What makes you happy?

lol re: waking up next to my wife every morning (and in the middle of most nights), and when she gets home from work

jeez david you sleep a lot! lol

Ok, what floats my boat huh?

Watching my son beat me at chess 47 times in a row! Sheesh, I used to be able to whup his butt but he learned fast!

Taking the kayak out on a nice river run. A little whitewater action then floating through the flatwater watching the birds along the bank and listening to the water talk.

Pulling into a secluded landing area around sunset, pitching a tent and watching the sun set, Of course, this is muuuch nicer with good company.

Hanging with my friends over a nice barbeque pit or maybe a campfire, looove campfires, and just chatting. Someone starts pickin a guitar maybe. That brings back memories of childhood when my dad would always play by the campfire when we went camping. 'Down in the Valley', 'Thinking Tonight of My Blue-eyes', you know, the old country ballads. It's the only kind of country music I like.

Holidays with my family. I don't get to see them much since I moved waaay out here to TX but we make up for lost time when we do get together. Watching my son and my sisters kids bonds again like they saw each other last week instead of 6 months ago.

Curling up on the couch with a good book. I love sci-fi, mysteries, thrillers, you name it.

I used to love waking my sweetie up in the morning...

Maybe some day. It sure made the day start out nice though.

Snuggles

Hugs from behind, those sneak up on you kind, for no reason except to say I love you. Those are the best, yeah. sigh. Ok, enough of this. Maybe some day. I do miss that though. You guys are very lucky, cherish it.

leave it to you to misinterpret something for a laugh ;-D or to point out a flaw in my writing!!

Coffee. Especially when it is ready by the time I get up.

What makes me happy:

Waking up in the morning whether my wife has left for work or not. A lot of people my age are already on the other side of the grass. I am grateful to them for dying because that means the statistical probability is that I won't.

Creative cooking - now that I am retired and my wife is still working, I cook dinner every night. My recipes are all simple and delicious.

Reading the morning paper cover-to-cover, something I never had the luxury of doing when I was working.

My Keurig Coffee Maker hissing out a cup of Gloria Jean's Chocolate Almond Coffee. Adding filtered water to the tank to give the coffee just an added touch of flavor.

Brewing a second cup of coffee when I care to. The second cup is Hazelnut which is my second favorite.

Reading a novel or work of nonfiction for an hour after breakfast and not having to look at the clock.

Browsing TBD and creating posts that range from practical to hysterical. Getting feedback from people who I respect and admire.

Deleting all the garbage on e-mail.

Getting an e-mail from my granddaughter whose life is so full of wonders that I sometimes can't believe it.

Googling my granddaughter and seeing a four digit total of hits - rather awesome for a 14 year old and reading the newspaper reviews and magazine articles.

The only not happy part is reading some of the perv blogs about her that already are using words that scare me, like hottie, foxy, and words to the effect that they lust for her. This replaces the words of yesteryear, cute, adorable, amazing, talented and the ubiquitous 'little drummer girl.' The new words are scary.

Watching my son and granddaughter do a promo on Stars on Demand and seeing the camera capture my granddaughter's beauty and my son's talent for creating new music.

Having time to taste food instead of shoveling it down between work activities.

Seeing my wife come home from work smiling because her employers finally are showing appreciation for her in all the important ways - money, recognition, money ...

Planning for the future. 'Supposin' about where we will live after my wife retires in a couple of years. Right now beautiful and charming Seattle heads the list. We lived there for a number of years many years ago and it was the highlight of our lives. Just thinking about getting out of monochromatic Mt Laurel brings a smile to me.

Relaxing because everything is going smoothly.

Living at peace with ourselves because everything we care most about worked out well.

Seeing our little family (all we have is a son and granddaughter) become acclaimed in their field of endeavor and knowing we raised them right when they do not fall into the trap of many in their industry. Of the three choices - sex, drugs and rock and roll, they keep the first one at home, the second out of their lives and as for the third, they live what they play in their music. As a trained musician myself, it is beautiful to see. Its all about the music - creating it and performing it.

Writing and occasionally getting material accepted for publication. Writing is most important of the two at this point.

Enjoying the new business I started. Low work, decent return on the investment. Creating the little touches that separate me from the masses in what I'm doing.

Knowing that I earned the respect of the people who count in my life.

Knowing that I earn the respect of people who were strangers yesterday but are not so today.

Seeing people I know through my son and have developed a relationship with succeeding at the impossible task of surviving in the entertainment industry. The latest is Kimya Dawson who is a close family friend whose amazing music leads the soundtrack of the wonderful movie, Juno. Kimmy used to spend hours discussing life with Rachel on ten thousand mile tours around the country they took together in a 1983 Chevy Suburban. They are both troupers and have paid their dues and now Kim has hit the jackpot. Makes me smile all over!

Tomorrow, I'm going to NYC to see my granddaughter in a piece of theater in which she is starring and her many friends are working free to make the show a success. I can't sleep because I am so excited about it. The show is a new take on the old kiddie shows and the audience of little kids are absolutely enchanted by the show she has constructed. The adults are enchanted by the idea of a kid who can take old bedsheets and make scenery and get their kids to eat fresh veggies while watching a puppet show put on by East Village performing genius Reverend Jen who wears her pixie ears even on the subway. Other performers play elves, clowns and lord knows what she will add when someone new is in town and she asks if they want to participate. No one ever says no to Rachel.

Am I happy? Boy, I guess!

And I haven't even mentioned Original Dove Bars which are, to me, what catnip is to a cat or a brier patch is to Br'er Rabbit.

Having just another ordinary miracle day and what ever it brings.......

musician's have a saying: "YO"-an exclamation of excellence, exhortation etc.

An aging musician friend of mine, Gene Cipriano, whenever asked what's up he would reply "YO". Gene has been doing this for more than 50 years.

Now when asked what's up? He replies"

"I woke up, saw the ceiling...."YO"