Find vs Seek

Happiness is where we find it, but rarely where we seek it. ~ J. Petit Senn

I turned the page on the calendar Monday morning and that was the quote. I have to admit I found great happiness in turning the page. I was so busy this past weekend that it did not even dawn on me that we were changing months. I heard it on the news!

The man and I did alot of shopping. Then we stained/installed some more trim, painted walls, made curtains, bought carpet, changed light fixtures in two rooms and put new weather stripping on the front door, baked bread and planted seeds. Most of what got planted was paste tomatoes for this summer’s salsa, soup, sauce. We priced the deck but have to wait to borrow a trailer to pick up the wood and wait for the ground to thaw! But it is something to look forward too.

Yesterday, the man stayed home from work with a sore throat. #2 son is still taking meds for strep so the man figured he better get it checked. Turned out he has a sinus infection and post nasal drip was causing the sore throat, so he is now on antibiotics for that.

This morning, for the first time in over a week, everyone left for school or work. I started to go through and put books back on the shelves that we had taken down to paint. Then I found myself reading some…Some books you can give away and then others have to stay.  There are two books that always get put back and they are so different.

The first one I bought while I was in a book club 10+ years ago. It is called Simple Pleasures. Everytime I pull the books out to dust I re-read a little. It is just a small book telling you to find pleasure in the smallest things…the smell of coffee brewing in the morning, the sound of the waves rolling up on the sand, ice cold sheets on a hot summer evening, etc. I read a little and put it back, because if only for those few minutes of reading I put the world on hold and was reminded to appreciate all the small things life gives us that may get overlooked in the hustle and bustle.

The second book was given to my grandmother in April, 1913. When I was young my mother read it to us but we weren't allowed to touch it until we were much older and she knew we wouldn't ruin it.  When I had children, my mother passed it on to me. It is called The Hole Book. It is about when a gun accidently went off and the bullets travels. You can actually read the whole thing here.  We loved seeing the hole go threw all the pages.  To us it was better than any pop-up book.

It is odd how some things just pull us in and hold us, so even when trying to downsize you just can not let go.  So as I go about the rest of the day I will keep in mind the little things that gave me happiness this morning.  And I will leave you with a picture of something else that gave me happiness....

I got an amaryllis for Christmas and it finally decided to bloom.  It must have been waiting for March also!