I am a hopeless crochet addict these days.  I average over 4 skeins (balls) of yarn a week.  I have crochet hooks and yarn stashed around the house and in the car, just in case I have a few extra minutes on my hands.

I am convinced that having a crafty or creative outlet is part of what all women need to maintain our sanity and our sense of self.

If you’ve been following me for long, you probably remember that crochet helped pulled me out of the deep pit of depression and start me on my journey to becoming ThisHappyMom.  It even helped save me the day I felted my hair.  But I haven’t always felt that way.

I’d like you to meet my Happy Family at This Happy Mom.

Imagine that they’re all standing over my shoulder waiving at you as I type this post.  Look, they’re waiving!  Wave back.

Family, meet my amazing reader.

Reader, meet my amazing family.

They say “hi” and then wander off.

I talk about them all the time, but I realized I’d never actually formally introduced my family.  Sorry about that.  Now that you’ve been formally introduced.  Let me tell you a little bit about each of them.

How I became This Happy Mom, part four.  So far, I’ve told you how God drug me out of my pit, about the disco Christmas tree, about snow angels and laughter and silly pranks on my contractor.  I shared with you about my obsession with crochet as therapy.

After our Christmas trip, we returned to the same hotel we were using as home base during our remodel.  It was pretty ironic when, in the first week of January, the hotel began a major remodel project.  New flooring, new kitchen countertops, new appliances, new furniture… pretty much the works.  That would have been great at my home, but not what I wanted at the hotel.   We were at least on the top floor, so I could finally keep the curtains open during the day.  It felt like a tree-house.  I coped.

until…

This is the third installment of my journey to become “This Happy Mom.”  So far I’ve figured out that happiness is (for me) a choice.  I’ve figured out how laughter and family help my find my happy place.

In the last installment, I was curled up watching Christmas classic movies and finally filled with contentment.  My husband and I had shared a good laugh (at our contractor’s expense) at the way I’d “decorated” our home during the remodel.  The little Charlie Brown Christmas tree was sooooo perfect perched atop a carpenter’s sawhorse.

When my family was around, I managed to find some level of happiness.  The noise and energy of my boys kept me distracted enough to forget all my worries.  But when the hotel room was empty, it was hard.  By 9 in the morning, I had finished every scrap of housework I could do in a hotel room.  Once dinner was in the crockpot (and lunches were packed for the next day) I was at a loss.

When you’re stuck in a hotel room because your house is messed up, don’t watch House Hunters.  Spending all day watching other people move into nice houses is not helpful. Trust me on this.

This is the second post covering the story of how I became “This Happy Mom.”

Last time, I told you the story of God speaking to me in a big narrator voice (not exactly) and how we ended up with a disco Christmas tree.

After God called my attention to all those contentious woman verses in Proverbs (and I was done pouting) I made up my mind to be happy (or at least fake it).  

This is part 1 of my story of how I became “This Happy Mom.”  It’s too long for a single post, so I thought I’d share my story in installments.

I can point to the calendar and tell you the day I decided to become “This Happy Mom.”

It was Monday, December 5th 2011.  It was not a good day.