Things to be Happy About: Part 2

When I first started this blog, I wrote an entry titled "Things to Be Happy About: Part 1."

The "Part 1" assumes a "Part 2." And I'm finally getting around to it. Kind of like George Lucas finally putting out the sequels 30 years after the originals.

The concept for this blog comes from the book titled 14,000 things to be happy about, by Barbara Ann Kipfer. Some of the items in the list are my own, and some of them are from the book, but they happen to make me happy too.

The smell of a good cup of coffee
The smell of unburned tobacco
Snow days
Jobs that allow for snow days
Warm clothes fresh out of the dryer on cold days
Getting all of your old photos scanned into your computer
Caramel Corn
New shoes
Strawberries from your own garden
Raspberries....regardless of the source
Eating sunflower seeds
Chili on a chilly autumn day
Free books
The time 12:34
The time 11:11
Campfires
Talking like Forest Gump to your wife, Jenny
Cheese sticks
Eating chicken skin (Yes, I said it. No, I don't regret it. Make your own list.)
Surprise love notes in your work bag
Good ventriloquists
A brilliant observation
Finally "getting it"
Getting the inside joke
Party pants
Watching our children succeed
Presidential breaking news announcing "We got him."
Suit coats
The National Register of Historic Places
Weird Al Yankovic videos
Stumbling across an old friend on Facebook
Doing a good deed
The color green
A new shirt
Famous friends
Dark chocolate frosting on graham crackers
Pillow talk
Wildly successful ebay sales
A great find at a garage sale
A new CD by your favorite band
Naps
Not setting your alarm
Daydreams
Learning something new from your child
Passing on a family tradition
Creating new traditions
Combination shampoo and body wash
Barstools
Ibanez guitars
Haircuts
A tin can full of change
Watching favorite childhood movies
New car smell
Rock concerts
Learning a new word
Peanut butter pie
Chocolate mousse pie
Pepperidge Farms chocolate layer cake
Free apps
Pooh-isms
Going home again
Good grade cards
Funny things kids say
Unexpected money
Overtime pay
Santa Claus
Twist cones
Playing catch
Monkey bread
Clean sheets
Leg lamps
Kraft Easy Cheese
Velveeta
Amish Baby Swiss
Old wavy windows
Potato skins
Deep dish stuffed crust, meat lovers, cheese lovers pizza
Thick sliced pepper bacon
A computer that boots in less than 2 minutes
Sunlight shining through the leaves in a woods
Calzones
Doing nothing
$400 worth of software obtained legally for $65
The feeling you get when you get a new book
That feeling you get when you first hear about a new book coming soon from your favorite author
That feeling you get when you first hear about a new album coming soon from your favorite band/artist
Monticello
Digging your elderly neighbor out on a snowy morning, especially when he/she doesn't know about it
Stumbling across deer in the woods
Brach's pink lozenge candies
Canon fire at Civil War reenactments
The back deck overlooking the mountain stream at your room at Zoder's Inn, Gatlinburg, Tenn.
Barbecue ribs with homemade barbecue sauce using a honey and brown sugar base
Cottage cheese
Popcorn
Breakfast for dinner
Water chestnuts wrapped in bacon and cooked in barbecue sauce

So there is my list of more things to be happy about. Will there be a Part 3? How many movies were in the Lord of the Rings trilogy? How many movies were in the Back to the Future trilogy. How many trilogies were in the Star Wars series? If I do it right, I'll return.

In the meantime, what makes you happy?