Got a Happy Story is a community gathering every Friday night where we share stories large and small that have put a smile on our face.  It is a time to acknowledge the joy and wonder we experience.  The Happy Story diary exists as a way to anchor the community in hope and comfort while we do the hard work of taking back our country. Everyone and all sorts of stories and pictures are welcome. May we find joy and strength here.

The plan for tonight's diary was for Eddie and I to write it together from Netroots Nation.  We'd had a blast last year scrambling the streets of Chicago looking for free wifi to post Happy Story.  Alas, it was not to be this year.  Eddie is in Austin and I am stuck at home dealing with numerous life situations.  I figure that there are plenty of people who had planned to go to NN and weren't able to, as well as many for whom it wasn't even a possibility.  So I think we should just share our little happy stories with each other.

Got a Happy Story is a community gathering every Friday night where we share stories large and small that have put a smile on our face.  It is a time to acknowledge the joy and wonder we experience.  The Happy Story diary exists as a way to anchor the community in hope and comfort while we do the hard work of taking back our country. Everyone and all sorts of stories and pictures are welcome. May we find joy and strength here.

There seem to be myriad possibilities for stories on this historic day, particularly on a political blog.  But Happy Story has always been more devoted to celebration of the ordinary and personal so we'll continue with that tradition tonight.

In the 1970’s the nation struggled with the concept and the reality of women athletes.  As women entered sports in greater numbers, particularly after the enactment of Title IX, they didn’t find open doors and welcoming facilities.  Nowhere was this more evident than in the world of rowing.  This diary, as part of the feminisms series, is dedicated to the first US National Women’s Rowing Team in 1975.  I’ll introduce you to their challenges on and off the water, to the hallmark Yale strip-in protest, and talk a little about the ripple effects still being felt today.

Last fall I wrote a diary about my experiences learning to row.  I fell in love with rowing for three reasons: rowing on the ocean into the sunrise or the sunset is a total feast for the senses; rowing is a total body workout and I learned that I enjoy feeling physically strong; and rowing brings a camaraderie between the women in the boat who are all working together toward the same goal.   This spring I read a book by Daniel Boyne, The Red Rose Crew, about the 1975 National Team.  I became fascinated with their story and with the gifts they bestowed on rowing, women, and the world.

June is Gay Pride month, so designated because the Stonewall Riots occurred 39 years ago in late June.  This weekend 23 of 50 states are holding Gay Pride parades and festivals.  Around the world there are 7 countries hosting Gay Pride celebrations on 3 continents.

Got a Happy Story is a community gathering every Friday night where we share stories large and small that have put a smile on our face.  It is a time to acknowledge the joy and wonder we experience.  The Happy Story diary exists as a way to anchor the community in hope and comfort while we do the hard work of taking back our country. Everyone and all sorts of stories and pictures are welcome. May we find joy and strength here.

When the diary I've been working on for two weeks wasn't where I wanted it by this afternoon, I thought of a conversation I had about baking at the New England kossack meet up last Saturday.  I think it would be fun if we  all swapped stories of the obsessions and compulsions that make us happy.

Obsessions are thoughts or ideas that persistently preoccupy our minds.  Compulsions are actions we feel driven to perform.  I'm not talking about these terms as psychiatric disorders or problematic behaviors.  I mean the things we throw our whole selves into.  Things that become a bit more than a simple hobby.

Got a Happy Story is a community gathering every Friday night where we share stories large and small that have put a smile on our face.  It is a time to acknowledge the joy and wonder we experience.  The Happy Story diary exists as a way to anchor the community in hope and comfort while we do the hard work of taking back our country. Everyone and all sorts of stories and pictures are welcome. May we find joy and strength here.

Yesterday I chaperoned a field trip for 5th graders to Sturbridge Village.  It brought to mind field trips I had when I was in school.  I've forgotten many of them but two made big impressions on me.  The first was in 2nd grade where we had several local field trips to places in town.  I'm sure there were probably a half dozen sites and I remember feeling like I'd been given a view of the secrets of the adult world.  I'd gone into the post office regularly with my parents but on our field trip we got a tour of the back room where they sorted the mail.  Back then it was mostly by hand with one machine that read zip codes.  I felt like I was invited into the world of how grown ups made the world run and it made me feel grown up myself.

One of the other places we visited that year was the newspaper office.  There we had the opportunity to see them set the type by hand and print the newspapers.  Each of us received our name in blocktype at the end of the visit.  I loved everything about the Cabinet Press--the smell, the tiny letters, the machines with their big rollers, and watching blank paper become the news.

Got a Happy Story is a community gathering every Friday night where we share stories large and small that have put a smile on our face.  It is a time to acknowledge the joy and wonder we experience.  The Happy Story diary exists as a way to anchor the community in hope and comfort while we do the hard work of taking back our country. Everyone and all sorts of stories and pictures are welcome. May we find joy and strength here.

Last week I wrote about Cape Cod houses and Federal houses.  This week Eddie is stuck at work so he called and asked me to post the diary.  It only made sense to move on to the next architectural periods.  I have to preface that by saying that I while I truly adore Victorian homes, the ones around here don't hold a candle to the first Victorians I ever saw.  There is really nothing quite like the Gingerbread Cottages on Martha's Vineyard.

Got a Happy Story is a community gathering every Friday night where we share stories large and small that have put a smile on our face.  It is a time to acknowledge the joy and wonder we experience.  The Happy Story diary exists as a way to anchor the community in hope and comfort while we do the hard work of taking back our country. Everyone and all sorts of stories and pictures are welcome. May we find joy and strength here.

I've always lived in New England and our regional architecture is a familiar comfort for me.  Last fall I accompanied my son's 5th grade class on a walking tour to one of the local historic homes.  Along the way we passed many more.  It was a beautiful stroll as the leaves were turning.  This week the same homes have been surrounded by flowers in bloom and budding trees.  I live in such a beautiful area and I thought I'd share some of it in a few diaries.

Got a Happy Story is a community gathering every Friday night where we share stories large and small that have put a smile on our face.  It is a time to acknowledge the joy and wonder we experience.  The Happy Story diary exists as a way to anchor the community in hope and comfort while we do the hard work of taking back our country. Everyone and all sorts of stories and pictures are welcome. May we find joy and strength here.

I have no major story to tell this evening, nor do I have a theme for tonight.  My 11 year old son has been on school vacation this week and we've been taking each day as it comes.  

Got a Happy Story is a community gathering every Friday night where we share stories large and small that have put a smile on our face.  It is a time to acknowledge the joy and wonder we experience.  The Happy Story diary exists as a way to anchor the community in hope and comfort while we do the hard work of taking back our country. Everyone and all sorts of stories and pictures are welcome. May we find joy and strength here.

I was talking with Eddie C on the phone yesterday and he informed me that 4/13 is the one year anniversary our reign with this diary series.  While I haven't been with Happy Story since its inception, once I found the series I commented regularly.  My first Happy Story comment was February 2006 and it was about my son.

spelling homework (4.00 / 6)
My nine year old had to write a sentence for each spelling word. The sentence he came up with for dishonest? "Richard Nixon told lies and was dishonest in 1974."

Got a Happy Story is a community gathering every Friday night where we share stories large and small that have put a smile on our face.  It is a time to acknowledge the joy and wonder we experience.  The Happy Story diary exists as a way to anchor the community in hope and comfort while we do the hard work of taking back our country. Everyone and all sorts of stories and pictures are welcome. May we find joy and strength here.

March is Social Work month and it seems only fitting that I recognize that in some way.  I struggled to figure out what I wanted to do when I grew up.  It took me 8 years of college courses at night, switching majors regularly, before I earned my degree.  Even then, four months into a new job at a Boston teaching hospital, I still wasn’t sure about a profession.  That was almost 20 years ago and I had no idea that the fluke of a job I’d landed would grow into a career.

WYFP is our community's Saturday evening gathering to talk about our problems, empathize with one another, and share advice, pootie pictures, favorite adult beverages, and anything else that we think might help. Everyone and all sorts of troubles are welcome. May we find peace and healing here. Won't you please share the joy of WYFP by recommending?

Tomorrow I'll be getting together with my family and will once again be faced with the ghost of who I used to be.  While I have no problem accepting that there are no "do overs" in life, I wish that my family could accept that as well.  It's one thing for me to cringe at my old behavior, but it's something entirely different when my family continues to treat me as though I was still behaving in the same way.  It sets up this bizarre dance where I spend time with everyone but my siblings while they scour my every word and action for evidence that I'm the same person I was at age 6 or 16.  They always emerge victorious and I feel like crap.

Got a Happy Story is a community gathering every Friday night where we share stories large and small that have put a smile on our face.  It is a time to acknowledge the joy and wonder we experience.  The Happy Story diary exists as a way to anchor the community in hope and comfort while we do the hard work of taking back our country. Everyone and all sorts of stories and pictures are welcome. May we find joy and strength here.

I've had a bit of a busy week so this will be a few odds and ends added together.  In my house if this diary were a recipe it would be known as "emptying the fridge," with the leftovers going into soup or casserole or sauced over pasta.

I'd intended to do a lovely little piece on the patron saint of Ireland but thought that might be better saved for Street Prophets.  So I'll pass along a few tidbits about St. Pádraig, share a few of my favorite holiday traditions, and cap it off with an Irish toast and blessing.

Got a Happy Story is a community gathering every Friday night where we share stories large and small that have put a smile on our face.  It is a time to acknowledge the joy and wonder we experience.  The Happy Story diary exists as a way to anchor the community in hope and comfort while we do the hard work of taking back our country. Everyone and all sorts of stories and pictures are welcome. May we find joy and strength here.

One weekend a few years ago my brother sat my son down with his two boys and they watched Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.  I didn't care for the show but my son really latched on to it.  Thus began "movie night" at our house.  We started watching the show every Sunday night, either snuggled up on the couch or in bed.  About 6 months ago my husband started joining us for Extreme Makeover.

Got a Happy Story is a community gathering every Friday night where we share stories large and small that have put a smile on our face.  It is a time to acknowledge the joy and wonder we experience.  The Happy Story diary exists as a way to anchor the community in hope and comfort while we do the hard work of taking back our country. Everyone and all sorts of stories and pictures are welcome. May we find joy and strength here.

Here in the Northeast we are accustomed to school vacations in February.  In Massachusetts, February vacation has just begun.  New Hampshire claims the following week.  I was surprised to hear from a friend years ago that no such vacation existed in the Beltway area or in the South.

Teachers have always said that February vacation is the most important,  that the children would be animals without it.  I remember my childhood Februaries and I distinctly recall feeling irritable and listless in February and March.  The vacation week seemed to help since we spent much of it outdoors sledding and skating.  Usually, we also had, what was for us, a big deal event--typically the Ice Capades at Boston Garden.  When I was a teen I'd go skiing with friends for the day.

Got a Happy Story is a community gathering every Friday night where we share stories large and small that have put a smile on our face.  It is a time to acknowledge the joy and wonder we experience.  The Happy Story diary exists as a way to anchor the community in hope and comfort while we do the hard work of taking back our country. Everyone and all sorts of stories and pictures are welcome. May we find joy and strength here.

This has not been an easy week for me on almost any front in my life.  I wish that so many things were different--familial, personal, societal etc.  But being part of a community or communities is how I keep on keeping on.  There have been times in my life when I was completely alone dealing with health issues, political issues, family issues, professional issues etc.  I don't allow that to happen any longer.  I surround myself with people who understand where I'm coming from, usually from personal experience.

I had some political disappointments this week but I know that as my sig line used to say, "For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, and the dream shall never die."

WYFP is our community's Saturday evening gathering to talk about our problems, empathize with one another, and share advice, pootie pictures, favorite adult beverages, and anything else that we think might help. Everyone and all sorts of troubles are welcome. May we find peace and healing here. Won't you please share the joy of WYFP by recommending?

I think timing is getting to me.  I'm approaching a sobriety anniversary this coming week and my son is the same age that I was when I picked up my first drink.

It is hard to imagine that age the age of 11 one's life could take such a rapid turn that everything once possible is erased.  And yet that was what happened to me; although it took me quite a while to see that.

I come from a long line of alcoholism on my maternal and paternal sides of both of my parents--alcoholism raised to the 4th power.  My parents drank socially and had hoped to leave their childhoods behind.  Their children foiled that plan.

The very first time that I attended a political protest it was accidental.  I was in first grade and my parents brought the 5 kids to the State House in Concord, New Hampshire.  We joined up with my father's 8 brothers and sisters, and all of my cousins, to attend a ceremony for my grandmother who was being awarded Mother of the Year.

While we were waiting, there was a sit in taking place with a group of college kids.  They were singing songs so I zipped over and sat down with them.  I remember singing Woody Guthrie's anthem This Land is Your Land.  I remember that they were kind to me and that my aunts and uncles were appalled.  I remember that my parents were fine with it.

I don't play an instrument and can't carry a tune to save my life but I have always loved political songs.  They have gotten me through bleak times and inspired me to keep hoping.  I have a long list of the songs I love and I'll bet that you do also.