Oh, hey. Happy Monday! I hope you had a great weekend. I’m exhausted from too many good times. And when I say “too many”, I really just mean that we did like two things and I’m really not in my 20s anymore. Still, I’m grateful that the tiredness is because of fun times and not because of my kid not sleeping or something.
Anyhow, this is my latest happy list – where I list the things that have made me feel happy in the last week or so. It’s all about me setting myself up for another positive week and stopping to appreciate the good stuff.
Here goes…
Seeing one of my fave musicians
Not only was this a child free excursion (a happy enough occasion in itself), but it was more than I could have expected.
We went to see Josh Pyke. He was amazing. He is so talented. His band was amazing too. His songwriting is exquisite and his voice – aargh. I can’t even. And it turns out he’s funny and down to earth, as we quickly realised in between songs! I’m basically still fangirling out about it. You have no idea.
We’d booked the tickets months ago, and kind of put it to the backs of our minds. A few things got in the way – some miscommunication about babysitting for that date (huge thanks to my sister in law who came through), the Little Mister having a slightly bumpy transition into kindy (completely understandable) etc. I was starting to feel really tired and wondering if the best thing really was for me to go. I was so close to sending Mr Unprepared with a friend (he wasn’t that keen on the idea haha).
I am so glad that didn’t happen. So glad. I finally made the decision the day before that I was going to just get my act together and make it happen. The Little Mister would be fine. I would be fine. It would be worth it.
I started playing Josh’s music as I did stuff around the house and so many memories came flooding back. Memories of some of his songs at our wedding. That song that meant so much to us when Mr Unprepared stopped working FIFO. The fact that so much of Mr Pyke’s work was so intertwined into our life together (he’s kind of been on the scene as a solo artist for just over a decade I think – we’ve been married for almost that long) just hit me in the heart. I’d never quite realised how significant his music has been to us.
The Little Mister wanted to know what it was all about and he lost his mind when he saw the music video for Make You Happy (see the bottom of this post). It made him happy (hello – there’s a boat in the video that looks like a giant guitar). And it made me happy that it made him happy. Sharing it with my kid is so cool.
I loved just being in the moment (which is why I only have one blurry photo – I basically took one as soon as he got on stage and then put my phone away). It was quite romantic to share that night with Mr Unprepared – in the fourth row with a great view, may I add. Like I said. I’m still on a high about it.
Also, I really need to unpack (and probably restring) my beautiful guitar. The one that has never really got a look in since I became a parent. Oops.
Treating myself
Sometimes it can feel like a loooooong time between pay days, am I right? So I was excited to have my little personal spending budget topped up last week. I did a little investing in myself. It was kind of an overdue self care kind of thing.
I got me a T-shirt that I never feel fat in, a dress for an engagement party, a handbag, some stuff for my nails and a few little things for the house that I had been hanging out to tick off a long list of Shit To Get Done. Did I mention that just about everything I bought was on sale? Hell yes!
Reading Eggs
This will sound like an ad or something (it’s not), but I found out about this app called Reading Eggs. New customers can get a free 4 week trial and I thought – why not? Basically, there are a bunch of little games/activities designed to help children to learn how to read. I thought it might help the Little Mister to develop his confidence and to start thinking about letters of the alphabet and how they sound.
He loves it and I was actually freakin’ amazed at how quickly he picked up some of the stuff. He’d never shown an interest in how letters look or phonetics before (granted he’s only 4) and now he asks me to play the game and he recognises certain letters and sounds! I don’t expect him to be a child genius before the age of 5 or anything, but I love that he’s taken an interest. He’s come a long way in such a short time (we’re talking days – I have been seriously surprised and impressed).
Just thought I’d share the love.
Cooler weather
We’ve had some stinkers lately. There’s nothing nicer than walking outside and enjoying the sunshine without melting! It’s always nice when you can get in your car without getting 2nd degree burns. It’s the little things.
Not having a floordrobe anymore
Yep. I cleaned it up. I got rid of some old clothes that were languishing in a rubbish bag for months. I threw out a whole bunch of shoes that were never going to be worn again (and were honestly not fit enough for other humans either). It was fantastic. My wardrobe almost looks like a teeny tiny shrunken version of a Kardashian sister’s walk in ‘robe. If they lived in the bogan burbs and bought everything from IKEA or Kmart or Target. OK, so it’s nothing like that at all. Shhhhh.
Other stuff that has made me happy:
- Good news about two awesome people you know finding each other. Ooooer.
- Netflix (duh).
- Mojitos.
- Dance parties in the kitchen with the Little Mister.
- Every time I make the Little Mister’s school lunch THE DAY BEFORE. Nailing adulthood (well – small parts of it).
- My new phone charger for the car. Life changing.
- Sleeping deeply every night. Sure, I could have done with more hours. But it’s nice to know I’ve got quality sleep when I could, anyhow. Pretty sure that some nights I’ve been in coma territory.
I will leave you with this music video from Josh Pyke. I hope it will make you happy (you’ll see what I did there) 😉
What is on your happy list this week?
