Happiness...

Post #463 - 51 days until blogoversary - 87 followers and counting...

Tomorrow I will announce the 3(year) - 500(post) - 100(follower) blogoversary give-a-way.

Stay Tuned!

Up and going early on a Saturday morning, for it is going to be a busy day and I am grateful to have gotten up out of bed early and on the stationary bike. Getting in a good spin before starting out the day tends to start me off in a good mood...then it is just up to me to continue the feeling.

DH and I will be swapping roles this weekend...I will be manning the stores, making sure that everything is running smoothly, while he will be playing Hockey Taxi. Robert (older son) has a morning practice and Matthew (younger son) has 2 games today...tomorrow they both have games. It will be nice to take a break from the hockey craziness for a day or two...allows me to appreciate it and not just tolerate it.

The foundation of happiness is mindfulness.

The basic condition for being happy is our consciousness of being happy.

If we are not aware that we are happy, we are not really happy.

When we have a toothache, we know that not having a toothache is a wonderful thing. But when we do not have a toothache, we are still not happy.

A non-toothache is very pleasant.

There are so many things that are enjoyable, but when we don’t practice mindfulness, we don’t appreciate them.

When we practice mindfulness, we come to cherish these things and we learn how to protect them.

By taking good care of the present moment, we take good care of the future.

Working for peace in the future is to work for peace in the present moment.

 ~Thich Nhat Hanh

Last night I stitched the last corner of the Family Sampler Pea Pod vine of the border. Now I just need to finish the right hand-side...to meet up where I began...which shouldn't take too long, and then I will snap a status photo to show you. It will be nice to have this part completed.

Who are the happiest people on earth?

A craftsman or artist whistling over a job well done.

A little child building sand castles.

A mother, after a busy day, bathing her baby.

A doctor who has finished a difficult and dangerous operation, and saved a human life.

Happiness lies in a constructive job well done.

Get your happiness out of your work or you will never know what happiness is.

~Elbert Hubbard

Last night, neither of the boys had hockey so we were able to have a quiet night at home. DH did need to make a delivery of a last minute order "over the hill" (that is the term we use for any order that has to be delivered over the Dublin hill into the Oakland area) and took Robert with him so that they could stop at one of their favorite burger joints called Jerry's Beefburgers. Matthew and I enjoyed food at home. They did get home around 6:15pm, so the "boys" played a computer game together while I stitched. It was so nice to be home together.

Well my friends, I hope that you find some Happiness in your Saturday, as well as the rest of the weekend. I hope that you will join me tomorrow when I announce what the give-a-way will be. Until then, remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

Sunday - Happiness is...

...the beginning of a new month, homemade costumes, Trick or Treating in the light of the full moon, a Friday afternoon walk, and carving pumpkins with my boys.

Happy November everyone! Hard to believe that we have 2 more months of 2009 left. I hope everyone had a good and safe Halloween. It was a really strange one this year, for it seems that there weren't too many people out "Trick or Treating". I took the boys out about 7pm and we found many houses put out a bowl a candy and left a note saying - "please take one and leave some for others...Trick or Treat." Either they didn't want to be bothered or just weren't home. And even the amount of decorated houses were less than in years past...maybe the economic demons tried to take some of the fun out of the holiday? Well, we didn't decorate either...and we also decided to go with the homemade costumes (let me introduce to you: the ghost of Christmas in the Bob the Builder sheet - the influence for this was Charlie Brown's homemade ghost costume; and on the right, we have either Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer or Famous Amos - your choice).

Nevertheless, we did have a nice time walking around the neighborhood, in the light of the full moon and 70 degree weather. Perfect trick or treating temperature! (BTW...I also find it funny that my boys work so hard to make as many houses as possible to get candy, of which they don't eat and we end up sharing with our co-workers)

Speaking of nice temperatures, I thought I would share with you what our fall looks like here in California. We have 2 seasons. In the late sping/summer time, our trees have green leaves and the hills and grassy areas are brown. In the fall/wintertime, the trees start to turn colors and eventually drop their leaves, while the hills and grassy areas turn green. Seems a little backwards, doesn't it? On Friday afternoon, I walked to pick up the boys from school and took photos with my phone's camera of the scenery:

It was a beautiful warm Friday and the walk really did wonders for my mood - the warm sun warmed my soul and the lavendar and newly blossoming fall flowers smelled wonderful. I also decided to bring the dog along, for I knew the walk would do him good too!

When we got home, the boys threw their backpacks in their rooms while I prepped the kitchen table for pumpkin carving. I cut the main hole in the bottom of the squash, because we use a light bulb to illuminate good ol' jack. The boys took turns scraping out the "yuck" and the "goop", as well as separating out the seeds to bake in the oven. The design for the pumpkin was created by my older son and, again, the influence was Charlie Brown (unfortunately I didn't get a picture).

They had a good time getting the goop out and drawing the design on the pumpkin. When they were finished, the cookies I was baking were out of the oven. So while they snacked on those, I carved the face out. It was a great Friday afternoon.

On a stitching note...Saturday I was able to put the last stitch in my L*K design and then finish the "finish" and even got it in the mail...so I made the deadline of November 1 for this round of L*K exchange! Yahoo! Now I am frantically working on 2 models for CindyMae, who, by the way, has a "booth" in the Needle Show Retail (which is going on November 5-8). If you register, you can actually place orders directly with the designers. 

Thank you for visiting and have a nice Sunday! 

Remember....Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often! Lisa

 

Happiness....

Making our own Happiness...thought from Elbert Hubbard

Who are the happiest people on earth? A craftsman or artist whistling over a job well done. A little child building sand castles. A mother,after a busy day, bathing her baby. A doctor who has finished a difficult and dangerous operation, and saved a human life. Happiness lies in a constructive job well done. Get your happiness out of your work or you will never know what happiness is.

Inner source of Happiness...through from Shakti Gawain
We have been accustomed to thinking that we have to get something from outside us in order to be happy, but in truth it works the other way: we must learn to contact our inner source of happiness and satisfaction
and flow it outward to share with others--not because it is virtuous to do so, but because it really feels good.

Happiness and lessons from a best friend

For most of life, nothing wonderful happens. If you don’t enjoy getting up and working and finishing your work and sitting down to a meal with family or friends, then the chances are you’re not going to be very happy. If someone bases his or her happiness or unhappiness on major events like a great new job, huge amounts of money, a flawlessly happy marriage or a trip to Paris , that person isn’t going to be happy much of the time. If, on the other hand, happiness depends on a good breakfast, flowers in the yard, a drink or a nap, then we are more likely to live with quite a bit of happiness.

Andy Rooney

Hello everyone. I just received the above quote in my email in box and thought I would share it with you. It was a good reminder for me this morning - to enjoy moment, to take time and "smell the flowers", to smile back at my smiling boys; to be grateful for the roof over my head, the food on my table, the clothing on my back, the health of my family and so on.

I have a very best friend - we have been friends since we were 14, we met and only saw eachother once a week at youth group through out our jr. high and high school years. We never went to the same school, never lived in the same neighborhood or city - but kept in contact via phone, snail mail, and three years ago added email to our line of communication. We talk every week and email almost everyday. We have been together and supporting eachother through the "first kiss" to engagements to weddings and marital discord; we have supported eachother through pregnacies, births, the first step and now dealing with teenagers. My best friend has always started a phone conversation with a "can't wait"..."I can't wait until my kids are out of school for the year so I don't have to deal with homework." "I can't wait until my temporary job is over so I can get more of my housework complete." But I have noticed in all the 27 years we have been friends, when that milestone comes she isn't happy, in fact she is already forming new "I can't waits". Everytime we visit with eachother, it is a good reminder to live in the moment, to find enjoyment no matter how small it might seem and be grateful - that is the road to happiness.

Well...I will get off my soapbox for the morning. Sorry to be so deep for a Wednesday. I am grateful that you stopped by today and hope that you have a happy Wednesday. Remember...live, love, laugh and stitch often! Lisa