Thinking Happy Thoughts

I am so tired lately. I say this a lot. I say this enough that my RRHB gets a bit annoyed but he never says so. He's a good man, that one. And I was chatting with a friend via email about how little I'm writing these days for myself and had to catch the tears before they actually fell. I think I'm still overwhelmed by what happened this fall. A little overworked. A lot exhausted. And I'm not sure how to fix it now that the snow is trampling down any thoughts of fall. So instead of wallowing in another "gloomy gus" post, I'm going to write up a "happy thoughts" top 10:

1. Remembering Paris. What a wonderful trip. And if I keep thinking about how much I love it there, the food, the architecture, the city, the food, the food, the food, that can carry me through a day of eating dumpy food court and 9-t0-5.

2. Reading the Classics. This week I haven't been able to put down Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited. Last night I stopped watching television just so I could go to bed early and read more of it. I am totally behind in my work reading because of my various challenge books but they're so good that I'm actually not all that bothered. And I didn't even know there was a MOVIE version I could watch too.

3. Being a "Wooo" Girl. The episode of How I Met Your Mother where Lily and Robin were discussing the merits of being a "whoo" girl cracked me up. I am totally a "whoo" girl, so much so that it's even a little embarrassing at various rock shows after 1.5 beers.

4. Our House. Even though it's a little frustrating that the house isn't finished after four years, there's a light at the end of the tunnel. We now have our financing straightened out and will be able to put a big push on it over the next few months. That's a relief. Having the renovations be over would be a very good thing.

5. The Holidays. Despite feeling as though a vacation (an extended vacation!) would be a very good thing, I am really looking forward to the holidays. My father and stepmother will be "officially" tying the knot. We'll get to see all of our beloved family. We'll get to watch The Shawshank Redemption. We'll watch movies until all hours on New Year's Eve. I love that we have our own traditions now in this, our 10th anniversary month (December!)

6. My Friends. They'll go see bad movies with me. They'll take me out for lunch and/or dinner. They'll knit me slippers. They'll buy me sweet presents.

7. Twitter. I can't help it. I'm obsessed. Life in 140 characters = awesome.

8. Meeting Authors. It's always inspiring. Yesterday I had the pure pleasure of spending about an hour with Lawrence Hill. He's amazingly kind, well spoken and utterly lovely.

9. Losing Weight. The 18-pound challenge is going exceptionally well. I'm totally off the meds and the pounds are dropping off (just as we suspected they would). I'm down 1.5 dress sizes (all of my clothes are too big) and it's great. I wish I could say that I notice a difference but I don't really except for the fact that all my pants fall down without a belt. Yippee!

10. Deep Breaths. Restorative yoga on Friday nights has been a little oasis in my week. I've got a work event this week so I'll miss out but six weeks for $100 -- amazing.

See, it's not that bad when you take it half-full instead of half-empty, right?