There is nothing more comforting than doing something that takes you back to your childhood.
One of my favourite childhood memories was when my Mom baked, and called us into the kitchen as she was putting a cake into the oven to lick a beater.
Licking a beater is a bit trickier than you think. You have to wrap your tongue around the curved edges of the beater blades, twisting it like a corkscrew to make sure you lick every last morsel of cake mix or whipping cream on the blades.
When I bake today, it astonishes me that neither of my kids want to lick the beater. But that makes me happy–all the more for me. As they say in the Swinton house, you snooze, you lose.
This week’s #HappyAct is to do something that takes you back to your childhood.
There are no words to describe the comfort of a friend. Friends console us when we’re down. They are a sympathetic ear when troubles weigh heavy on your heart and the first person to say I believe in you. You will overcome this.
They share in life’s joys, sorrows and celebrations. They are the person you turn to when you need a hug, or someone to listen without judgement, or just want to share a laugh or what’s on your mind. They love you unconditionally, warts and all. Without them, we’d be lost.
It’s a scientific fact that having one good friend has a significant impact on happiness. It’s not surprising having a friend increases your happiness in good times, but it’s been proven that having a friend is critical during times of stress when you need help.
In his New York University course The Science of Happiness, Dr. Alan Schlechter lectures about the “tend and befriend” response. The cousin to the fight or flight response, the tend and befriend response is when the hormone oxytocin, induced by stress tells us to reach out for help. When we reach out to a friend, our cortisone level goes down and we feel better.
They say you’re lucky to have at least one true friend in your lifetime. I’ve been fortunate enough to have two, my best friend Leslie and my husband Dave. Thanks for being my rock, guys. I love you both.
This week’s #HappyAct is to tell your best friend how much they mean to you.
I’ve always loved a screen porch. There’s just something special about feeling like you’re outdoors, in nature but without the bugs, and spending quality time talking, playing cards, reading or doing puzzles.
The other night after dinner, I wandered into the front room and asked Dave where the girls were. He said he thought Clare was in the screened porch doing school work.
I went to join her and found Grace sitting on the futon, gently strumming her guitar while Clare sat in the lounger under a fluffy duvet writing out an assignment. I joined them and we just sat there for about an hour, listening to the chords float into the air, the birds chirping outside and watching the cotton candy sky swirl above the leafy treetops as the sun went down.
It was a special moment in a special place and I was so grateful to be able to spend time with my girls, with no phones, computers or devices to take away from the peace, serenity and tranquility of our beautiful surroundings.
This week’s #HappyAct is to spend some time with a different type of screen. Here’s a picture of Bentley after a swim in our screened porch.
Photo caption: Yoyo and Ginsu in a standoff. We renamed Ginsu “Lil Putin” because he makes trouble everywhere he goes.
Those of you who know me well or who have followed this blog, know I am a dog lover. In the interests of diversity, equity and inclusion, I welcome the diverse perspective of cat people. I hope you enjoy this week’s post on cats from guest blogger and cat lover, Jill Yokoyama!
When Laurie first started writing her weekly blog I remember commenting on the name “happy act” and joking that she would have to do a “happy cat” post sometime. That day has arrived!
I have always been a “cat person” and growing up our family always had a cat or two as pets. For the last ten years, Gary & I have shared a home with our cat Yoyo. She is a run-of-the-mill brown tabby with lots of “cattitude” and one of Gary’s lines is “Careful, you can be replaced; there are 20,000 cats just like you in Hamilton…” Despite this joking threat, she has worked her way firmly into our hearts and we are endlessly amused by Yoyo.
After spending the last two years 24/7 observing Yoyo, here are some important life lessons from a cat:
Always take the opportunity for a long nap. Even if it seems like you just woke up from a nap, it’s never too early to consider another one.
Wallow in the sunshine whenever possible–close your eyes, stretch out and relax.
Spend a few minutes every day with your people, showing your love & affection for them.
Be curious about the world around you, whether it be the swirling flush of the toilet or what might be on the kitchen counter.
Take joy in small pleasures. Chase a piece of string around the house like it is your most precious treasure.
Defend yourself loudly and unreservedly when a bully comes around. Even if you are small, puff up your tail and fur and believe in your ability to take on a larger foe.
Warning: today’s blog post contains coarse language because it’s hella cool.
I ate shit the other day. Not the actual shit like in the Cheech and Chong skit or the type you’d find in your hamster cage. I fell down hard in our skating rink of a driveway. Grace and Clare both fell too, and burst in the door saying, “I just ate shit”.
You see, eating shit is the latest vernacular for taking a header, falling down, wiping out. I thought it was a strange choice of words, but hey, kids these days. Amirite?
Luckily, my friend Jess recently gave me “A Very Modern Dictionary”, a handy book of 400 words, phrases, acronyms and slang to keep your culture game on fleek (perfectly executed).
I thought I would try it out with my bae, which is different from your bff by the way. Your bae is your significant other; your bff your best friend. Whatever you do, don’t get your bf (boyfriend), bff, gf or bae mixed up. I’m planning a trip down east with my girlfriends this summer (gfs), but my bae is my baller, a rockstar, especially with his dadbod. Together we are the power couple of Spring Lake.
Let me part the kimono a bit more on this new landscape of communication.
I was chillaxing last week with my homies down at the lake, catching fish and taking Instaworthy photos, when we realized we were fungry (f*in hungry) and I said let’s grab some grub.
We were sitting at the table when the dog let out a big question fart, a fart where the sound ends in an upward inflection, similar to when you ask a question and we all laughed and said, that’s craycray, Bentley’s so dope!
Grace was phubbing us, ignoring the conversation and looking at her phone, but stopped surfing for a moment to ask for a loan from the Bank of Mum and Dad. I said, “Ain’t nobody got time for that.”
This generation thinks they’re the bomb, the OGs of words and Wordle, when our generation was actually the Original Gangsta’s of slang. Old school is now a term of “respect and deference” instead of an insult and I laughed out loud (LOL) when I saw TGIF listed as a “modern” slang term.
I blogged eight years ago about being normcore, which the dictionary describes as “a fashion style characterized by the elevation of bland, ‘normal’ clothing” that has become so popular with hipsters it has “turned the style into a trend, making its claim of being unpretentious decidedly pretentious.” Hey dude, don’t call me pretentious.
This week’s #HappyAct is to get savage with your vocabulary, and not be jelly of the younger generation and their slang and feel #blessed. Nailed it!
Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, the day you’ll find panicked husbands staring blankly in the empty aisles of Shopper’s Drug Mart, scrambling to find the perfect last minute $10 card and box of heart-shaped chocolates.
For me, Valentine’s Day is simply a day to tell the people I love how much I care for them and how I can’t imagine living life without them. Here are my ten favourite love quotes for Valentine’s Day.
“We are most alive when we are in love.” John Updike
“The only thing we never get enough of is love; and the only thing we never give enough of is love.” Henry Miller
“Love and work, work and love… that’s all there is.” Sigmund Freud (defining happiness and reflecting on the importance of relationships and having a sense of purpose)
“When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” Nora Ephron
“It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them.” Agatha Christie
“Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.” Oprah Winfrey
“True love stories never have endings.” Richard Bach
“Never love anyone who treats you like you’re ordinary.” Oscar Wilde
“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” Charles M. Schulz
And an important one for the times we live in,
“I have decided to stick to love; hate is too great a burden to bear.” Martin Luther King Jr.
And if I were to add my own:
“The greatest teacher of love is a dog.” Laurie Swinton
This week’s #HappyAct is to look beyond the consumer trappings of Valentine’s Day and tell the ones you love how much they mean to you. But hey, like Snoopy’s Dad said, a little chocolate isn’t going to hurt anyone.
You may have heard about the 75 Hard challenge that’s taken over TikTok and the internet. Created by fitness guru Andy Frisella, it’s a challenge that is supposed to toughen you up mentally and physically. He calls it “ironman for your brain”. The challenge involves doing five things for 75 days straight:
Drink 3-4 litres of water a day
Follow a diet with no cheat meals or alcohol
Workout twice a day for 45 minutes, and one of the workouts must be done outdoors
Read 10 pages of a non-fiction or self-help book each day
Take a progress picture each day
We were talking about the challenge in the car yesterday, and I said, “that’s way too hard and life’s challenging enough right now, I’d rather do a 75-day easy challenge”. Here’s what our 75 Easy challenge would look like:
Laurie’s 75 Easy challenge
Drink two glasses of wine two days a week, one white, one red
Complete one puzzle
Read the newspapers and actually get moving before 10 a.m. on the weekends (shoot, I guess I’ll have to start the challenge tomorrow)
Walk from my home office to the kitchen fridge and back at least twice a day
Wear something other than slippers and leggings at least once a week
Dave’s 75 Easy challenge
Ice fish twice a week
Pet Bentley 10 times a day, including once on the belly
Read 30 pages of either John Sandford, Wilbur Smith or Ken Follett a night
Drink one bottle of Baileys or Cabot Trail maple cream, with or without coffee
Bring his minnows in every night so they don’t freeze on the front porch (to help with #1)
Clare’s 75 Easy challenge
Eat two Mr. Noodles a day, one small bowl and one large bowl
Limit her screen time on her phone to less than four hours per day
Wear an actual winter coat each time she leaves the house
Watch at least one hour of Netflix or DisneyPlus a night
Clean up after herself in the kitchen at least once a week (again, see #1)
Grace’s 75 Easy challenge
Keep her voice down to under 100 decibels when talking on the phone late at night
Journal every day
Write and re-write her study schedule daily
Pick two items of clothing up off of her floor each day
Learn one new song on the guitar each week
Bentley’s 75 Easy challenge
Chase the squirrels from the bird feeders twice a day
Sleep on one couch at least once every night
Eat two dog treats a day without trying to slobber
Actually come when my humans call, “Come, Bentley”
Bark for only 10 minutes a night on the front porch at absolutely nothing
There you have it. Hey, at least we’ll feel good when we’re all successful at the end of the 75 days. This week’s #HappyAct is to make up your own 75 Hard or Easy Challenge. What will it be? Leave a comment.
It’s always fun this time of year to scour your horoscope to see what’s in store for the year ahead.
We took it a step further and did tarot readings for everybody in the house this week. Here’s what the cards told us:
Grace has a secret admirer, but there is also distrust of acquaintances who are seeking to betray her.
There is a mystery that will affect Clare for the better. Her confiding disposition may generate a friendship that will warm into love.
I drew cards that foretold of successful ventures in business and riches, the ship and anchor. I guess my ship will come in this year.
Dave? Well, he doesn’t believe in this mumbo jumbo stuff. We’re still trying to convince him to let us do a reading. For now, let’s say there will be water and fish in his future.
This week’s #HappyAct is to buy a cheap card of tarot cards (only $9.99 on most sites) and see what’s written in the cards for you this year. Happy reading!
