Ten good things that have been happening

Often when I go quiet it’s because things are not going so well, but these last couple of weeks it’s been the opposite. Things are starting to go better. Here are ten good things that have happened lately.

1.  Friday night was my (yes, quite belated) book launch for Love At The Speed Of Email. We had drinks and a reading from 5-7pm at one of Luang Prabang’s nicest resorts, The Amantaka, and it was fabulous. Even the tropical storm that blew in just added to the atmosphere. 

2.  The book is racking up some seriously lovely reviews on Amazon (and a bunch of them are from people who don’t even know me 😉 ).

3.  My brother, my sister in law, and a great friend have been visiting from Australia these last two weeks. Loving the company, loving the chats, loving the ice cream they unexpectedly bring back with them after outings and all the goodies (cans of salmon, pacifiers, wine, etc) they toted over from Australia.

4.  Baby laughing. Nothing else like it in the world for sparking uncomplicated joy.

5.  Some nights, at least, a little more of this.

6.  Hiring a 3pm – 5:30pm babysitter for Dominic every weekday. I now think that late afternoon babysitting should be a mandatory part of this parenting gig – you know, like wearing your seatbelt is a mandatory part of driving. It’s that good for you.

7.  Mike’s back continues to get better. The nerve pain hasn’t returned and though he’s nowhere near full strength yet he can lift Dominic – cautiously and carefully – again. Halleluiah.

8.  I’m starting another big project, this time a website about long distance relationships. It’s nice to feel some flickers of creative momentum again, since that sort of inspiration has been notoriously absent lately. However, I spend half my time feeling that I’ve bitten off more than I can chew with this project, so look for that website in, oh, 2045 or so.

9.  No one in this family has been all that sick, broken a bone, or herniated a disc, for four weeks and counting. A-maz-ing.

10.  We’re leaving on Thursday for a week in Bhutan. As Bhutan is the land of happiness I’m anticipating that we will return from there impressively happy. I’m hopeful that we may even experience some of that happiness while we’re away despite the fact that we will be traveling with a picky-eater-light-sleeper-14-month-old. I’ll keep you posted.

More photos coming soon. In the meantime, this is how we spent yesterday afternoon. Tad Sae Waterfall. Total Eden.