Reaganing

I hear bumps and shouts from upstairs, but it's all good. We actually have an upstairs now! I'm letting the children run ragged up there, playing and running, legos scattered everywhere, tickling fights being had. The eldest gets annoyed with the youngest, but they hash it out without tears and I sit down here listening to my Easter playlist and Reaganing.

It's a 30 Rock thing, and my husband resonated with it immediately. When Jack Donaghey is on a roll, gettin' stuff done, he calls it Reaganing. I don't particularly remember Reagan, or his Reaganing, but there really is a fantastic feeling that comes with accomplishing a laundry list of things.

This week has been another week of sorting through the startings of a brand new life. Trash bins and utilities and proof of insurance. Even when you make the calls and pay the bills, you still need proof of such things and you occasionally still have to run down the trash tuck with proof of payment so they'll take away your rubbish. The children were off school Thursday and Friday, so we took our wee three valentines to Dublin for the day. Not so much for fun, but for work. They needed some important government numbers and we hoped to make a day of it.

Now a disclaimer: many times I leave our new front stoop thinking I'll get something done and dusted in a half hour and can just pop in to a coffee shop or other such establishment to celebrate my success. This is often not the case, resulting in two or three such trips before one can technically call oneself done and dusted. Taking the wee three to Dublin on a weekday to wait in line at a government office seemed like one such event. So we played it loose and cool. We were rollin' with it, willing to wait for awhile, praying for patience, reminding ourselves of the adventure.

But lo and behold, manna from heaven! The queue was short, our number was quickly called, and as we gave the woman behind the glass our passports, she gave us a gift. Our children already had these Very Important Numbers! She wrote them down on a sticky note and sent us on our way, in 15 minutes or less.

Huzzah! Victory! This has been our most painless adventure, yet (and in stark contrast to the hard flat tire tuesday lesson), so we celebrated with lunch at a new favourite spot, a walk in the city, and the crowning glory of a playground.

So here's my lesson for the day/week/month: I write a lot about the regrets, the frustrations, the losses and the waiting. I don't often write about the victories, the proud moments, the wonder and the fun. They often go hand-in-hand. But I'm trying to celebrate more than mourn, rejoice more than complain, pursue more than languish, laugh more than cry.

And on the days we laugh, when the sun shines in Dublin for the first time in weeks, I want to remember it. On Valentine's Day 2013, we were Reaganing. Getting stuff done. And we celebrated.

Oh, and we got some groovy mid-century chairs at a thrift store, too. Bonus.

Tell me your latest victory...