Little Things That Make Me Happy

Thunderstorms.

My Chuck Taylor Converse sneakers & my Birkenstocks.

Shopping for new music at the iTunes store.

When I get on the Amazon.com website and it has recommendations for things that I might like based on my past purchases and browsing history.

Bookstores--even the generic Barnes & Noble stores.

Owning a car that starts every time I put the key in it and the air-conditioning works--this hasn't always been the case for me.

Reading the comics in the paper.

Having ring tones of the Ramones, Pearl Jam and Social Distortion.

Checking the blogs of Diner patrons at some point during the day.

All the construction in our community--lets me know times must be good, even if it makes traffic worsen.

When an idea our staff plans works out like we wanted, like our "poetry burn" at Roads Coffee House last night (frequent patron Shelia S. told me about some club in NYC that features an open-mike type event where you read old love notes, journal entries, poetry/art attempts, etc. and instead of wallowing in it, you make them light-hearted entertainment for the masses! We stole the idea and we had a big crowd, funny notes & entries and it's been a long time since I've laughed/winced that much in 45 minutes. High school girls still have notes they got in middle school, where bad poetry laced with too many adverbs sound a LOT worse than they did at the time.)

When my family is under one roof and spontaneous funny things happen, like last night.

Guy red-meat nights, where my Bible study guys get together and grill red meat, and have brats for dessert.

Chock Full O' Nuts coffee--it just reminds me of New York, which is one of my favorite places to visit.

Pulling the knob out that starts the dishwasher, or putting the lawnmower up and taking off the mow shoes.

Oscar Night.

My terra cotta warriors that guard our fireplace.

My wife's photography studio and my daughter's dance/painting studio.

Ice that comes, crushed or cubed, right out of my refrigerator door. Water, too.

My grill, that even has a burner on the side for pots or griddles.

Spur-of-the-moment purchases of ice cream.

The sound of a baseball hitting a wooden bat or popping into a glove, especially when done by professionals.

Hearing from former students who don't even realize that by my observing their conversations, they're letting me know they've grown in Christ.

Sorry for all that...I'm just trying to play my way out of the slump...