Day 212

Day 212: Hands down the best part of what I do for a living is the part where I get to talk to people on the cusp of making some really exciting decisions. Today I had an opportunity to organize a day for a group of young people to experience post-secondary life for an afternoon. They're off on a campus tour just now, and I'm riding the high of a great presentation. Feeling pretty Happy right now! #365happydays

A photo posted by @kaileyjane82 on Feb 26, 2015 at 11:25am PST

Day 211

Day 211: It's been a tough week. I really needed to get out and have some laughs tonight. On a last minute whim it was set up that a few of us went and tried out the new sushi place in town. I *love* sushi. It's one of my favourite things to go out for. It always makes me REALLY happy. I wasn't disappointed in this new restaurant...the sushi was delicious (especially the grilled octopus), but it isn't my Happy for today. Nope. My Happy for today was the spending of time with a few great Friends who were up for a last minute sushi adventure. We laughed and shared some stories and jokes, ate delicious and beautifully presented food, and enjoyed each others company. This very project was brought up, in fact, and it was mentioned with some delight that these particular Friends have actually been the subject of several Happy Days in the recent past. That, in turn, made *them* happy. Isn't that awesome? This "circle of Happy"?So today I dedicate this Happy to you: Vicky, Nikki and Niels. Thanks for inviting me into your super-awesome-fun-friends-fold. Happy to tag along. And happy to make you happy by being Happy. Looking forward to many more good times. And Rockband. Lots of Rockband. #365happydays

A photo posted by @kaileyjane82 on Feb 25, 2015 at 7:41pm PST

Day 210

Day 210: Movie theatre popcorn. There is just something magical about it. I loved when I worked at the theatre in BA and could take any popcorn I wanted home at the end of the night. That was a fun job. #365happydays

A photo posted by @kaileyjane82 on Feb 24, 2015 at 7:01pm PST

Day 209

Day 209: Another extreme cold warning. Well, at least when it is this cold there aren't any spiders around. Right? Right? #365happydays

A photo posted by @kaileyjane82 on Feb 23, 2015 at 3:05pm PST

Day 208

Day 208: Happy "24th" birthday to my older sister Leah! How she is only turning 24 is a bit of a mystery seeing as I'm turning 33 this year, but that's her story and she's sticking to it. I'm so lucky to have a big sis like her to pave the way, and to set benchmarks for sisterly competition to see, for example, who could get higher grades in math. Neither of us were ever destined to grow up to be accountants, alas. This is a photo of her before we ever had to struggle with math, when she was in senior kindergarten, and I chose it for two reasons: the first being how cute she looks and how I can't get over how much her son, my little nephew, looks like his Mommy, and second, because this is likely around the same age she would have been when I was still really little, toddling around, but wasn't talking much. I don't remember any of this, but apparently I would sometimes annoy her (shocking, I know). To retaliate she would push me into a wall and then, once I began to cry, say I simply "fell". Haha I really feel that siblings help to "toughen a kid up". She has always been in my corner and one of my fiercest defenders if I ever need help. In fact, you are reading this now because of her gentle encouragement for me to continue posting these happy things past Day 100. So 108 days past the original cap, on "Thinking Day" (any Scouts or Guides out there?), my Happy is my beautiful, awesome older sister, "Lady L". Happy birthday Peeah! Can't wait until Florida!#itshardtoliveinthecountry #365happydays

A photo posted by @kaileyjane82 on Feb 22, 2015 at 8:35pm PST

Day 207

Day 207: It's been a slow news day today, so it is a perfect day for another "obsession" post. Today I'm thinking about William Petersen. It is his birthday! Born February 21, 1953, "Billy" Petersen turns a sassy 62 today. I fell hard for Mr. Petersen during his tenure as Dr. Gil Grissom on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. I loved his quirks, his dry sense of humour, how he approached each case...and his beard. I have seen him in a few other pictures that he's made, but in my opinion his best work was Grissom. He has since left the show and sometimes does live theatre in his hometown of Chicago. It's on my bucket list to see him in a play there. My friend Dave made me this photo years ago, and I'd almost forgotten about it until I was scrolling through my album of Facebook profile photos. I love it haha. Today on his birthday, William Petersen, that beautiful bearded man, is my Happy. #WilliamPetersen #Grissom #CSI #365happydays

A photo posted by @kaileyjane82 on Feb 21, 2015 at 1:46pm PST

Day 206

Day 206: Grammy P wasn't Catholic but she always "observed" Lent. She usually gave up desserts for the 40 days...except on holidays. Or if it was someone's birthday. Or if someone came to visit. Etc etc etc. Oh, how she made me laugh. I don't observe Lent, but someone was talking to me about it tonight and it made me think of her and her little ritual. It made me miss her, but it also made me smile. #GrammyP #365happydays

A photo posted by @kaileyjane82 on Feb 20, 2015 at 9:28pm PST

Day 205

Day 205: Today's Happy is dedicated to one of my oldest and closest Friends, someone I am so grateful to have in my world: my "Ladu." An odd nickname for sure, but it's one we've used between us for years now and it just kind of works. It came about thanks to an old SNL sketch, "The Ladies Man". His catch-phrase used to be "Oooh, it's a lady!". We'd greet each other like that and one day while typing it (before autocorrect) the typo happened, and Ladu was born. I've known my Ladu since I was 12 years old or so and we've been two peas in a pod since. We've grown up together, travelled together, we've shared many tears and many many good laughs, and she is one of those special folk that I can dial her number on a whim, and regardless of how much time has passed we can pick up where we left off and have a really easy, great conversation for hours. This Friend has been with me through thick and thin, happy and sad, and everything in between. She made this photo collage for me when we graduated high school, and it holds a prominent place on my picture shelf to this day. I wish we lived closer, but even so, the distance doesn't really matter. Whenever we do get some time together, it's always like old times. Today on this #ThrowbackThursday, my Happy is for you, Ladu. Thanks for being awesome. #runlikeabladeBladeRunner #ooweeoo #365happydays

A photo posted by @kaileyjane82 on Feb 19, 2015 at 8:38pm PST

Day 204

Day 204: I am "see prized" how much this made me laugh. In other news, online dating sucks. #goodthingIlikecats #365happydays

A photo posted by @kaileyjane82 on Feb 18, 2015 at 5:59pm PST

Day 203

Day 203: I first tried fish tacos at the Mariposa Folk Festival last summer, and I was hooked from the first bite (pun intended). So friggin tasty. My lovely lovely roomie had one of her wonderful bursts of culinary inspiration and had these little babies ready when I got home from work late tonight (late due to an evening event). SO delicious!! I may or may not have eaten three. Happy. #365happydays

A photo posted by @kaileyjane82 on Feb 17, 2015 at 7:56pm PST

Day 202

Day 202: I've always been a pet person. Cats, dogs, birds, rodents, fish or reptiles, I tend to like 'em all. I have a particular penchant for Welsh Corgis (as most of you know), but on the whole, cats have always stolen my heart. When I was little my friend Kerry had three cats and going to her house to play with Patches, Casey and Muffin (pretty sure those were their names) was magic. Growing up in our house we had Sandy, then Cali, then my parents had Shadow and now Lilybelle. My sister has Ashes, my brothers have Wilson and Capiten, and me...I had Thomas. Thomas was my dude, my little buddy. We were together for 13 years, and it broke my heart to say goodbye to him when it was his time. It's taken me 234 days, but today I was ready, finally, "to cat" again. Introducing the newest member to the Lovely House family: Ginger. We met this week at a small shelter out of town, and, after *much* deliberation and gentle encouragement I finally decided that it was time. After I lost Tom the house felt like just a desert without that little soul running around. I got used to it after awhile, but I never liked it. I didn't ever want to "replace" Tom, but that's the beautiful thing about love: the more you give, the more you get. There is definitely room enough in my heart to accommodate this little beauty. As I type this we are both cloistered in my office together (to help get her used to both me and her new home) and she is lying on the carpet purring up a storm. She's very small (compared to what I am used to with Tom) and she seems very affectionate and calm. I'm excited to begin this journey with her, and I can't wait to get to know her quirks and little personality. Today, Ginger of Lovely House has made me really Happy. #cattime #365happydays

A photo posted by @kaileyjane82 on Feb 16, 2015 at 3:14pm PST

Day 201

Day 201: Bacon. I should just leave it at that, but permit me just a little more. Grammy P loved bacon. She loved the smell of it as it fried. When I would go home to Timmins she would often have me cook up a pound of bacon so she could have a little right away and freeze what was left for later use for sandwiches or whatever. I think of her all the time, but today, cooking up a pound of bacon the way she used to have me do for her made me miss her, but it also let me remember some of those good times in that little kitchen on Spruce with her directing me from her chair at the table. And that made me pretty Happy. #bacon #365happydays

A photo posted by @kaileyjane82 on Feb 15, 2015 at 8:39pm PST

Day 200

Day 200: I have two nieces and two nephews, and three of them have birthdays this month. Pair them with my older sister's birthday on the 22nd and my Auntie's birthday tomorrow (15th) and what you get is a "Birthdaypalooza" at Momo and Gumpo's (my parents) house in "BlueBarrie" (BA). What a wonderful time! We feasted on burgers, sausages, turtle cake (chocolate cake with caramel, like "Turtles"), fruit, veggies and more. Oh, our family can eat. It made for a wonderful day with the people I love most! On this day of Love, I definitely felt the love. Happy Valentines Day! #365happydays #family

A photo posted by @kaileyjane82 on Feb 14, 2015 at 8:13pm PST

Day 199

Day 199: Three days ago I committed myself to rigorously follow an eating plan sent to me by my younger sis to eat "paleo-ish". I'll admit, I was pretty skeptical. I didn't know what to expect and assumed I'd be starving by noon on the first day. Well, at the end of the experiment I am delighted to report that a) I did not cheat, b) I wasn't hungry, and c) I've lost 3lbs. Honestly, I feel kind of great. Most of the time I do eat pretty healthily (save for the occasional cake binge or cereal-for-supper day), so this wasn't *that* much of a stretch, but it was a challenge all the same. In essence I really just cut out white flour and sugar, which I shouldn't be having with any sort of regularity anyway. Some great side effects have been that I find I have more energy, I feel like I'm not working as hard to digest my food, and my skin is clearing up. It could be just a coincidence as really, it's only been 3 days...but what if it isn't? The food is delicious (have you ever *tried* roasted cauliflower soup or Mexican quinoa??) and it isn't hard to do...so I'm going to keep going. I've decided I'll try to do this Monday through Friday, and allow myself to cheat on the weekends (wings, y'all!) and see what happens. This was dinner last night, Mexican quinoa, and it was DELISH. Big thanks goes out to my patient and adventurous roomie for sticking to it with me when I know she was seriously jonesing for her Shreddies, and again to my sis for setting up the program for me. So far it's making me pretty Happy. #paleoish #healthyliving #365happydays

A photo posted by @kaileyjane82 on Feb 13, 2015 at 2:52pm PST

Day 198

Day 198: It's been awhile since I did an "obsession" post. Today I would like to talk about Stuart McLean's "Vinyl Cafe". If you are unfamiliar with this CBC radio program I'll do my best to try and explain how wonderful it is in a few words: in short, it's kind of like a warm, cozy hug. I've heard Stuart described as "Canada's Jimmy Stewart" and I couldn't agree more. I've loved his stories for a long time. Something that someone once pointed out to me was that my mood can be dramatically influenced by whatever I happen to be watching or listening to. I tend really to absorb it and feel it intensely. I expect that is the main reason I can't watch scary movies...I take them with me when I leave the theatre. On the flip side if I'm feeling sad and want to cheer up I can often put on a cheery song (think "Get Happy" sung by Judy Garland) and feel much better, or if it's a gloomy day and I'd rather it be sunny I have a "Sunshine Songs" playlist (includes "Brazzle Dazzle Day" from Pete's Dragon) and it usually helps. If I want to feel cozy, warm and though I'm spending time with an old, familiar Friend I'll choose Stuart. The Vinyl Cafe stories centre around "Dave" and his family. Dave is from Cape Breton (Big Narrows, to be exact), but lives in TO (I think). I know all about his family, his friends, his quirks and his adventures. And Dave isn't a real person. The way Stuart tells the stories you would swear he's telling you about a friend of his, or maybe about himself. Anyway, there are so many beautiful stories...some will make you laugh ("Dave Cooks The Turkey" comes to mind), and some will make you cry ("The Lottery Ticket" or the one where Arthur the dog died) and some just transport you to a different world and time all together (the one where Sam and Murphy spent the summer in Big Narrows and found the car on the mountain). It's way better to hear Stuart tell the story himself, but you can almost hear his voice in his books when you read them (I own a few). Tonight I introduced my roommate to Stuart. We listened to one of his CDs, had some laughs, and it made me Happy. #VinylCafe #StuartMcLean #365happydays

A photo posted by @kaileyjane82 on Feb 12, 2015 at 7:31pm PST

Day 197

Day 197: We have an amazing theatre here in OS. It's called "The Roxy", and I frequent it as often as funds permit. They really put on spectacular shows for a small theatre troupe. I've seen Les Miserables, Cabaret, Anything Goes and a few others during my time here, and hope to see many many more. Tonight I went with a group to see "The 39 Steps" and it was just brilliant. If you live around this region I really recommend getting your hands on some tickets...you won't be sorry!! Very, very well done to the cast and crew, and thanks to Nikki for inviting me to tag along! I loved it! It made me really happy tonight. #TheRoxy #365happydays

A photo posted by @kaileyjane82 on Feb 11, 2015 at 7:54pm PST

Day 196

Day 196: Happiness is climbing into a warm bed made up with cozy flannel sheets on a cold winters night after a long, productive day. #cozy #365happydays

A photo posted by @kaileyjane82 on Feb 10, 2015 at 8:27pm PST

Day 195

Day 195: Before I go paleo for 3 days I thought it would be a good idea to get my fill of fun so I won't miss it. To you I present: gluten free-brownie cookies. My roomie and I couldn't decide whether we felt like cookies or brownies, so a blend of both felt like a good solution. And yes, they *are* as good as they look, especially warm right out of the oven. These made me pretty happy tonight! (Sidebar: since posting the paleo thing yesterday I've had 3 or 4 "healthy eating" Instagram users find my feed and "Like" the picture, and one started following me haha. Sorry, Healthy Person. That begins tomorrow) #healthyliving #nomnomnom #365happydays

A photo posted by @kaileyjane82 on Feb 9, 2015 at 4:41pm PST

Day 194

Day 194: 194 or so days ago my clever younger sister suggested I start the "100 Happy Days" project. That seems to have gone well enough, so when she now suggests I try out this "paleo-ish" diet for only three short days to see how I feel/if I like it, I don't hesitate. My sis has been really focusing on her health and fitness for the last few months and it's really paid off. I find it very inspiring. So, I'll give this a try for a few days and see how I feel. Basically it means cutting out processed foods, sugars and carbs for the most part, which I hear isn't a bad way to go generally. She was even kind enough to draw up my plan, grocery list and accompanying recipes. I'm off to the grocery store. Wish me luck! #paleoish #healthyliving #365happydays

A photo posted by @kaileyjane82 on Feb 8, 2015 at 1:03pm PST

Day 193

Day 193: Interactive games, particularly those that offer a sound excuse to belt out musical favourites (*coughRockbandcough*) make for a great way to spend a snowy, blowy Saturday. Love these guys. #drummerscalfisreturning #Rockband #365happydays

A photo posted by @kaileyjane82 on Feb 7, 2015 at 10:39pm PST

Day 192

Day 192: My name is on a curling plaque! I joined the "beer league" Friday night curling league for the fun, friends and snacks that were promised (and boy, they deliver on that promise, but more on that another night). I didn't expect to actually make something of this. Now, I'm not tooting my own horn here at all, quite the contrary. The only reason my name is up there is not due to any particular skill or talent on my part, rather because my team won the first draw and I was playing with wicked awesome curlers who could correct my mistakes or at least make the most of them. Still, it's a little thrilling to be included! I haven't had my name on a plaque or trophy since...wow. Grade school public speaking? I wonder if those plaques are still up in the halls at Golden Ave. I'll have to ask. Anyway, this little dude made me pretty happy tonight! #curling #365happydays

A photo posted by @kaileyjane82 on Feb 6, 2015 at 10:11pm PST

Day 191

Day 191: In honour of "Wiisamac" on her b-day, I busted out Rockband. She and I used to play this game until it physically hurt and until the room seemed to be moving as a result of staring at the screen for hours on end. We did end up beating the game at long last, and so fond are my memories of those Rockband parties with everyone in the B-Dot. I recently rediscovered how much I like this game thanks to some super rockin' peeps who know how to jam here in the Land of OS, and, after two sessions at their place, decided it was time to dust off the console and get my "drummers calf" back. Channelling Keith Moon ain't for sissies. Happy birthday Wiisamac! #Rockband #365happydays

A photo posted by @kaileyjane82 on Feb 5, 2015 at 4:14pm PST

Day 190

Day 190: Happiness is getting parcels in the mail! I have always liked the idea of online shopping, but didn't ever do much of it for fear of having it delivered while I was at work and the parcel being left unattended on my front porch and subsequently stolen. Recently I discovered that Amazon offers the option of having your parcels delivered to the post office like regular mail. They send you a tracking number and everything so you can keep an eye on your stuff in transit, and you can pick it up whenever it comes in! Yes, it's certainly less convenient than having it come right to your doorstep but I'm willing to forgo a bit of convenience for peace of mind! Today, getting this little guy in the mail made me pretty happy! #365happydays

A photo posted by @kaileyjane82 on Feb 4, 2015 at 7:32am PST

Day 189

Day 189: Friends, the search is over! I've *finally* found "The Perfect Man"! He arrived in the mail today haha. Oh boy, this one made me laugh. Thanks Momma. xo #feelinthelove #365happydays

A photo posted by @kaileyjane82 on Feb 3, 2015 at 12:23pm PST

Day 188

Day 188: Happiness is having the guesswork taken out of what to do for supper. Roast chicken with wedges and coleslaw? A'ight. #365happydays

A photo posted by @kaileyjane82 on Feb 2, 2015 at 2:30pm PST

Day 187

Day 187: Some days are so much fun that I forget to take pictures because I'm too busy having fun. Today was one such day. Blazing through my "to-do" list this morning, Rockband party this afternoon, killer choir session tonight...and I didn't think to take a single photo. My Happy this minute is the simple joy of putting my feet up after a busy day, but there was a LOT of Happy spread throughout. I'll sleep really well tonight. #Rockband #TheChoirThatRocks #365happydays

A photo posted by @kaileyjane82 on Feb 1, 2015 at 6:44pm PST