Practicing Hygge

 

No, not yoga…hygge…pronounced either hue-guh or hoo-gah. I read an article about this. The word is from the Danish and Norwegian for a mood of coziness and being comfortable and content. It’s how they get through those harsh winter months without getting cabin fever. Since the winters in California are so mild in comparison there isn’t that problem. But I love the idea behind it. Some of the suggestions I think can be incorporated not matter what the weather is. Here are just a few.

 

Spend quality time with family and friends

TURN OFF THE TV AND PUT YOUR PHONE ON SILENT. Talk to each other. Eat at the table instead of in front of the TV. Linger over the meal. Maybe play a board game after you’ve cleared the dishes.

 

Candles, candles, candles

I love a candle-lit atmosphere. Whenever the power goes out here, I have several candles that I light and place all around the house. It’s hard to read or play games by candle light, but that’s where the talking comes into play.

 

Sit by a roaring fire

Not everyone has a fire place, and in some areas wood fires are prohibited. Decorative logs with a gas fire or LED are just as cozy looking. And in the summer you can do this without getting too warm.

 

Keep meals simple

I’m a huge fan of soups and stews and I love my slow cooker dearly. You can even make desserts in them. Fewer cooking dishes and less clean-up.

 

Pick up a book

Seriously! Of course, if you are not a recreational reader you’re stuck. Don’t know how to advise you on this. I guess audio books would serve. My brother, his wife and their daughter used to gather at the table each night for their bedtime snack and read to each other. I loved that! I wish we had established that routine ourselves.

 

And now I wish it were snowing hard outside…

 

9 Months Chained to a Desk

 

Of course, I’m talking about school. I’ve already dealt with this subject more than once, but with things starting up again, I started thinking about the positives. Not about Junior High or Senior High (AKA Junior Hell and Senior Hell) but about elementary school.

 

I never enjoyed or looked forward to school. Except for the libraries. Elementary, Junior and Senior all had good libraries. Books were my drug, my solace, my escape. And I did have a couple of friends I liked being with.

 

The best days of grade school were the first day and the last day. The last day is pretty much self-explanatory.

 

The first day was prepared for by buying new school clothes. I liked that part. Wearing those new clothes for the first weeks or so was nice.

 

First day meant a new box of crayons. Nothing beats the smell of new crayons. We also got a pencil and the new (to us) reader for the year. I loved the readers! We’d put our names in the front under the name of the last one who had the reader the previous year. Whether we read through the whole book in that year didn’t matter. I read the whole book on my own.

 

The first few days of the school year weren’t bad. The rot hadn’t set in yet. Days that included the teacher reading us a book or story were great. Doing art projects were great. The breaks for recess and lunch kept me alive. The teachers were fine. Never had a bad one in grade school. I’ve already written about the sainted Mrs. Vanderley and the sainted Mrs. Malloy.

 

And that’s about it. I will admit there were a few (very few) positives about Jr. and Sr. High. But not nearly enough to erase the mental scars. My 50^th HS Reunion is coming up next year. I haven’t decided yet if I really want to attend. There are some people I would love to see again. I have reconnected to a few on FB. We’ll see…

 

I wish with all my heart I had been as happy as those kids in the picture look.

 

Grown-up Perks

 

#23.8 

It’s getting close to when Marv gets home and I have to start dinner. I already have dinner planned out. BUT—I REALLY want some graham crackers and milk RIGHT NOW. I go back and forth in my mind as to what to do. If I eat the graham crackers now, I won’t feel like eating much for dinner. But I want them now! So, you know what?? I ATE THE GRAHAM CRACKERS. And they were so good! Who cares if it spoiled my dinner? I’m a grown-up…I can do ANYTHING I WANT TO. So I did…

 

#57.3

I DON’T LIKE BROCCOLI! Never have, but I would eat it on occasion because it was “good for me”, same with a lot of food in that category. Didn’t like it, but would force it down. I came to the decision that because I was a grown-up I did NOT have to eat stuff I didn’t like. SO…

No more broccoli!

No more fish! (except for beer-batter fish that you just put in the oven)

No creamed corn! Just regular or on the cob.

I CAN EAT ANYTHING I WANT AND CAN REJECT ANY FOOD I DON’T LIKE!!

 

#44.07

I can go to bed anytime I feel like it. I know I have been tremendously blessed in not having a set job since the kids were born. Yes, I had to get up early sometimes because I had kids, or had to take care of my parents, or had a doctor’s appointment, etc. But for the most part, I can stay up late if I want. I can sleep in late if I want. If I wake up in the middle of the night and want a bowl of Cap’n Crunch and play on the computer for a bit, I can. And nowadays, I can go to bed early just because I’m tired and feel like it. I have to admit that the last one is the one I most go after…

 

#5.1.27

This is more for an “older” grown-up. I can call any man or woman younger than me “sweetie”, “honey” or “dear” without offending.

 

#16 part A

I don’t care much anymore what folks think of me. If I feel like going to a restaurant on my birthday, I WILL wear my crown. If they have coloring menus for kids, I WILL ask for one and I WILL color. Same at Mt. Mike’s Pizza. I will get a coloring page and color it. One time when I was there with a friend, we both colored our pages and wrote our names and ages on them and gave them to be displayed on the wall with the other “kids” pages…