The 2025 Good Things Jar
On or around New Years Eve 2024 I read about a Good Things Jar. I dont remember where I read it, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Inspired, I decided that once a week I would make a note that recorded something good that happened that week and put it in a jar.
Accordingly, I took an empty pasta sauce jar and a pad of Post It notes and started my weekly note-taking endeavour.
My new years resolution began quite well as resolutions often do, and I more-or-less maintained it until early October when life, forgetfulness, laziness, and/or an absence of good things ceased my efforts.
Nevertheless, I have nine months of good things to report, and it pleases me to re-read them now. I have reduced some names to one or two letters, but otherwise here are my Good Things notes:
Jan 4/25. Ke & Ju visited. We enjoyed a good walk in Bowen Park. Ju cooked up a storm! Loads of lovely leftovers.
Jan 11/25. Had the bedroom and bathrooms repainted. Looks great! Much better than the old wallpaper.
Jan 18/25. Enjoyed a lovely week with Ja. We cooked, walked at Buttertubs, played gin rummy, started a puzzle, and I learned how to use a Gimbal stabilizer.
25 Jan 25. 2 fabulous sunsets. Walked in Bowen Park. Invited to lead a workshop for Volunteer Nanaimo. Went to fitness class.
1 Feb 25. Created 1st draft for Pr newsletter. Started Fitness Level 1. Started PowerPoint for crochet workshop. Sorted Gs artwork. Worked on puzzle.
Feb 8/25. Lots of snow! Sorted Gs artwork. Arranged for photos. Lunch with D and R. Went to fitness class. Drafted Pr newsletter. Met Australian tourists.
15 Feb 25. Took Gs books to photographer to make a digital record. Finished creating Pr newsletter on Publisher. Went to Pr GM and Mgmt meetings. Went to fitness class.
Feb 22/25. Walk at Hemer Park. 5.1 earthquake! Fabulous sunset.
29 Feb 25. Survived a horrible cold/flu. Crocuses bloomed. A Coopers Hawk perched on a tree by my patio and I got photos.
8 Mar 2025. Got an email from SJ! BCAA started my car.
15 March 25. Got the digitized images of Gs book from SF, photographer. Finally over the cold/flu. Went to fitness class. Walked to Pr meeting.
22 March 25. Walk at Neck Point and Lost Lake. Good dental checkup. Started UK passport application process. Went to fitness class. Prepared presentation on joining blanket squares.
29 March 25. Taught a class in joining blanket squares at Volunteer Nanaimo. Had 3 dental fillings. Went to fitness class. Mailed UK passport application.
12 April 25. Tax refund!! New fitness class. Eye exam new glasses ordered. Pr. Meeting summary. UK passport approved.
19 April 25. Toilet tank lid wobble fixed. Finished blanket for Volunteer Nanaimo. Went to fitness class. Played Bocce ball.
26 April 25. Voted in federal election. UK passport arrived. Saw early rhododendrons at Bower Park. Got a tax rebate! Original docs returned from UK. Removed old security system.
3 May 2025. Voted in fed election. Libs won. Got Covid booster. Lunch w D & R at Cuckoos in Coombs.
17 May 2025. Got a new dental crown. N & G visited. Donated blanket at Volunteer Nanaimo. Learned how to use a defibrillator. Northern Flicker in patio!
31 May 2025. Saw Island Soul Choir concert. Had blood test results as usual. Medic recommended stopping alendronate and multivitamin. Saw yachts leading to start of sailboat race.
7 June 2025. Got a good haircut. Started cat blanket.
14 June 2025. Heat pump serviced. Created bird bath. Received new note cards. Went to Pride parade.
21 June 2025. 22 rows of cat blanket. Created a multi-ball box for yarn. Renewed car insurance. Saw a Northern Flicker on patio. Hummingbirds came back. Rose bloomed.
28 Jun 2025. 1st set of Gs books arrived. Made a water fountain birdbath out of a plant pot.
5 July 2025. Nice long walks in town. Mailed gift to Ju. Made banana bread with cream cheese and zucchini muffins.
12 July 2025. Gs books! sent to sibs and kids. Gs artwork sent to Gi. 38C on patio!
19 July 2025. Very hot days. Bought Day Lilies. De-potted one dead plant and mystery shrub. Wrote about insomnia and social anxiety.
2 Aug 2025. Good haircut. Sent August e-cards. Put out raccoon spikes around patio.
9 August 2025. Email from Gr. Duke Thompson concert. Walked in Bower Park. Figured out how to keep Microsoft files and change email address.
16 Aug 2025. Signed up for fitness classes through to next spring. Created Pr newsletter. Went to Fringe play Between Trains.
23 Aug 2025. Found out why my eyes were too dry dehumidifier!
30 Aug 2025. Received Google watch. Got it going. way through cat Afghan.
6 Sept 2025, Cat Afghan done Wrote 5 blog posts. Drafted Sept Pr newsletter. Fertilized plants. Fixed outdoor temp glitch.
13 Sept 2025. Pr Mtgs. Wrote speaker summary. Wrote newsletter. Went to watercolour painting class. Went to fitness class. Had bone density test.
20 Sept 2025. CB visited. Doctor says I no longer have osteoporosis! The meds are working. Watercolour painting class is great. Got a good haircut.
4 Oct 2025. H came to clean out fireplace. Bought painting supplies at Iron Oxide.
The challenge of being intentional as a way to get the good things to resonate longer than the bad things. Expert recruiter on episode 10 of :The challenge of being intentional as a way to get the good things to resonate longer than the bad things. Expert recruiter on episode 10 of :
1. Husband had his glaucoma check today.
2. The NHS.
3. Fluffy dog who came for the ride, keeping her Dad happy. She enjoyed a trip to a coffee shop dressed in her rainwear (it was bucketing down with rain).
Yay! Some teenagers and their family out on a walk today, they ran with delight to my free book box on the curb and took home books!
Fabulous Stuff for you.My son got his flu vaccine yesterday. It was a nasal spray, so there was no pain at all, and it was actually quite fun for him. And we even managed to get to nursery afterwards.
It cost around 30, and part of it will be covered by our insurance.
today on the bus, a passenger who is entitled to half price tickets for a carer, on his disabled bys pass, paid the lady behind hims fare as he was travelling alone...
1. Used the hashtag here:
...so I guess I'd better share 2 further .
2. I completed a (ink and metallic gold pencil see attached image) for my friend's birthday. She was delighted.
3. I made two phone calls that I've been putting off (because they're PHONE CALLS) for 5 weeks and 1 week, respectively.
In a world full of people who no longer trust each other, sometimes a small thing happens that just makes everything better.
A week or so ago I asked for German sci-fi books for my middle kid, who is struggling with his German grammar.
He's dyslexic and loves reading *my scifi books* in English, to the detriment of his German.
I asked on the internet, and I got a lot of fantastic advice, including from who replied and said he had a whole series, and offered to send them.
So he did, and I happily paid for the postage as soon as he said he'd sent them.
The box arrived today! I had no doubt that they would, a random person who I did not know at all, said they would do something really nice, and I was sure it would be so.
Anyway thanks for the lovely offer, and I'm sure Theo will be delighted.
Please give this post a round of boosts because a nice thing happened and we don't hear enough about that.
rip to anyone attending this weekend in sydney in the 40c heat
Did I achieve everything I wanted to today
Hahahahahahahaha, nope.
I do have food in the fridge again, got a good deal on a couple of wearable blankets, watched the F1 stuff and finished wrapping the stuff for the childs advent bag/calendar.
To explain the advent bag. The child doesn't have anything on his Christmas wish list and he always finds Christmas day overwhelming being faced with a heap of presents. Since I couldn't get him one of the big expensive advent calendars this year, I suggested I make him one. Where he will get a random nonsense gift each day, he agreed. I'm glad I got it all wrapped up in time. It sounds a lot, but its a lot cheaper than I would have spent on his Christmas presents.
I also bought a small tree again this year, since I am feeling festive. Wonder how long until the cats swipe it from the table.
Tomorrow will be a crazy stitching day, I have a lot to get done, I need to be ready for Penguins Advent SAL starting on Monday. So as a gift to you all, I shall be very quiet tomorrow....maybe
My body is absolutely broken with all the chaos of the past few weeks, but mentally I am in a good place (mostly). Finding my focus, doing the self care thing and finding my Christmas spirit again is doing my head some good.
Time to shut up with the serious shit, I'm going to catch up on some other stuff before I go collapse in bed!
I need to sell my ticket to the festival on the 6th December. Bit of a discount if anyone is looking and please boost or pass on if you know anyone who might be interested
today
1. Found shear bolts for my snowthrower!
2. Practiced Christmas carols on my tuba this morning.
3. Have time to put my feet up and read my feed.
Well, that was a pleasant surprise. My UPS started blinking red (batteries not charging) and when I went to buy batteries at the local Batteries Plus (trying not to shop online, previous issues with crappy SLAs from the Bezos expo), the manager (without prompting) told the checker to give me commercial pricing on the batteries... half price!!
Local train, stopping everywhere to Leeds, has panels at the end of the carriages which periodically pop up a man signing the name of the next station!
Unimaginable not so long ago, a great thing to see.
Im not always waiting for an anvil to fall on my head by any stretch of the imagination Expert Recruiter on if bad things resonate longer than good things & why. Episode 10 :Im not always waiting for an anvil to fall on my head by any stretch of the imagination Expert Recruiter on if bad things resonate longer than good things & why. Episode 10 :
There are moments that jump out as Technology. Wow. moments. Saw one today. At a gate at the airport, a woman was having an animated conversation with a friend. In American Sign Language. Via FaceTime.
Paul Pope has long been a hero of mine. This is a great video profile of him, ahead of his new graphic novel, THB Vol 1, which went on sale Nov 11.
Out of nowhere, I suddenly figured out my old password to my / account, logged in and... deleted the account.
Gonna have to buy this one from just too damn good.
Okay, it sounds like the new Anno 117 was also received pretty positively. Not everything is going to shit in this world.
Plus, there's no stupid exclusivity deal this time around. So not only did Anno not go to shit, but something got better in fact.
And it's an Anno in the Roman era, which is a choice of time period I'm very happy with.
PalmSprings edition
1. The Pride night market this weekend. So joyful, so gay. Wonderful!!!
2. The no-kids La Maison hotel. What a gem.
3. The Moorten botanical garden full of cacti
Beb dormido y sano, da soleado y tranquilo, hemos comido un plato vegano en un asador donde hasta hace poco era impensable...
La vida tambin puede ser buena y amable
Flying in at exactly the right time. My first cup is about to be poured, its dark and cold still outside and both this and the brew will warm the morning.
I want to be in the 1% of people asking you to have a great day :catyes:
1. My sister's new rescue pup is starting to relax and discover his confidence a little
2. Morning cuppa in peace.
3. - encourages me to consider the good in my life, even on a rough day
17 year old NITRO on left, 6 year old SOBEK on the right. Both enjoying the heat lamp this .
In the middle between them are things i love: 3d printed fidget snake, smol frog (pencil topper) I keep in my bag as a good luck charm, a Mandalorian Grogu eraser my younger sister gifted me a birthday ago that i keep on my computers monitor desk
Why Recruiter would answer the question Do bad things resonate longer than good things differently in the 90s and 2000s than she does today. Episode 10 of :Why Recruiter would answer the question Do bad things resonate longer than good things differently in the 90s and 2000s than she does today. Episode 10 of :
3 good things
-its a rest training week so very relaxed.
- my MD was helpful with my eye stuff
- so many good books recently.
Let's start the day with a good thing:
I've got two days off to get rid of some overtime
This was entirely unplanned, I only realised I had too much overtime last Monday.
So In contrast to my normal SOP, I had too little time to gather a ToDo list as long as my elbow for the free days. Today's has a couple of cleaning tasks on it, and tomorrow's has "shopping" on it. And that's it for actual chores for an entire two days.
Crippling medical debt bought and forgiven. If you need evidence that great people exist, and are doing great things, here's a perfect example:
(the Typee edition)
1. Reread Typee, Melville's first novel, for the umpteenth time and loved it (again).
2. Had a fabulous class discussion of Typee.
3. Got to use throuple in class, as in Typee may be the first US novel to feature throuples (as in this is their form of matrimony). The class cracked up!
Being invited in not just to eat, but to be stuffed with absolutely delicious Filipino food when you're just dropping your son off at a birthday party, restores a bit of my faith in humanity.
Mircoles de mensajito positivo: Y cmo dijo Taylor Swift, lo bueno se siente ligero y siempre vale la pena abrazarlo.
A nice thing that happened yesterday is I was standing in my front garden admiring the sunset - which was like a banked fire, all dark grey clouds lit up bright orange-red underneath, with some fluffy clouds floating in front of it like smoke - when I guy walked past and said "nice work on the garden, I walk past it a lot and it's looking really good" and then I realised if I hadn't done all that work on it I wouldn't have such a nice view of the sunset because of the overgrown bushes.
I was able to get my covid shot today!
Recruiter discusses if bad things resonate longer than good things and they do, why, on episode 10 of :
My partner couldn't remember where she saw it but one of the best things I've heard about all week are cis het white peeps sticking a flag of Mexico on their car to specifically draw ICE attention and waste their time. My privileged friends in the US, this is your small but ferocious call to battle.
PS - If you have a link to the post please share!