neglected activities--on my calendar is time to think. I am a creative person. I make my living helping others formulate, organize, and implement ideas. How on earth would I ever make good on my promise to help others be creative and forward thinking if I don't take time to practice?

No one is going to send me an invitation to a block of time to think. It isn't going to be on the agenda of the next meeting I attend. So, I have to set that time aside myself. And I do.


I regularly schedule appointments with myself. They are on my calendar just like client meetings and doctor appointments. I book an hour on Monday morning to get my head back into the game after the weekend spent with my family. I book office straightening time for the last 10 minutes of every working day. I book reading time to get through the piles of books and manuals and journals I want to absorb. And I book time to think.

My time to think is sacred. I try to find a peaceful spot where I won't be tempted to straighten or organize or respond to an email or answer the phone. I take a pen and paper--but nothing to read. Sometimes I have a specific topic in mind. Sometimes I just sit and listen to the birds chirp and watch the deer wander until inspiration strikes.

Giving myself permission to just be still has been a wonderful gift. Some of my most productive moments occur when it looks like I am doing nothing at all.

Happy Quote

It's never too late to have a happy childhood.

~Berke Breathed

Happy Earth Day!

My daughter, Gilly, has been counting down to Earth Day for weeks. My son, Berns, asked for recycling bins for his Easter present. What is it about this generation that makes being eco-friendly so--well--natural? Whatever it is, it's delightful!

"Celebrate Earth Day every day. It's good to recycle. Earth is a really pretty planet and we want to keep it that way."

~Gilly

There is one thing that we truly share and that is the planet we all call home. What a wonderful world it is!

*photo credit: NASA. I'd like an opportunity to see this view for myself someday!

Happy Quote

Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but a manner of traveling.

~Margaret Lee Runbeck

Happy Diapers?

Diapers.

I know, I know. This is supposed to be a happy blog, and nobody is ever really happy about diapers.

This is different.

My daughter, Caitlin has not used a diaper in a week now. I’m proud of her being potty trained before her third birthday. Even better though, is the fact that I no longer have to change diapers.

It may sound a little selfish, but my oldest child is turning eleven this year, and I have been changing diapers for the better part of those eleven years. I have five children. Brennan is ten, Daniel is eight, Cameron is seven, Madison is five, and Caitlin is two.

There are twinges of disappointment over the fact that I no longer have any little babies, and they do grow much faster than we ever want them to. But at the same time, I only have 16 years to go until it’s just me and my wife. Those years are going to go by way too quickly, and it will be difficult to say the least to spend 10 plus years watching my babies move out.

There is more unconditional love in my house every day than some people will have all their lives.

This is why I bust my butt at school every day. I owe them. For what they freely give me, I owe them. For what they teach me about myself and my life, I owe them.

Though there are moments when I can’t wait for my wife and I to have our own time I know that it, in some ways is not far enough away, and that I may never truly be ready for it.

So for now I will simply be happy with no more diapers.