What Makes YOU Happy?

October 26, 2021 ~ JodiLea ~ 2 Comments

Happiness does not come from people, places, or things. So before you get ready to argue with me, let me explain…

Many things make people happy. Pleasant surprises, good news, your favorite food for dinner, looking forward to seeing family & friends. Grandchildren. Being successful. Happy is a great thing, but it is temporary most of the time.

Your world returns to normal and routine again before you know it. Now you have happy memories, like movies to play in your head. Maybe you took videos and can play memories on a device. I usually don’t because when I’m involved with something, I tend to forget about photos until it is over and too late. My friends, who are grandma’s, think it is absolutely horrid because I don’t take a ton of pictures and videos. But, hey, I’m too busy having fun with my grandkids to be their lead photographer. Why doesn’t hubby take photos? He is taller, his hands are steadier, and he’s not stuck in the kitchen half the day.

I will stop there. I can tell there is an underlying rant stirring up. Did you notice?

Rants that bubble up out of nowhere when you are talking about something different can be the best ones. However, today is not the day to rant because I want to focus on things that make me happy. So for those who enjoy focusing on peeves and annoyances, don’t worry. Your day will come. Perhaps sooner than we think.

So – whether you use your fingers to count, write up a list, or make notes on your phone, get comfy and close your eyes a minute and focus on things that make you smile, laugh, feel all warm and tingly, make your day, give you sudden emotions (click here for definition). Not the BIG ticket items or philosophically deep things. More of every day and silly things that make your life enjoyable and more fun.

Things that make me happy:
- wearing pajamas
- hearing kids giggle
- when my dog hugs me
- a mug of hot coffee
- watching snow fall
- hubby holding my hand
- writing
- dancing
- rock

OK. I told you some of mine. Please share some of yours in the comments! When you comment, I know you are out there, and that makes me very happy 🙂

TTFN

Giggles N’ Bits Thursday

March 25, 2021 ~ JodiLea ~ 1 Comment

Giggles & Bits Logo

Because I don’t know how my week is going to go, Thursdays will either involve giggles OR somebody throwing snits.

In case you didn’t grow up in West Virginia, a “snit” is snotty fit. Unlike the tantrum, a snit is violently verbal, not so much physically abusive, although, a few have been known to morph.

This week has been all over the map as far as good and evil go. It will be more of a middle ground, which is totally not as fun as the other two – for you, I mean.

For those of you who use computers, you will enjoy this story… My laptop is hanging in by a kilobyte and last week it could not find it’s own hard disk (a.k.a. it’s brain). I, a computer technician, immediately went into “rescue” mode and backed up every folder, file, MS Office docs, photos and a gazillion quilt guild files.

After setting up the basics, and trying to get oriented to a ‘Windows 10’ system, I plugged in the back-up flash drive. When ever things are supposed to go smoothly, they do not. I know this, but I was not prepared for the magnitude of problems I got myself into.

First, I did not realize that the ‘backup’ drive (OneDrive) would copy all the files I copied over. It only had 5 GB of space, so it rapidly filled up. This sent me a bunch of error messages, wanting me to buy more room. Forget this! I would figure out the way to control the OneDrive thing later but I needed to get my files loaded and keep working on getting my system ready.

So, I told OneDrive to delete the files. That was the beginning of the disaster that ensued. They were deleting along just fine and when I closed that window, and I saw the second window that warned me “if you delete contents from OneDrive, those files will also be removed from your computer.

WHAT?!?

Who thought up THAT brilliant plan? Obviously Windows 10 programmers. Because said programmers are not stupid, I decided that it was some kind of joke. I was NOT amused.

Not time to panic, I told my self. Now that the OneDrive was turned off, I could download the files again to the computer. BUT WAIT!

The #@$%&*! OneDrive ate the files off of my back-up disk also.

Frustrated and too mad to think, I shut off the new toy and went to bed. This morning, I figured out how to handle this. I got my laptop and booted it up, so I could pull the missing files off of it. It would no longer accept my Windows password. This was my own fault for using the same one for my new desktop. And, Windows website to reset passwords was “out for maintenance”.

Being determined, (a.k.a. stubborn as heck), I logged in using the Guest account that required no password. HA! Take that you little computer… Then it occurred to me that if my file permissions were textbook – I would not be able to access my real account. I prayed that these were messed up along with all the other things today.

They were! The files I needed were in a folder called “Membership Records.” Unfortunately, there were many different folders named just that in a variety of places. I found the ones which contained older versions of our quilt guild’s 2021 Member Roster – Last year, Jan & Feb of this years. Where was the March One? I could not have lost that file! I did not have time to start from scratch, and I just got many member renewals in the mail that I need to update that file with! As the chair of the membership team I was mortified. Embarrassed Ashamed. One thing kept running through my mind – “Diane was gonna kill me!”

After my tantrum, I did a search of the entire hard disk of the laptop. One of the listed folders had a Roster file dated March 22, 2021.

Whew! It is afternoon now. This adventure began in the morning, so I am too exhausted to work on that file now. I am really thinking about a nap, but alas, I have grocery shopping and housework to do. A frustrating morning with a bit of a happy ending.

So I ask you, is this post a giggle or a snit?

Still Surprising Me (After All These Years)

September 18, 2015 ~ JodiLea

(Hubby did something this month that completely shocked and delighted me! It has been a very long while since this gal has been delighted. I felt like a little girl.
I feel like a new bride because I keep admiring my engagement/wedding ring every couple minutes. It’s so shiny and gorgeous again. It had been broken, dull & diamond-less since 2011 when a prong came loose and the diamond fell out. It happened quietly and I did not know exactly when it happened. It most likely broke at work. Despite my co-workers, the building custodian, and myself crawling around with flashlights like CSI’s, I never saw it again. Until yesterday.

The FedEx guy, Mike, brought hubby a package. Hubby handed it to me and said, “Happy Anniversary”. I had no clue what could be in there, but I was so excited. He was giving me an anniversary present! I can’t remember the last year he did that! In fact, I had not found a gift for him before we were evacuated (the Butte Fire was heading our way), and frankly, I forgot about it.

So, here is this FedEx box, for me, from him. I did not open it immediately. I wanted to savor the moment of having a gift to open. To those who have a spouse that does not express themselves on special occasions (Valentine’s Day, Anniversaries, your birthday…) you know what I’m talking about. To those who are lavished with gifts and attention – never take it for granted!

Okay – now I’m ready to open the box…

Inside, was another FedEx box, also completely sealed.

How strange. Guess what I found in the second FedEx box? No, not another box. It was a UPS padded envelope.

What on earth could be next? After a failed attempt to pull open the envelope, my scissors did the job.

Now, we were getting somewhere! A white, unmarked, little box. I suspected jewelry.

LittleSquareBox

I was not wrong about that – inside was a little reddish velvet ring box.

VelvetRingBox

OMG!

When I peeked inside I saw my wedding ring set, shining like it was my wedding day. Hubby laughed when I asked him to put it on my finger, but I could tell he was proud of himself. The ring would still fit me perfectly, if I could just push it past my knuckle.

I always have had big knuckles on my small fingers and a bit of lotion or soap did the trick. Not today. Since the ring had broken, my arthritis had worsened. My knuckles were larger now. NO!

There was a way to get my ring on and I was going to find it. I iced my knuckle, hoping it would help, greased up my finger, and pushed with all my might. This effort was amusing hubby greatly. I told him I could not get it re-sized to fit my knuckle, the ring would be too loose and constantly spin.

Then I got an idea. You people who know me – stop laughing! It was a great idea, and it worked. What helps with getting something large through something small? OH!

Astro Glide. It still was tough on my knuckle, but I had my wedding ring back! It was 27-years after hubby first put it on my finger. My hands look a lot different now, as does the rest of me (and hubby). Our marriage is also different after 27-years. It is stronger and better, the older it gets. In another post, on another day, I will tell you my theory on why that happens.

TheRingHand

♥ TTFN ♥