Happiness Happening

I have spent the last two weeks getting on and off trains and spending more time in hotels than at home. This has been totally due to work and led to me missing the CPRE Green Awards event held at the Norwich Assembly Theatre last week, and my partners nephews 5th birthday party. Both worthy events which i was sad to miss and sending me deep into the doldrums.

Yesterday my very clever mum took me up to Sheringham to brush away the cobwebs whereupon I had the best fish and chips ever, looked around a proper ironmongers and bought my first Christmas present. Which reminded me how close to Christmas we are getting! We went out today to look for a box for me to put on my bike when I cycle to work so that I can get shopping on the way home without cripping my back, and we got lots of daffodils, narcissus and snowdrops from the garden centre. When we got back I spent a happy few hours pottering around the garden tidying up and planting some of the bulbs for a spring dispay. I would have planted all of them but I lost the light.

Which takes me to the happiness factor, having spent the last few hours surfing the internet to look for useful/beautiful things for people for christmas (influenced by william morris) I discovered a post which was entitled "5 things that make me happy" and after the last few weeks i think i managed to do many of my favourite things this weekend (in no orer of favourites!).

1. See the sea while eating fish and chips (Sheringham)
2. Play in my garden & ride my bike (two things but noth outside and shed connected!)
3. Read my eco magazine and find useful leads to solve problems (ike what to do with the 2 tonnes of earth we dug out of the garden)
4. See/Speak to almost all my family
5. Spend time with my lovely boyfriend

Then theres the things i didn't get to do but really enjoy, like cook up a storm, watch the stars, see a movie, drink with friends, read a book, sew, plan travels, have a campfire (bonfire), make a cake, go for a long cycle ride.....

Try it - make a list of 5 things which make you happy & do some of them, after all if 37.5 hours a week are spent at work, 42.5 if counting lunch breaks and there are 168 hours in a week - 75% of our week isn't spent at work.