(picture taken by me of this awesome calendar)
Yeah. I TOTALLY know what you are thinking. Ohhhh, now that she’s got a new job and NOW she believes in miracles, what a whore.
Okay, maybe not the ‘whore’ bit.
I’ve been thinking lately about how I need to work on recognizing happiness. I’m always good at knowing when I WAS happy, but I often forget to appreciate the moment I AM happy. It’s one of those things- you don’t realize how good it is until it’s over (there’s a country song in there somewhere). I tend to be extremely happy, then fall into a funk where I stop showering and whine “why didn’t I just see how happy I was? How good things were? Someone pass me some beers, it’s time to shotgun some happiness into my soul immediately!“. You see why I need to work on this.
So here it is: I’m currently a happy girl. Not only do I have a teaching job for this year, I have amazing friends who send great congratulation cards in the mail as surprises (complete with gift certificates to the teaching store), or who go for lunch with me and listen to me talk excitedly about bulletin boards (and surprise me with the above mentioned calendar and the world’s coolest post-it notes), friends who listen to me talk about curriculum and seating charts. Friends and family who text and call and email from all over to say “congratulations!” and who are just as excited as I am for this new school year.
August is also my birthday month- with my birthday celebration occurring this Saturday. And this birthday celebration won’t just be an ordinary ‘hey, here’s your cake, let’s sing that song and blow out your candles‘ sort of birthday. Oh no, friends. This birthday party will involve a roadtrip, Taylor Swift/Soul Decision sing-a-longs, board games, dancing, tequila shots and me continually marveling how darn blessed I am (that last bit sounds a bit sounds like another country song in the works).
Annnnnnd I’ve also opened one birthday present (shh! it was allowed, I promise) and it was the most perfect gift ever. I fear this post is making me sound really materialistic, discussing all the things I’ve received but really it’s the idea that people know me so well that they know what would be a good gift that truly is what makes me clap-happy. The icing on this birthday gift? It came from a charming man. (Ohhhh don’t you love the vagueness?)
I’ve also been rocking some pretty stellar hair days (though I’m in search of a new great conditioner, suggestions?), I uncovered my favourite silver shoes and found out I get to teach grade three art this year, along with teaching grade four language arts and math. Oh and THIS? Is absolutely, 100% brilliant and I’m so glad I know genius and lovely girls like her. In fact, I adore her so much, I would *give her Josh Lyman if she asked. YOU SEE HOW MUCH I LOVE HER NOW?
Life is good.
Tell me, what is making you happy lately?
*Because yes, Josh is mine to give. Don’t ask questions, let’s just roll with this.
Having a newborn in the house is making me happy. And freaking tired. The tired that a gallon of espresso (which takes a surprisingly long time to make, by the way) can’t even fix. Happy, but tired
Saturday is my dad’s birthday! Happy Birthday!
Getting to sleep in for the next 3 days makes me happy. As does the current number on the scale :)
i was totally thinking the whore thing. sorry about that.
People in my life – My blog friends. My IRL friends who meet me for last minute drinks on a Friday night because LORD KNOWS I NEED ONE or three. My boss. My friends’ new little ones.
Witty banter. Wine. My dog. You’re right – when you stop to think about it, we really are happy creatures (most of the time…).
I adore you. Ask me at the end of the week when I’m done teaching for the first week back and I’m not so tired….
OH. NO. Wait. I know. I got home last night, late. Hubby had cleaned the WHOLE house, saying that he knew I’d be tired and he wanted to make my first day back a little nicer. Yay Hubby!!! And me!
And Happy Birthday to you!
I am so happy for you :) I got a teaching job too, which starts tomorrow, and I’m very excited. I am so glad that things are all coming together for you. I hope you have a wonderful birthday!
Things that are currently making me happy: my new job, my husband, my Petey, the fact that I don’t have to sell cell phones anymore, cupcakes (of most varieties), and standing up for myself.
I”m super happy for you! And I definitely think your road trip should take you to Virginia Beach because I would buy you many tequila shots….
:-)
My new job is making me happy as well–and all the excitement people are feeling about it for me. I am lucky.
I’m so glad you’re stepping into this time of certainty and happiness- have you been subbing this whole time? I can’t imagine how stressful that would be! You’re a saint, lady!
Right now I’m learning to love the time I have to myself, and enjoying the moments where I can see the uncertainty (when it’s not giving me hives!) as possibility.
That, my friend, is awesome. Please be sure to mention our band to Taylor. I’m sure she’ll be on board. And I know I really have no place demanding anything, but, um, charming man updates require emails.
Also: Silver linings! Silver linings! Silver linings!
Happy Birthday/week/month!
I’d be happy if I had a teaching job too! I just graduated though so I can survive subbing for a while more. Congrats on the job, and happy birthday too!
I love when you’re a whore.
I’m pretty much happy with getting out and enjoying the few and final days of summer. I went to NYC this past weekend, heading to Ocean City Maryland this weekend, then off to New Orleans the week after.
Loving it!
um, i love the calendar! and happy early birthday! and the job – yay! seriously, i know those feelings. =)
xo
I’ve been happy lately too, and I think it’s because I’m finally content with myself. Like you, I also fall from being happy pretty easily. But my birthday is coming up on Monday & so I have that to be happy about, and I’m thankful for all my good friends. Happy Birthday!
yay for being happy! I’m in the happy mode lately as well :) feels great!
and I use Biolage moisturizing shampoo and conditioner. great stuff! you’re going to pay a bit more for it since you can only get it in the salon but I love it. however, for a cheaper conditioner you can get anywehere- I use Infusium. :)
I went through a bout of pretty severe unhappiness recently, but the one great thing about that is it reminded me of what a happy creature I usually am. It’s a rare day that goes by when I can’t find some little thing to be happy about, even if it takes some hunting.
Today it’s watching Eddie Izzard stand up on Youtube.
“Ohhhh, now that she’s got a new job and NOW she believes in miracles, what a whore.” that line KILLED ME! I just about spit out my coffee (from laughter) when I read it.
Happiness deserves to be celebrated and shouted from the rooftops. So go on, with your happy self :)
Happy Birthday, that sounds like a great way to spend it. What? I like a good Soul Decision sing along. :-)
I’m happy I’m settling into my new apartment, actually liking said apartment and I enjoy my job. That and the boyfriend’s pretty awesome.
But the only way you get to have Josh Lyman all to yourself is if you agree that Sam Seaborn is mine.
I especially love the part where you point out taking note of when you ARE happy before it becomes when you WERE happy. I love that and I think a lot of my trying to be ‘in the moment’ all summer has tried to somewhat be like that.
Currently what’s making me happy are relationships. I’m forging new ones, deepening old ones and the levels that they’re reaching are incredible.
Oh, and bedazzled jackets for our club make me happy.
OH! And happy birthday month :)
Yay for your job and hope you have a wonderfully Happy Awesome Filled Birthday!
Thank you for not breaking out into a country song. ;)
And this post makes me happy.
Right now, I’m happy that I’m sleeping at night, that my wedding is all but planned, that I have a job (even if I don’t lurve it), that I’m healthy, that my daughter is happy and healthy, that I’m dancing really, really well (I’m a competitive salsa dancer). Lots of things to be happy about right now.
The thing I had to learn is that happy does not mean complacent. You can be happy where you are and still look forward to moving ahead/moving on/growing/changing.
hot sun, my cat, kisses, newman’s own lemonade, and sundresses!
not sure if you color the hair, but the garnier haircolor w/ the avocado oil, has awesome conditioner that you’re supposed to use after coloring. it’s super. makes my hair hella shiny!
good luck w/ the new jobby job and happy birthday!
Show us the silver shoes!! Hee.
Happy birthday!
Having a week off work is making me happy right now! :)
Birthday month. Birthday month. (that’s to be sung to the tune of this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0Kb8Pt0Olo)
Thanks for Josh Lyman. I would never take your one true love from you, though. Just sharesies sometimes?
brandy this post is just so dang happy all around and i love it. and you should totally be happy about all your happy. man that sounds even cornier. but really, heart you! and yay for birthdays!
[...] A Happy Revolution « It's like I'm… mmmagic! [...]
My baby cousin left for college today and that makes me happy, so incredibly happy because we were raised in a town that has nothing and it’s easy to get sucked into staying… just like her two older brothers… but she did good… got a tennis scholarship and everything. So it makes me happy to know that she’s getting a good start to life.
And as for conditioner recs… I totally recommend anything from the Aveda line. I’ll be honest and tell you that it’s EXPENSIVE… at least for a girl raised on pantene pro-v. Like $25 expensive. But since you are HAPPY and EMPLOYED, I think your hair deserves to be happy, too. And it will be happy. It’s like Josh Lyman for your hair. Srsly.
happy birthday month lady! you deserve all the happiness in the world, and an endless soul decision soundtrack to go with it!
Having people that care makes me happy…especially when nothing else is making me happy.
red wine always seems to make me happy. okay, fine, so does my kickass boyfriend. AND a cute pair of heels. never fails.
this comment screams “i have a uterus!”
reading posts like this, seeing girls i love SO HAPPY? thats what makes me happy. :)
Happiness is something I’m so desperately seeking these days.
The outlet (catharsis?) my blog offers makes me happy. Coffee, walks with my dog and the smell of bread baking also top the list.
Ahhh I can relate to this so much right now. So, so, so, so much. I’ve been apologizing to everyone for how cheery I’ve been lately. Haha Thing’s aren’t perfect but everything is falling into place so I AM happy. Very much so. I’ve been trying to write a post about how happy I am but I don’t even know where to start.
“I’m always good at knowing when I WAS happy, but I often forget to appreciate the moment I AM happy.”
And you know what I’ve been realizing lately? It will make you so incredibly happy when you “catch” yourself being happy. It’s like a vicious cycle of happiness… :)
AND reading this post made me happy.
*I meant things. With no apostrophe.
brandy, you’re such a whore ;)
juuust kidding, chill town.
august things that make me happy:
its julia’s birthday. and summer birthday’s are the best. (well, they weren’t during elementary school because you can’t invite your entire class to your birthday party, but they are awesome now). my birthday is in february and without fail has always landed on a ringette tournament weekend so it rarely gets celebrated they way it SHOULD (aka, a parade and dinner with the president). but for julia’s birthday i get to plan things like surprise bungee jumping trips, ziptrekking in whistler, etc. i love this, and its always one of the days when i’m incredibly happy IN the moment.
love that august is the hottest month of the year, and everything can be done outside. and that it is always the perfect temperature for late night walks. and when you’re walking on a beach at the ocean, it is kind of impossible not to enjoy every second of it.
big brother is on 3 times a week, and don’t even try to tell me you didn’t want to add that to YOUR list. because yeah, it is 3 hours a week of pure happiness. (and a lot more hours if you add up all the ones i spend simply thinking about the show).
also, the best conditioner ever is the conditioner that comes with temporary hair dye. this really needs to be sold separately.
Happy birthday and congratulations then.
You know I’ll fight you for Josh Lyman.
Bitch.
It makes me so, so very happy to BE HAPPY again. I spent a year in a job that sucked the life and soul out of me, and then I got laid off and realized that it was the best thing that ever happened to me. It makes me happy to not worry or groan about getting up in the morning, it makes me happy to take mid-day naps, exercise more, make all my meals at home with healthy food. It makes me happy to read in the sunshine on my porch at noon, it makes me happy to sunbathe with my girl friends who are also unemployed. It makes me just.so.darn.happy to be me again!
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