I've been alone for 16 days so far. I cannot begin to express how much I enjoy being by myself. I love my husband, don't get me wrong, but I absolutely crave alone-in-my-own-house time. I lived with a man at one point in my life who was in a wheelchair and didn't drive. He never left the house unless I took him. In the years that I was with him, I think I was alone in that house for a few dozen hours. In order for me to have some alone time, I had to leave. Ultimately, I left! I'm glad I finally realized what my soul needed to be happy. I need alone time.
My husband and I both work mainly from home, so we are together all day, every day, most days. I think it is sanity saving for me to take the month of October and travel to Michigan. Then a week after I get home my husband leaves for his three to four weeks in Michigan. We get nearly two months to do our own thing, not have each other in our ear and to once again figure out who we are as an individual.
I've always done the happy dance when my husband leaves town. He once told me that he'd appreciate it if I did the dance after he left the house instead of the few days before his departure! (He was getting a complex I guess.) My happy dance is usually spontaneous giggling and a beaming smile. Like I said, I crave alone in my own house time.
Well, all of this scattered chatter is leading up to the point of this whole post! I tend to stay up way too late when I'm alone, but the last few nights I have forced myself to go to bed at an earlier time. A few nights ago I went to bed with a piece of paper and a pen and started listing all the things I could think of that made me happy. I have to say, it made for a nice relaxing way to get me to go to sleep. I fell asleep thinking about Kleenex and chapstick!
The top of that list was being alone in the house. haha!
I shared the first 15 on my quest to list 100 Things that make me Happy already, if you'd like to visit part I. I'd like to continue with the happy things that I wrote down the other night. At some point I'll get to 100!
16. Being alone in my house.
17. Watching my sister draw.
18. Reading books on my Kindle. Love my Kindle.
19. IKEA lighting. If I had timers for all of the outlets in my home, I would seriously buy an array of IKEA lamps and have them go on and off all around the house. I love lamps, but I rarely turn them on!
20. Alabaster - I really like the dream-like quality it has. Alabaster looks like it has been spun from clouds.
21. Black out curtains in a bedroom.
22. Black yoga pants. I don't go anywhere without them if I can help it. They are my daily uniform.
23. Multi-colored Christmas Tree lights.
24. Junk mail art. A lot of it anyway. I'm a sucker for advertising.
25. Systane eyedrops for dry eyes.
26. Palm trees. This includes palm tree paintings, photographs and real life.
from the Thomas McKnight website
27. Thomas McKnight artwork.
28. Kleenex - real Kleenex. Not medicated, lotioned, scented or extra strength. Plain, white Kleenex is what makes me happy.
29. Sharpies. Clickables Sharpies are my favorites, but all Sharpies are wonderful.
30. Super Sticky Post-it Notes.
31. Chapstick medicated in the blue tube. I use it each night as I get into bed. A little swipe across my lips and they stay hydrated all night.
32. Photographs. Landscapes, people, interior, exterior, funny, sad. Carnivals, animals, barns and buildings. I love looking at photographs.
33. Tagless T-Shirts
34. Listening to Hillary tell a story. She is the best!
35. Those funny cards that pair a vintage photo with a humorous tag. (example above)
36. flocked wrapping paper.
37. front loading washer and dryers. They really do make me happy.
38. The green McCoy pitcher that I use to fill up my kitties water bowl each day.
39. Saying Thank You makes me very happy. I make an effort to say Thank you and look at the person to whom I'm saying it. I don't want it to be a throw away response like "hi, how are you today?" People who say that rarely care about the response.
Wow - I'm at 40. I was really on a roll!
40. taking my car through the car wash.
On this day before Thanksgiving (in the United States, that is) I wish you all a blessed day. I hope you can be with family and/or friends this weekend. My husband will be with his family in Michigan and I will be with my support group friends. We are both very fortunate to be with people who love us.
Thank you for coming by!
Kristin
It's a great list. I love IKEA.
ReplyDeleteYes I think you need to wait on the happy dance until he is actually gone! I love muli-colored lights too. I always say thank you, it feels really good. I use to love to wash my car but I don't have the energy anymore. Only touchless washes for me. Thank you for sharing your list.
A fine was to commemorate thanksgiving. Good Guy and I juggle our hours alone in the same house at the same time. I get up early, while he stays up late. I don't mind when he goes away for a week, but I'm not up for a month alone. Resourceful as I am, I get lonely for him.
ReplyDeleteYour list is really interesting and tells a lot about you. LOL
Totally love having the house to myself. An ideal vacation would be everyone else leaving town for a week and me left behind.
ReplyDeleteAwesome list. You have me pondering what my 100 would be. Being by myself would certainly be on it.
Can you believe I love Thomas Mcknight too! I have a feeling you'd like Collier Campbell fabric, also.
ReplyDelete