My Happy Place

I woke up this morning to a kid who had been up all night gaming. He was upset with the behavior of my Little Kitty who has a tendency to get a little rough when wrestling with Stubby. It's non-sexual and totally playful but The Kid had set in his mind that it wasn't so he went off on a tangent of all the violent things he was going to do to my cat in retaliation for his totally innocent animal behavior. The thing about folks with Aspergers - once they have something in their mind, it's very difficult to change their mind. The thing about me first thing in the morning when my pain is at it's worst is that I don't have the energy to debate things. I was a very unhappy camper.

SO... I "put a kettle on"... which in my Whine Cellar means running water through the coffee pot to heat it... and settled in to dwell on a few of My Favorite Things to find My Happy Place. I decided you might like to visit My Happy Place with me so here goes!

1. Peppermint tea. I love peppermint tea because it clears my sinuses, tastes good hot or not as hot and doesn't need as much sweetening as other teas. I start with two teabags and just add water throughout the day. Two tea bags will last me all day.

2. Fig Newtons. When I wake up in the morning my pain is usually at it's worst. I can't take pain meds, even the not-as-strong ones on an empty stomach. When my pain is at it's worst I can't eat. You can see how this could be a conundrum. I find that I can always manage to put away a couple of fig newtons, even on the worst days. I'm sure there is no nutritional value in them at all and I'm sure there are a lot of stuff I shouldn't eat in them. But when the goal is to get to the point of being able to function, it's hot tea, fig newtons and pain meds  - in that order.

3. Candles. If you read yesterday's post you know that I have an affinity for my fur-babies. Cats are many things - low maintenance, cuddly, entertaining, etc - but one thing they are not is potty trained. They ARE, however, litter box trained. Three cats in one space = many litter box trips. Many litter box trips = much litter box smell. Myself, Austin and my mom all take turns scooping the boxes but inevitably, someone will drop a bomb that lingers. This is why I love scented candles. Nothing makes me happier than descending the steps to the Whine Cellar and smelling something fresh and unlitter-box-like. Since I have no disposable income, a candle is a luxury but I treated myself this week to two new candles and it has been like a vacation. It doesn't take much, people.

4. Farmville2. Guys, I know it's a big time suck but having gone from being a highly productive person with a career and a house full of kids to being a Spinster Cat Lady, I need a way to be measurably productive. Farmville is my place to SHINE. I only started playing six months ago and I'm on level 70. I'm kicking some Farmville2 butt! My secret is that I play through Zynga.com instead of Facebook. I have nearly 2000 Zynga friends from all over the world. Literally, some of their names are symbols that I can't pronounce but their only contact with me is through the zynga website. It makes it easy to complete tasks and level up quickly. Zynga is a Happy Place.

5. Zulily. I haven't ordered anything since right after Christmas but I window shop every day. They have many cute things reasonably priced. If you click this link right here, it will send you an invitation to Zulily. If you buy stuff, I get $15 to spend on Zulily. Don't order just for that reason but if you're going to order anyways and haven't ordered from them before, why not share the wealth, right?

6. Barnes and Noble. I love my Nook. I spend a lot of time on it every day. The Barnes and Noble website has a lot, a lot of books they offer for free or super cheap. Every now and then I splurge and spend two or three dollars on something there. Most of the time I just get the free stuff. I have 156 unread books on my Nook. It's got a whole lot of Happy Place just waiting for me to explore!

7. Little Debbie's Nutty Bars. Not healthy at all but they make me so happy! In this house running out of Nutty Bars is a crisis on par with being out of toilet paper.

8. TV. And now on to my happiest of Happy Places... time for the afternoon Grey's Anatomy mini-marathon, followed by a showing of Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya-Sisterhood, followed by The Five, two episodes of The Middle and then Rick Steves.

The sun is shining, the cat is cuddled up beside me, the grumpy kid is still sleeping and Pop is on the golf course. It's going to be a good day. Happy Weekend, love and hugs, y'all!