Outbreaks of Happiness

Lately I've been noticing something strange.  I've started to call them "outbreaks of happiness" and they are happening more frequently.  The latest was today in church where I was sitting in a ray of sun and just felt happy to be in that place, at that time, sitting next to my husband.  Just an "it feels good to be alive" kind of feeling. 

Two things that make this a bit strange.  One is that there are some sad things happening in my life at the moment.  My parents' health is failing and I'm just wondering when the next crisis will hit.  I attended, just yesterday, the funeral of a woman at church who died young and left a 16-year-old daughter motherless.  And, most imminent, my 15-year old cat is dying.  If we're lucky, we'll have her with us just a few more weeks.  Still, there are outbreaks of happiness.

The other is that I haven't been what I would call unhappy. And yet, these outbreaks of happiness are quite a contrast to my usual dogged attempt to live a balanced life.  And I think I like it.

ON MY NEEDLES
I just cast on a pair of socks, needing some "plain vanilla" knitting to carry around with me.  I got through the ribbing while at Annual Church Meeting this morning (given I'm working on size 1 needles, that seems pretty good).  They are the LongJohn Socks by Ann Hanson, meant to mimic the waffle weave of long johns.  Pretty appropriate choice for the cold weather.

Still finishing up Nate's Christmas present, a vest. 

OFF THE NEEDLES
Hibernate is done!  All that is left to do is to block it and put buttons on it (when they arrive in the order I just placed with KnitPicks today).  I ripped back the 7" of seed stitch on the bottom and made set-in pockets instead of the on-seam pockets that were part of the pattern.  I rarely make big changes in patterns, so am rather proud of myself on this one.

Zeben's Christmas present vest is done -- drying on the blocking board.