Fun Fridays: They aren't just for the Boy anymore...

I've been beating back a post-moving/new-area/hot-summer-hotter-than-the-Amazon-jungle-hotness Funk.

Some days I am more successful than others. And for the record, I generally accept the ebbs and flows of life, some days are just sad days. Some times I'm just melancholy. It's a part of life, and I think that those feelings should be embraced rather than feared.

But. I have my two men who are relying on me in very different ways right now. And as long as they need me, I will be beating back this recurring Funk. The Boy needs me to give him a sense of stability, and so I don't have the luxury to pull the covers over my head and wallow in my Funk. Chris needs to know that I'm here. That I'm ok. That I can hold our little home front together with my bare hands.

And I am and I can and I do.

So, since I don't have the luxury to pull the covers over my head and wallow, I have hit upon a lovely solution that doesn't involve eating copious amounts of chocolate.

On the off chance that I'm NOT the only one with this occasional issue and burden, I thought I'd share it with you.

I call it my Happy-Endings-a-thon.

Catchy title, I know.

Now, Chris would be the first to tell you that I have a lot of SAD books. A LOT. I specialized in Russian Literature, for crying out loud! They aren't known as HAPPY people. Chris would also be the first to tell you that I never met a SAD movie that I didn't like. And he would be right...I loooooooove stuff like that. Bittersweet is my favorite emotion.

Except when I'm in this kind of Funk. Then, the SAD--whether books or movies--pushes me right over the edge. So, I'm claiming this Friday as my very own Fun Friday and I'm bringing the Boy along for the ride. We're having a Happy-Endings-a-thon.

What is a Happy-Endings-a-thon, M, and how does one launch one? I'm so glad you asked!

A Happy-Endings-a-thon begins when you go through your books, your movies, your music and pick out only the ones with Happy Endings. And then you apply liberally, but ONLY the endings. Hence, you have to have read or seen everything before. You skip to the END, the denouement, the resolution, and you wallow in all the unreality of that rose-colored, golden-hued ending. You pull out a BBC or Masterpiece Theater like Middlemarch, Pride and Prejudice, Wives and Daughters, Our Mutual Friend and you SKIP to the END. You watch those final episodes, or even just the last two or three scenes. Slap that goofy, sappy grin ON your face and forget your troubles.

It works just as well with books. For example, pull out your copy of Persuasion--skip to the letter from Captain Wentworth (you KNOW what I'm talking about), pick it up there and read to the end. Or try the last 75 pages of Wives and Daughters. Or the last few chapters Bleak House. All happy endings, all guaranteed to, if not cheer you, at least hold the Funk at bay.

Now go forth and create your own Happy-Endings-a-thon. Share your recommendations in the comments sections--c'mon, spread the LOVE!