Legomania
i remember playing with Legos when i was a kid, but they weren't nearly as cool or complicated back then! Carter and i (and lots of other relatives!) have been building Lego stuff for days now and we're having a blast. technology has helped feed our addiction: a friend of ann's mentioned via facebook, that he'd bought Legos in bulk for his kids on Ebay. the next thing i know, we have several shipments of Legos coming to us from all over the country! Carter doesn't know about these yet. i'm trying to decide if we should stash them away for another occasion since he just got a lot of Legos. But then again, if we do that, we might forget where we've hidden them, or they might get stale or something! ;-)

12/26/08 spending time with my boys

most of my time with my littlest one is spent holding, feeding, changing, etc., but the littlest things are what i remember most…the tiniest smile, the look of wonder, the grabbing things with his iron claw hands! holding him during the Christmas Eve service was especially meaningful to me.

with my “big guy”, we’ve spent a lot of time lately building all kinds of Lego stuff. he’s really into that now and i’m amazed by the attention to detail he has. he studies the directions and notices every little change..even ones that i miss. last night we had fun working on his new Lego police station (with its nearly 1,000 pieces!)

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12/21/08 spending time with my boys

i changed two poopy diapers today (bonding happens in all kind of odd places)

looking back over the last entry, i find it interesting that as i sit down to write this one, it’s filled with all the same things as the last.

enjoy cuddling with my little guy (6 mos.) and watching him be intrigued with the smallest and to most people the least interesting things (he held a christmas card today turning it over in his hands and investigating it for half an hour, never tiring of its newness). love to see him smile and laugh.

my big guy adores the little one and takes great pleasure in entertaining him. today in the car, he was getting the little guy to laugh and getting tickled himself. lots of wonderful laughter.

we spent some time building lego stuff and watching Miracle on 34th Street (oddly, the first time i’ve ever seen it in all my forty plus years)

my five year old helped me change a flat tire today and made me smile thinking of the tire changing scene in A Christmas Story (it wasn’t as exciting as that scene, btw).

we read poems from Where the Sidewalk Ends….a frequent bedtime ritual.

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spending time with my boys 12/6/08

recent highlights (since i’ve done a poor job staying up to date!):

putting up and decorating the christmas tree with carter
laughing and playing with max
watching carter adore and entertain max
listening to max laugh at his big brother
playing made up games with carter
basketball practice with carter
building lego stuff with carter

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Pet Peeve #17 bait and switch -12/21/08

it drives me crazy when someone interrupts you for some reason and then somehow turns it around and makes you feel like you’re taking up THEIR time. the NERVE!

See more progress on: list 43 pet peeves and then try to forget about them

Pet Peeve #16 people who don't listen - 12/21/08

this includes people off in their own world, people who ask for help/directions/advice and then are too busy thinking about what THEIR answer would be to listen, people that have attention deficit disorders, people that are just dumb, and people that don’t get that listening is the most important skill you could have. if you can’t listen, you’re an idiot, but then again, you probably didn’t hear me.

See more progress on: list 43 pet peeves and then try to forget about them

#15 pet peeve: line cutters 12/6/08

ok, i know i’m an adult and this sounds awfully “elementary school”, but people who cut in line really piss me off! it doesn’t matter whether they intended to or whether they’re just too self absorbed to realize it, both of them irritate me. ok, now i’ll try to forget about how much this annoys me because i’m sure all the line cutters in my life combined probably only added 3 extra minutes of waiting in line!

See more progress on: list 43 pet peeves and then try to forget about them

12/22/08-12/26/08 happiness is...

26. a sleeping house
25. christmas with family
24. a beautiful christmas eve service with choir and strings
23. more christmas with family
22. not being at work!

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

12/19-21/08 happiness is...

watching my five year old make a basket during a scrimmage and watching him get so excited that he’s getting better and better at basketball

eating and visiting with friends

reading to my son

weather that actually feels like winter (at least for this part of the country….low tonight in the mid 20s)

playing games with my son (tonight we learned and played several games that were new to us (card and dice games) and it was fun to see my five year old get excited about learning new games and enjoy playing them.

managing with the two boys tonight while ann went out with some friends for dinner

a house so quiet that i can hear the refridgerator humming

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

12/12-18/08 happiness is...

12-18
dinner with friends
laughter and silliness
a helpful five year old
a smiling, laughing baby
reading together
a shrinking inbox
good coffee (Peet’s)
cold weather
the chance of snow

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12/11/08 happiness is...

unexpected compassion

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12/10/08 happiness is...

a biting winter wind (i know that sounds crazy, but if it’s going to be winter, then be WINTER! snow would be nice, but that’s a rare event in this part of the world)

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12/9/08 happiness is...

wassail, chili, and laughter

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12/8/08 happiness is...

my five year old deciding on his own that he wanted to clear the table after dinner and rinse off the dishes (and he was excited about it!)

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12/7/08a happiness is...

the choir that i direct did a really nice job today and it’s a joy to work with them.

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12/7/08 happiness is...

my roomba!

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12/6/08

knowing that even though i haven’t entered anything on this for more than a couple months, that i HAVE actually been happy through all that time! today i’m happy reconnecting with old friends.

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guilty pleasures #8

having a starbucks in walking distance from my office!

See more progress on: List 43 Guilty Pleasures

10/1 happiness is...

a shrinking inbox
my inbox and i have a love/hate relationship. it’s a wonderful tool, but also a stone around my neck. still working on inbox zero as an approach, but it’s hard to master the processing and also not resorting to constant checking in an effort to keep the floodgates at bay. recent pics of hurricane ike hitting the galveston seawall is exactly how i imagine my inbox and my attempts to keep it afloat.

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9/28-30: happiness is...

30 visiting friends we haven’t seen in a while
29 a smiling baby
28 palapa azul

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spending time with my boys

playing soccer with carter, reading books together, laughing with max and seeing him becoming more aware of what’s going on around him

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9/27/08 happiness is...

9/27 being with my family and making breakfast together
9/26 the crazy chaos of coaching kindergarten soccer
9/25 good company, good food
9/24 medieval music manuscripts and making music together
9/23 lunch with a friend at a place i hadn’t been in a while

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9/22/08 happiness is.... or why i hate mondays

so today i thought, “i’m not even writing a “happiness is” entry because besides mondays suck in general” and because my day started off with: dropping off Carter at school and realizing he left his backpack at home; dropping off Max at daycare and realizing i forgot to bring a check to pay for this week; getting gas and discovering that the auto shut-off…ummm…DOESN’T, as overpriced gas pours down the side of my car then splashes off the ground on to me; followed by realizing, once i made it to work and parked the car, that i forgot to leave Max’s bottles with him at daycare. UGGGH! HOWEVER, after a little bit of reflection (and maybe gas fume intoxication), i discovered the following. At least our home isn’t too far from Carter’s school, at least there’s a grace period on daycare payments, at least i have a car to drive and money to buy gas, at least i have a way to return to daycare and a handful more reasons to think about my kids during a busy day. and about mondays…at least i had an enjoyable weekend and made it to another week. that’s the beauty of this exercise….you can even find good things to ponder on a monday.

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9/21/08 happiness is...

church at the lake followed by catered BBQ lunch, seeing old friends, lots of people wanting to hold Max.

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

9/20/08 happiness is....

so i really love the idea of the “thing” on 43things.com of finding at least one thing each day that makes you happy and record it everyday for a year. looks like the last time i made an entry was over a month ago though. that sounds like i’ve been unhappy lately, but it’s not that at all. it’s just been so crazy busy that i haven’t had time to do it. i do think it’s important and when done daily, is a good practice of looking for the good in things and the good in each day. it should only take two seconds to do, and i’m on the computer what seems like most of the day, so why can’t i be successful at this goal? i’m not sure, but like i’ve said before, at least no one is grading this! (i think???) so here’s to a new start.

things that make me happy right now—-
my wonderful wife and wonderful sons
the sleeping baby next to me
that ann is actually getting to sleep in right now
visits from family this week
carter’s curiosity and watching him process what he encounters
that i’m going to work on a habitat for humanity build this afternoon

may you find the little things that make you happy and ponder them for just a minute…maybe you’ll begin the practice of finding at least one thing each day and recording it too.

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Sha's Photo Mosaic
























My friend Ellen pointed me to this fun diversion. See below for more details on how to join in on the fun.

Type your answer to each of the questions below into a Flickr search. Using only the first page of results, choose your favorite image, then copy and paste each of the URLs into the mosaic maker (3 columns, 4 rows). Let me know what you come up with!

The questions:

1. What is your first name? (Sha)
2. What is your favorite food? (Panang curry)
3. What high school did you attend? (John Marshall, San Antonio...and yes, sadly someone posted a photo of those horrid band uniforms!)
4. What is your favorite color? (eggplant...so this isn't really eggplant the color, but a cool photo OF an eggplant the vegetable!)
5. Who is your celebrity crush? (Ashley Judd)
6. Favorite drink? (coffee)
7. Dream vacation? (Scotland)
8. Favorite dessert? (creme brule)
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? (astronaut)
10. What do you love most in life? (family)
11. One word to describe you. (introspective)
12. Your Flickr name. (sha_towers)

8/11-13/08 happiness is...

the whole family in the same room (sometimes!) :-)
random nuggets of wisdom from my five year old
cooing baby
just a tiny hint, maybe for only a few minutes, of cooler weather (it won’t last, but it was nice!)
watching Ann and Max sleep

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

8/13/08 spending time with my guys

tonight Carter and i watched some olympics together, played wii, and then he helped me give Max a bath.

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8/10/08 spending time with my guys

sitting outside with baby Max watching him quietly look around in wonder at everything…soaking it all in. also watching him fall asleep in my arms.

playing ninja turtles with Carter and baking coffee cup cakes (they were actually gross, but a lot of fun to watch growing up out of the mug like those snake fireworks!) also enjoyed reading books to him before bed.

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8/10/08 happiness is...

rearranging furniture
making dinner together
visit from friends
getting to watch a movie together (rare occurrence with a 5 y.o. and a 2 month old!)

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

dissecting a macbook

today i disassembled the spacebar on ann's macbook because it was sticking. after i had it all apart, a local five year old confessed to spilling yogurt on it and not telling us because he didn't want us to be mad! after a handful of pieces (who knew a spacebar could be so complicated?) and lots of cleaning, it's back together and functioning as good as new. so i'm thinking about opening up a side business specializing in macbook spacebar repairs for yogurt-based offenses. don't worry, i'm not quitting my day job....yet.

8/8/08 spending time

so i guess i should title this spending time with carter and max now that i have two sons! though the time is pretty different, as one is five and one is two months!
the three of us are hanging out this morning while mom gets some much needed sleep. huh…just realized, all the guys are in the kitchen awake, and all the girls (including our two great danes) are asleep in the bedroom. not sure what gender the hermit crabs are, but they’re probably asleep too!)

See more progress on: spend time with my son each day

8/9/08 happiness is...

a pleasant saturday morning with my two little guys
a happy baby
good coffee

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

8/8/08 happiness is...

time with friends
a good night’s sleep
fridays (the day!)
discovering new music

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

so i was grocery shopping last night and i see Christi Proctor, designer on TLC's "Trading Spaces, slogging her cart around just like me (did you know people on tv actually buy groceries?). So i'm thinking, if she shops here, and she's famous, that must make the store a famous grocery store, and since i shop there, that must make me famous...by association, ya know.  (i bet she knows Kevin Bacon, too). :-)

43 guilty pleasures #7: staff meetings

ok, that sounds ridiculous, but my staff is a lot of fun and a super great bunch of people!

See more progress on: List 43 Guilty Pleasures

8/5-7/08 happiness is...

getting a lot done
learning new things
brainstorming
temps below 100

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

#13 pet peeve: vehicular pride

list 43 pet peeves and then try to forget about them:

this is related to pet peeve #12, but what drives people to be so excited about the brand of their vehicle that they put super dumb stickers on their car, for which the whole point is to argue that their make is better than another? prime example is that stupid Calvinesque character peeing on another automaker’s name or emblem. “here’s what i’m all about…telling everyone that [ford] is way cooler than [chevy]!” (MORON!!!) who cares about this??? and is that really the best you can do? is there NOTHING else you feel strongly about that you could stick all over your car i think even nascar stickers on your car is a step up from this.

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#12 pet peeve: redundant advertising

list 43 pet peeves and then try to forget about them:

why do some people feel the need to add stickers, etc. to their vehicle which tells you what kind of vehicle it is? “hey, i know there’s a chevy symbol on the back of my car/truck, but you know what would be really cool? if i put a gigantic chevy emblem decal in my rear window!”

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pet peeve #11 crabby people

i’m not talking about people who have crabby moments (we’re ALL in that group!), but people who are perpetually crabby and negative. for some it’s because of circumstances others might not know about or understand, but for some it’s just a nasty habit. they’ve become what they say and do. maybe when i encounter such people, they can serve as a reminder for me not to go down that road, or to appreciate people who spread happiness more.

See more progress on: list 43 pet peeves and then try to forget about them

8/4/08 spending time with carter

recently carter and i had a good time racing matchbox cars on the kind of track i remember from my childhood. still just as fun! we’ve also had fun recently building a lego rocketship, playing hulabaloo, wii, and watching a couple lightning storms.

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8/3/08 happiness is...

my family
beautiful words
watching a big lightning storm with ann and carter

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

cool representation of my del.icio.us
tag cloud, compliments of wordle.net:

8/1/08 happiness is...

great coworkers
payday!
favorite breakfast place
friday!
a shrinking to-do list

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

43 guilty pleasures #6: reality tv

new seasons of Big Brother AND Survivor! (it’s like CHRISTMAS!)

See more progress on: List 43 Guilty Pleasures

achieving inbox zero

this is another one of those things that helps remind me i’m human and prone to repeated failure! :-) i had another little breakthrough, thanks to the person who got me interested in GTD stuff. i was letting my inbox slip because it just created a monster task list that was now unmanageable. trying some things to fix that.

See more progress on: inbox zero

7/31/08 spending time with carter

though i have been spending time with carter, i haven’t been good about recording it here. it’s not like he’s reading this, but i find that reading back through it is helpful to me and helps remember little moments that might otherwise be forgotten.

last night we walked across the street to a field to kick the soccer ball around and it was fun to see little successes. he was so excited to be able to control the ball better. we also looked in amazement at these crazy deep cracks in the earth – big enough to break your leg in and wondered what kind of monsters might live in those cracks.

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7/31/08: happiness is...

the smile of a small child
being the only one awake in a quiet house
creative solutions
good thai food
making dinner together

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

happiness is...

it’s been a while since i’ve posted here and life’s been kind of a blur since then anyway! but one of the things that has made me happy since then has been the birth of my second son on 5/27. that and how excited and helpful his big brother has been about his arrival.

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pet peeve #10

list 43 pet peeves and then try to forget about them:

the new neighbors’ teenage son’s @&#@&#!@&# friends that just ruined the peaceful quiet neighborhood

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4/26/08-5/7/08 happiness is....

things that have made me happy in the last week, in no particular order, include (but aren’t limited to!):

the approaching end of the semester
audiobooks
a quick weekend getaway to our favorite bed and breakfast
carter’s excitement about his soon to arrive baby brother
letting carter name his baby brother!
plans for getting away this summer
uncontrollable laughter
accomplishing inbox zero
unexpected kindness
coffee break with a friend
curried lentils

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

5/6/08 spending time with carter

yesterday, carter’s t-ball game was rained out so we went to the park so he could ride his bike and we played soccer (despite the mud!).

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4/25/08 happiness is....

friday
starbucks
itunes
and watching carter play t-ball

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

4/7-11/08 happiness is...

no tornados
lightning storms far away
still no tornados
my new macbook pro!

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4/6/08 happiness is...

planting beautiful flowers and aromatic herbs.

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

4/5/08 happiness is...

sluething out some previously undiscovered ancestors in my genealogy work!

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pet peeve #9

list 43 pet peeves and then try to forget about them:

some neighbor who complained to the city about my dogs barking for an hour at midnight, when my dogs aren’t ever outside after midnight and are sound asleep by then!

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spending time with carter

it’s been so nice since the time changed so there’s actually sunlight and time to do stuff outside after everyone gets home from work and school. carter started t-ball this spring and we’ve been practicing a lot. he seems to love it and is getting really good. he’s also getting the hang of riding a bike and it’s such a joy to see his excitement about it.

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4/4/08 happiness is...

a floor-to-ceiling, third-floor window from which to watch the storm blowing in.

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

4/2/08 happiness is....

first of all, i can’t believe 7 weeks have flown by since i’ve posted anything here! the whole point was to find just one thing a day that makes me happy and record it. the good news is, it hasn’t been 7 weeks of unhappiness, just busyness. there’s been much to be happy of and i just haven’t made the time to reflect on it here (which is one thing that makes me UNhappy!) anway, just a few happy things from recent days:
1) carter’s (my 4.5 year old son) excitement at the first steps of riding a bike and seeing him pedal about 50 yards on his own and turning around to see how far he’s gone…and the huge smile on his face at the sight of his accomplishment.
2) carter’s excitement about playing t-ball.
3) uma (our 1 year old great dane) actually showing signs of growing up (and not being a complete goober and menace to our six year old dane, hilde.
4) and last but not least, carter, with hand on mom’s belly, feeling his little brother kicking carter in the hand and “shout whispering”: “i can feel him! i can feel him!”

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2/12/08 happiness is...

dinner with my family and being at home after a crazy busy day at work.

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

spending time with carter

the last couple of days we haven’t had a lot of time between when we all get home from school and work and fixing/eating dinner and getting a four year old ready for bed, but we’ve managed to eat dinner together and play some games. Carter’s current favorite is some made up game with Pokemon cards, sorta like battle. we’re still working on not being a sore loser and also being a gracious winner, but he’s making progress! :-)

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2/10/08 happiness is...

gorgeous weather, watching carter ride his bike and him learning to count by tens

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

2/9/08 happiness is...

meerkats, nice weather, otters, underwater slides, porcupines, and an eel

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

2/9/08 and 2/10/08 spending time with my son

saturday we went to the zoo and sunday we had a bike vs. dad race at the school down the road.

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2/8/08 spending time with my son

tonight Carter wanted to lie out on the driveway and watch for shooting stars. it was a beautiful, cool night with thousands of stars to see. he went us got us some blankets and pillows and now wants to sleep outside!

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2/8/08 happiness is...

lying out under the stars on a clear crisp night

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2/7/08 happiness is...

sharing a nearly 1000 year old manuscript with students and seeing their amazement and wonder

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2/6/08 happiness is...

a pot of freshly ground and brewed coffee waiting for me at the office (thanks, Stephen – you’re AWESOME!)

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

2/5/08 happiness is...

playing catch with my son
watching a cold front blow in
listening to a masterful writer reading a delightful excerpt from one of his books

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2/5/08 spending time with my son

yesterday we went out for an adventure, Carter riding his bike and me walking Hilde. we rode down to explore a new house that’s going up down the road that’s the same floor plan as ours. the day before that we had a rousing backyard game of teeball with the whole family. tonight we played catch on the stairs with a ball that Carter hand selected because it was soft and not too noisy!

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2/2/08-2/408 happiness is...

4. sharing memories
3. hospitality extended
2. unfettered laughter

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

2/1/08 spending time with my son

last night we played jacks (which i don’t think i’ve ever done before and it wasn’t all that successful, but who cares!) and we played several rounds of old maid. it was cute to see Carter’s pokerface when i knew he’d drawn the old maid card. maybe he’ll grow up to be a professional card shark ;-) he also wanted to help make dessert. he can be such a good helper (at times!). at bed time we read from a book of poems about animals, some that were cute and some that were convoluted (those were the ones by well known poets!). about one that Emily Dickenson had written about a snake, he wanted to know if that was a true story or not. interesting question when posed to a poem. he wanted to keep the book in bed with him as he often does with the books we read at bedtime. he was delighted to discover a couple poems we had missed (as we were skipping around in the book), one about ducks and one about “beasts and birds” that he’s already reserved a spot for in tonight’s reading time.

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2/1/08 happiness is...

my son getting up without a fuss
the rising sun glowing ever so slightly over the hill
Morten Lauridsen’s O Magnum Mysterium

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1/30/08 happiness is...

coffee in a ceramic mug
the album Zulu Jive
the innocence of a four year old excited by a penny…wanting to know who’s face that is, etc and who doesn’t seem bothered by the fact that a penny is monetarily worthless.

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1/26/08-1/30/08 happiness is...

26. sleeping in and having no agenda
27. exploring trails in a park
28. leaving work after a crazy day
29. shots to stop an allergic reaction
30. playing “tee ball” with my kid

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1/28/08 spending time with my son

i’ve been awful about posting stuff to this goal, though we have certainly been doing stuff! yesterday we went to an arboretum by our house and explored some trails and a creek then kicked around a soccerball for a while. the weather was perfect and the day was great.

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1/25/08 happiness is...

chocolate and peanut butter shakes
texas barbeque
fridays
the internet!

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1/24/08 happiness is....

fireplaces, embers glowing, and dancing flames

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

1/23/08 happiness is....

getting out the door on time this morning!
my son’s hippo-headed mittens

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

43 guilty pleasures: reality tv

new seasons of Big Brother AND Survivor! (it’s like CHRISTMAS!)

See more progress on: List 43 Guilty Pleasures

1/22/08 happiness is...

this morning my son (who’s 4) was excited that he thought to tuck his shirt in all by himself and that he beat me to the breakfast table! what a cute little guy!

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

1/21/08 happiness is...

eating breakfast at a greasy spoon coffee house with friends we haven’t seen in a while

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

1/20/08

sudoku and coffee
quiet afternoon
thomas newman’s music

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

1/4-1/19/08 happiness is....

4. a child’s excitement
5. homemade cookies
6. DVRs
7. short work weeks!
8. dinner with friends
9. staying home
10. working together with others to achieve a goal
11. seeing a friends photos
12. fireplaces
13. round tables
14. coffee with friends
15. another’s excitement over a new hobby
16. frost
17. rediscovered interests
18. quietness
19. time to do nothing

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

1/3/08

last night carter and i played “hullabaloo” together and had so much fun…non stop laughing. this morning, i thought he’d still be asleep when i was getting ready to go to work, but he woke up before i had to leave and we saw an amazing sunrise and got to eat breakfast together.

See more progress on: spend time with my son each day

1/3/08 happiness is....

seeing an amazing sunrise with my son this morning

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

1/2/08 happy things...

getting out from under a big deadline…finally completed the project
selling our house
moving into our new house

See more progress on: find at least one thing each day that makes me happy and record it everyday for a year

done!

just after figuring that our house wouldn’t have any more interest until the spring, we had a young couple that LOVED it, looked at it twice, showed their parents, made an offer and we closed in two weeks, just before christmas! we’re in our new place and chipping away at the mountains of boxes.

See more progress on: sell my house