Current Top 10 Favorite Things

Okay, so I'm going to stop re-posting old things for now.  Here's what is currently making me happy.


10.  Sitting in My  Backyard - I like to sit in my pink plastic Adirondack chair in my backyard and watch the crows fly through the neighbors' yards. It's pretty cool to see them swoop from air to branch or just navigate their way through the trees.  Every once in a while I'll see a hawk do it, and that's triple cool, but the crows are pretty cool on their own. (don't tell GQ that I'm enjoying the crows.  She's convinced they're stalking her)

9. Marley - The newest addition to our family is proving to be quite a character. Whether he is jumping up on our bed while we're reading to the Girls, chasing his tail, or just chewing on one of his many toys (and an occasional Barbie) Marley is definitely keeping us entertained.

8. Victory Golden Monkey - A Belgian style beer that packs an impressive 9.5% avc into a 12 oz. bottle.  I've added it to my Gentlemint with the description, "It's the kind of beer that you drink during a long dinner with friends."  This bonus of course, is that you're basically getting 2 beers at one time - Economically Buzzworthy.

7. Shift Pale Lager - The folks at New Belgium Brewery (makers of Fat Tire and other good beers) recently released this new beer in not only a can (for pool consumption!!!) but also as a tall boy! 16 oz. of quality pale lager.

6. My iPad - I would have never gotten this on my own, but the principal at my school bought one for each of the teachers and paraprofessionals. I know, right?!? I have got to say, those people at Apple really know how to make the electronic crack.  This thing is a lot of fun and really handy in so many ways. I've got my Kindle books on there, games for the Girls to play, drawing apps, an app that lets me create and edit Word docs, and so much more.  It's ridiculous how much I am enjoying this.

5. Real Sugar in my Coffee - A while ago I switched to Splenda b/c I realized I was taking in too much sugar and it was making me kind of  grumpy.  I guess my body can't process it like it used to, and so I switched. I had switched to Coke Zero before this.  Not that Splenda wasn't good, but real sugar is just so much better. I'm watching my sugar intake because no one benefits from my over  indulgence.

4. Three Websites - The Art of Manliness - http://artofmanliness.com/, The Thing About Flying - http://thethingaboutflying.com/, and Casual Disagreement - http://casualdisagreement.com/. Each of these gives me regular entertaining, thought provoking articles to read on an almost daily basis.  I'm happy that I am actually going to some sites that aren't just pop-culture oriented (not that there's anything wrong with those. I still go on them too, they're just not on the top 10 right now).


3. The Popularity of The Avengers - Holy Record breaking Comic Book Super Hero Movie!!! American, and seemingly the world can't get enough of this movie.  I'm pretty sure that if all comic book movies were this good there might not be a need for many other types of movies - I'm looking at you, Nicholas Sparks fans.

2. My Madness Pandora Station - I have loved Madness since I first heard, "One Step Beyond" back when I was 10.  It was a bug that I caught and never shed. They make me happy in a way that music should make you happy.  The Pandora station has introduced me to songs of theirs I've never heard due to only being released in the UK as well as similar bands such as The Selectors and The Specials.  Madness is one of the only ones that is still around.  The English Beat is still touring, but it's just Dave Wakeling with a new group of musicians. Not to take anything away from them, because they put on a great show. I also get to hear The Toasters, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Aquabats, and more newer bands, as well as bands that influenced Madness like Toots Mayall and Desmond Dekker.

1. Summer Break - Hot diggity dog!  Two months off.  I know that a lot of us in our 40s and older like to think that we got all three months off for summer when we were kids, and it certainly felt like it, but I'm pretty sure it's very close to what kids (and teachers!!!!) are getting now. Of course, to some (GQ) it seems like 10 months of interrupted regularly scheduled days, to those of us that get it off, it's pretty freaking awesome.  Any teacher that tells you that summer break isn't one of the reasons they are in our profession is a liar; plain and simple. BTW, no picture can do summer break justice.


Well, that's what's making me happy right now.  GQ & The Girls aren't on this list because they're beyond List Worthy.  They make it all worthwhile.



Go check out some of these things and see if they make you happy too.  Happy Summer!