I shared the best thing from my week the other day (spoiler: it’s you!) and wanted to share where that came from: the podcast, It’s Been a Minute, with Sam Sanders. It’s a fun interview/pop culture show; and at the end of every episode, they play a couple of minutes of voicemails from listeners who tell Sam the best thing that happened to them that week. These brief tales range from the mundane to the extraordinary; they are sweet, funny, amazing, and touching, and I always wind up with tears in my eyes at the end.
Last week’s “Best of” starts at at 35:24, and this bit is introduced as always by Sam’s adorable Aunt Betty*. And why not just listen to the whole show featuring the hilarious Sarah Cooper?? She’s the comedian who you have probably seen recently lip-synching some orange moron. Cooper just got a Netflix special, so she’s making the interview rounds.
The “Best of” bit on that podcast is one of the highlights of my weekends. Lately I’ve taken to sharing it with my mother when I take groceries up to during quarantine. We both get teared up most weeks. I even instituted a “Best of” moment in my weekly family zoom calls. It warms my heart to hear what far-away family members have to share, and I hope everyone likes looking back at their week for the positives.
So let’s put a little positivity into all of our lives today—we sure need it. Please share the best thing that happened to YOU in the past week in the comments. It can be big or little, but it should be something that made you smile.
(*For the bakers among us, check out the recipe for Aunt Betty’s Pound Cake.)
A little boy at work, who I don’t know very well, shouted “HEY! I LIKE YOUR HEAD!” at me as I walked by. He then added “LIKE THE WHOLE THING” in case I didn’t get the message. Not entirely sure what he meant, but he was in a great mood, so then I was as well.
That’s both hilarious and adorable.
This is IMMENSELY cute and I love it.
Little kids are so weird.
truly! sometimes I get statements like the ones above, other times I get “I am going to bite off your hands and drink all your blood!” or “I am going to shrink you down to rabbit size so I can marry you and we can live in a cage!”
I love it.
Omg, I love this.
My mother, a retired librarian, shared this cute story a long time ago. She was helping a very young girl look up her mother’s library card so she could check out a book. The girl’s last name was very common, Brown or Smith or something, so she could not figure out which card to check it out to. Mom asked the girl what her mother’s name was.
“Mommy,” was the reply.
So Mom tried again and asked the girl what her father called her mother.
The answer?
“Tiger.”
😄🐯❤️
One of the things I’ve been doing for years to manage my depression is noting things that make me happy as they happen, so I have a whole bunch of “best things.” I’ll just focus on three that have happened today.
1. I messaged with one of my favorite authors and while I would not claim her as a friend, I enjoy that I can have friendly interactions with her online.
2. I just ate a delicious curried chicken salad sandwich using the lovely challah bread I made a couple of days ago. You can see the prebaked and baked loaves on my Instagram @rochellefiguringitout
3. My bff and I are messaging about what we can make for dinner tonight that reflects both hopefulness and fear. I am making individual pizzas for the house, because we all like different things. Pizza is one of my love languages because I tailor it to each person individually, but also carbs help me deal with the anxiety acid in my stomach.
that sandwich sounds absolutely DIVINE
It was really good.
Which author?
Olivia Dade.
Oh, sweet! She seems awesome.
My husband, AKA Aquillius, and I have been together for six years as of yesterday, and our relationship was strengthened rather than stressed by lockdown together. 🙂
I also just baked some darn tasty pumpkin cupcakes for my Danish class, so I’m Hong to pat myself on the back for that.
Ahem… Going to! Autocorrect fail.
Both of those are very good things!
wooo! happy anniversary!
Danish class sounds fun! I mean, not sure if you’re learning how to speak Danish or learning how to bake them, but either way!
Haha, I am learning how to speak Danish 🙂 2 years now and the final exam in a couple weeks. I would definitely be interested in a Danish-baking class too, though…
And thanks, all! <3
before the autocorrect note, I just assumed you were throwing in some Danish! looks like I need Danish class
Det er mega fedt – hvis du mangler nogen at øve med, så er jeg frisk! Bor du i Danmark?
Tak, Tillie! Du er sød. 🙂 Ja, jeg bor i Aarhus–min mand er dansker, og vi flyttede her to år siden. Jeg kan rigtigt godt lide at bo her, selvom det er svært at få arbejde som højuddannet udlænding, der arbejder ikke i IT. Men jeg er især glad for at jeg er ikke i USA, hvor jeg kommer fra, eller Storbritannien, hvor jeg boede før, lige nu…!!
Ha, jeg har boet i Aarhus i 9 år og nu tænker jeg straks om vi mon kender nogle fælles mennesker, selvom Aarhus nok ikke er helt så lille. Bor der desværre ikke mere – så hils byen fra mig <3
Aarhus er sikke en dejlig by! Jeg kan rigtigt godt lide at bo her, selvom jeg vil hellere flytte lidt udenfor centrum. Desværre kender jeg ikke mange dansker her, bare nogle arkæologer/historikere fra mit/min mands arbejde, fordi jeg er udlænding og min mand kommer fra København (og boede 7 år i Storbritannien).
Wait – are you learning the language Danish or learning to make danish pastries? Either way I’m intrigued haha
One of my best friends just moved back to my city after three years, so now she’s 30 mins away instead of four hours. Also, I made a killer gluten free pumpkin bread on Sunday, and I hung up a fancy mirror in my entryway all by myself, using like hooks and levels and shit. It was heavy and I wanted to do it right!
That’s amazing! Most of my friends are so far flung. i desperately wish for a star trek style transporter
Transporters! Yes, except when I think about how you are literally replaced by an exact copy of yourself every time you are transported and sometimes you are transported to two places and then there are two of you, and one of them has to be called Thomas now.
I mean, it hasn’t mattered as much since March since I go nowhere except work and see no one except for my boss, but it’s nice to know we could see each other if we wanted.
I have driveway visits with my local best friend. We sit outside, masked up and chat for a couple of hours. It does a lot for my sanity.
This sounds like an excellent idea. I don’t have a driveway but I do have a porch, with no furniture out there. I really need to get some.
I don’t know how I would survive *gestures wildly* all of this without those occasional visits.
cheers to all of these! I’m especially impressed by the mirror- can’t tell you how many nice (and heavy!) things that I have leaning against walls all over the house- it’s been four years, MAYBE I can fully move in!
So you know how sometimes when you buy things they give you all these hooks and things? Normally I just ignore those and do what I want, but I saved all of them and they came in handy!
Ohhhh, four years? That hurts us, precious. If we were roommates, all those leaning things would have been hung up by day two. Because of my OCD, whenever I move, I literally cannot rest or stop working until everything is in its new and proper place, including hanging pictures and stuff like that. I am literally compelled.
I don’t have any power tools, though, so those scary wall mounts for screws are a no go for me now because of the pandemic. I have a couple of friends who have power tools, so back when I would allow people inside my house I’d bribe them to come over and hang up stuff for me. I advise you to cultivate friends with power tools for the future. It is a good investment.
hahaha the power tools here are jumbled together with most of my other jumbled stuff in the basement!
I hesitated originally with a large frame that will hang over the bed, then I read a *true* horror story about someone injured when a picture in a hotel fell off the wall and hit them while sleeping, and now I’m calling it “casual” decor.
Ha! I have some small frames I plan on hanging above my bed but you’re making me want to rethink this plan . . . I think they would just fall behind the bed though.
LOL I think I’m just going to stick up my collection of bizarre goodwill album covers; nice and light
My husband and I made peanut butter blossoms which will either serve as celebration treats or comfort food. I also worked the polls this morning and EVERYONE was so nice, and every single person wore their mask.
Oh, and every time a first time voter came through, the whole place applauded.
All of that sounds lovely
That’s great!!!
Peanut butter blossoms are amazing, but your poll experience sounds even more so!
My roommate is gone so I have our apartment to myself. I also finished two books this week meaning I’m only one book from my annual goal for reading.
Ok, so, I haven’t been alone for more than a few hours since February. I miss it so much. I hope you are luxuriating in the lack of another human.
excellent!
Wooohoooo! on both fronts.
I can’t imagine being stuck with roommates right now. Pretty glad I live alone, although it has exacerbated my tendencies to hermit up.
Due to a recent health scare, waking up at home and not the hospital is a small but also big deal right now. Plus, (it actually happened last week) my 16-year-old nephew called Grandpa (my dad) to ask for the small wooden tops (I had gotten free at my work) that he & Grandma (my mom) used to play with. As he didn’t have anything of hers. (It was sweet!)
And love seeing everyone’s amazing events!
I am really glad you are waking up at home.
glad you’re ok!!!!!
Waking up in the hospital sounds very sucky. Glad you don’t have to do it anymore!
Despite rising Covid-numbers in Oslo (and about a third of my class being in quarantine because their football (the correct name for soccer, people!) just tested positive), the teaching staff at my school have permission to go for a overnight stay at a spa hotel for a work seminar tomorrow. Again, we have to be split into three smaller groups, so we don’t get the normal awesome mingling we normally do at these seminars – but I’ll get to eat a fancy lunch and a delicious three-course dinner, as well as a hotel breakfast and lunch on Friday, none of which I have to cook myself – and I get to stay in a hotel room by myself, not having to wrestle with my toddler for up to an hour at bedtime.
I don’t care if I have to wear a mask for the bus ride to the hotel, or in the communal areas at the hotel (we don’t have to be masked when we’re working – as we’re divided into teams with the people we see every day at work), it’s just going to be nice to get away from everyday life for a little bit.
That sounds really fun!
Wow! That sounds amazing.
Damn, I am envious!
This is going to sound a bit dull, but after finally getting an appointment to extend my residence permit here in Spain (it took me four months to get), I learnt that I can re-do all my ‘padron’ papers mostly on-line, thus removing myself from this weird-arse legal limbo I was facing come the end of December.
Now, lets hope that we don’t go into another full lock down and I can actually attend that apointment…
That does not sound dull, that sounds like a huge relief. Speaking from personal experience, legal limbos are exhausting and stressful.
glad things are looking up for you!!!
I got to visit my dad. We live in different Australian states and COVID border restrictions stopped me visiting during a period when he was in and out of hospital and then went into aged care. So good to see him and see for myself that he is getting good care.
That’s great! I can imagine that it was a relief to see him and see the care he is getting.
Glad you finally got to see your Dad! I hope he’s ok—this isn’t one of the best times to be in and out of hospital. One of you wouldn’t happen to be in Vic, would you?
I’m very happy with the care he’s receiving and so is he, which is a relief.
He’s in Tas and I’m in Qld. So no serious COVID concerns but a tight Tas border till very recently.