The Next Ten Days: The Happiness Project Turns 51

Actually, we’re up somewhere near day 53, but I’m not very good at getting my blogging act together.

Some days, I really regret having that ridiculous inner drive to actually finish what I’ve started- even if that something is to find something legitimately happy for 100 freaking days.

100 days of happiness when you’ve just recently had a baby. A baby who is currently going through a super-thwacky, flaily, howly, cranky, needy phase.

100 days of happiness when you’re far away from your friends and family (which isn’t unusual, but remember, I just had a baby) and struggling to find connections where you are.

100 days of happiness when you’re in a state of flux, trying to figure out how to make things work where you are (in the midlands of England, as a stay at home mother) whilst trying to prepare for yet another move to yet another place you’ve never been (Vietnam) without even a job lined up.

100 days of happiness during one of the grimmest Junes I’ve ever encountered.

So, yeah, there have been days when I’ve been really annoyed with myself for stubbornly accepting a challenge that I’ve tried to meet but have often only come up with rather lackluster submissions for.

But still, it’s been interesting. Kinda.

Let’s start where we left off last time, at Day 41.

I got a bike for just 15 quid, from someone in the village. The gears didn’t work but a bike-man friend of husband’s sorted that out for free (thank you). I’m still trying to figure out if I can carry Thwack yet (he doesn’t sit yet) and I’m not sure what I’ll be able to do with it when we leave in a few months.

But still, a really good cheap bike.

And then for Day 42, I was given a Thwack-free day to do as I wished. I had tea and cake (and a very disappointing sandwich, but we won’t dwell on that) and a big fat newspaper in the cafe on the high street. I can’t believe this is now something I aspire to.

Day 43 involved a lot of toasted crumpets, buttered until they soaked through, with a ton of home made marmalade on top. It was a Sunday and so allowed. We also started drinking a lot of tea again.

Day 44 was an interesting one. I had been asked to find interesting restaurants in Leicester to review, with costs covered, so we walked down to Kayal, a Keralan joint downtown,  and ate so much lunch that dinner was completely unnecessary. They have 3 kinds of dosa, all as big as a small child, stuffed with spiced potato. Lovely spicy prawns and grilled fish. Keralan tea shop crunchy snacks. Cold Indian beer. Thwack slept through most of it.

Day 45 involved the Leicester branch of Patisserie Valerie. It’s in the Highcross shopping centre in town, which is, well, a bog standard mall and not exactly Old Compton Street in Soho in London (where the original one from 1928 is). It looks like they just blu-tacked on some art deco mirrors and posters in a space previously occupied by an underpants shop or suchlike.

But still, they had lovely cakes and tea and it was a really heart warming treat. This on was chocolate on chocolate in chocolate, with a cream filled profiterol dipped in white chocolate glued on top.

Day 46. I can’t even remember Day 46. It was one of those days where a picture of Thwack being hung upside down had to suffice.

Day 47. We wheeled Thwack down to the Donkey, a funky, spartan pub on the main road at the bottom of our street. They have live music at night. It reminds me of the pubs of my 20s. Except this time I went there mid-afternoon on a Thursday with Thwack in the carriage, had 2 pints in a dimly lit empty pub with the chairs still being taken off the tables, and were gone before the crowds came. Sigh.

Day 48. Dinner at husband’s sister’s place, with the rest of the family (well, a small fraction of the total number). One of the things I do like here (as opposed to the rest of my adult life, spent scattered around the world) is access to family. Not my family, but still, family. It’s strangely reassuring.

Day 49. Saturday again, and Thwack has been taken to the grandparents for some Thwuddle time. This time I didn’t bother with the cafe and newspaper. I bought a nice beer, some eclairs, and a bake-at-home pizza and curled up on the couch and wondered what on earth I was doing. Oh, and did 3 Vietnamese lessons online and caught up on some reading.

Day 50. Had better days. Eye on the prize and all that.

Day 51, ten days since my last post. A bit of sunshine. A temporarily calm Thwack in his chair, checking out the back garden.

Here’s to another, um, ten happy days.