Every Friday is Celebration Friday here at HappySimple.

I believe in celebrating well and often.

As a society, we celebrate the big things, usually.  The weddings, the milestone anniversaries, the birthdays.  But there’s so much more!

Found your first wrinkle?  Head out for a night of dancing.

Didn’t get that promotion?  You, my friend, deserve a big steak dinner with your biggest fans and supporters.

It’s February?  Why do you think South was invented?

See what I mean?  Celebrate the inevitable!  It makes life way more fun.

And not just the big inevitables, either.  Every Monday morning, my husband and I get together for breakfast with friends (though lately, “we” has been more “I” since Alan has a job, poor man).  The occasion you ask?  Monday!  Breakfast! Friends!

You can bow down under the inevitable glitches and on-going wear and tear that life throws your way, or you can decide to CELEBRATE.  And that’s what I choose to do.  I hope you will as well.

On this page, I will be collecting all of my Celebration Friday posts, starting with the first blog I ever wrote.  It will likely take a really long time – I’m learning as I go, so I hope you will be patient with me and check back often!

From June 20, 2008

I went to the theatre last week, to see The Music Man.

Normally, I avoid musical theatre.  I feel about it the way some people feel about clowns – it scares me half to death.  I can’t help thinking, “What if real life were like this?”  You’d be afraid to start a conversation!

But a free ticket is a free ticket.  So I went.  And enjoyed it far more than I thought I would.  Having read the notes in the programme before it started, I paid extra attention to the music.  And found it clever.

The acting is wonderful and I really liked the sets – especially the little town on wheels that the characters move around themselves.

But this is Celebration Friday, and before I get too distracted by theatre reviews, I’ll tell you a little story.

Sitting next to me that night was an older couple.  He shook.  I think it was probably Parkinson’s.  And he’d had a tracheotomy.  Obviously, life has been difficult for them lately.  But they were out.  At a musical.  And every time the music started, he’d tap his hand in time.  Which I thought was cool.

And then came the big love song.  And in the darkened theatre, I saw her reach over and take his hand…

So this Friday, I’m celebrating love.  And its power to endure.  And the way that endurance can make me want to cry, just a little.

From June 27, 2008

We went to a party on Monday to celebrate, among other things, a dear friend’s decision to move to Canada fifty years ago.

And all I can say is, Whew!  I’m so glad she did!  Life would be considerably duller without Judith.

Which makes me think of all the choices, the little, unmarked decisions that have brought all the people I love into my life.  The decisions that allowed my life to be in the first place…

We sigh and moan a lot about The Road Not Taken.  The things we should have done, but didn’t, the adventures we could have had, but missed.

This weekend, I feel like celebrating Life As It Is, with all the wonderful family and friends who have dropped into it, some so very accidentally.

From July 4, 2008

You make your plans.  You take steps to implement them.  When it all comes together, it’s going to be great!  And then…

BOMBMAN

…NOTHING!  You just can’t move forward.  You are well and truly stuck.

We’ve all been there.  Some of us (ahem) are there right now.  It’s annoying.  Frustrating beyond belief.  But you can only scream and throw things for so long (trust me).

And then you just have to relax.  Let go of the plan and come up for air.  Look around, right where you are, in that tight little stuck place that you don’t want to be, and enjoy the scenery.

That’s what I’ll be doing this weekend.  Looking around me and enjoying the scenery, while I wait for the sheep to GET THE HELL OFF THE ROAD!!!!!!!!!

Hmmm… not quite there yet.  Perhaps a glass of wine would help.

How about you?