Happiness is...

Here's an understatement for you: I've struggled for a very long time with simply being happy - I fret way too much about so many things. I'm really trying to turn that around, to appreciate and find joy where I can...and, most importantly, to remind myself of those things rather than focus in on any negative thoughts. I thought by listing what makes me happy today would be a good start...so, here goes!

1. My old microwave finally bit the dust - I got it as a gift from my first husband's parents a year or two before we were married (if you want to call about a year married). This poor thing belonged in a museum and I think it was about 17 years old. But, hell, it worked well enough for what we need a microwave for which is general re-heating. A quick trip to Chez Target led to this cutie:
I'm realizing I have a thing for red kitchen appliances. My electric tea kettle is red and I can't wait until my coffee maker konks out so I can get a red one, too. I figure, if you can't have fun with small kitchen appliances, what's the point?

2. Knitting, even when it seems to be taking FOREVER! The front of Sweet William was done and I had worked out some modifications to the neck to make it more of a traditional crew instead of the wide & low neck as written. I was pretty pleased with the way the modifications worked out until I looked carefully at the darned thing - lo and behold, before the beginning of the neck shaping, I had a made an error in the pattern and added an extra row in the 6-row pattern, resulting in what sort of looked like a divot. It took a lot to see it, but once I knew it was there, I understand myself well enough to know that it would bug me until I re-did it. Seeing that I was about ready to hit the hay when I saw the mistake, I just set it aside until this morning. It took just a little bit of extra time but it's all all fixed, and I'm ready to re-cruise on the neck:

It struck me this morning that, even with this sweater that just doesn't seem to want to get finished, I love it...the whole process of knitting and ending up with something I can wear proudly and with a great sense of accomplishment.

3. Beloved Husband went to a meet up yesterday for one of his many hobbies and had a very good time. I'm really proud of him that he did this and he's inspired me to do likewise. Maybe someday I'll get up the gumption to go to a Ravelry Alterra meet up.

4. A good week at the gym. I think I was a little over-trained and have had some tough physical and emotional days at the gym. I did a little scaling back, which is very hard for me to do but it's what I needed to do. It feels very good to have put in a solid and sensible week in!