10 Things That Make Me Happy

10 Things That Make Me Happy

I have just been tagged in the ’10 Things That Make Me Happy’ tag by Rosaleen. As I am new to the blogging world, I didn’t quite know what was involved. I thought I was just being ‘poked’ or being shown something I’d be interested in reading. Then I realised. I will have to DO SOMETHING.

So here goes. 10 Things that make me happy, in no specific order…

1. Being Tagged

This sounds daft, but it obviously means I am being noticed and haven’t just spent the last four weeks farting about on Twitter and WordPress for absolutely no reason. So that’s a big plus.

2. The Kids

An obvious one. I won’t put them at numbers 2, 3 and 4 because not only will it be lazy, it would also imply that I favour one over the other…

Since first becoming a dad in 2009, it’s impossible to imagine what my life would be like without them, or remember what my life was like before them. Lie ins? Spare time? What are they? It sounds like a gushy cliche but I feel like I am a better, albeit more tired, person for having them around.

3. Music

‘Do the Bartman’ was my first single when I was about eight. There, I said it. Since then my musical taste has improved (hopefully). As parents we are currently trying to ‘educate’ our kids to the value of music and playing a real instrument – something I genuinely fear is being lost with kids today.

Although I don’t get to go to as many concerts as I did before having kids, I always listen to music whenever I can. Check out one of my favourite bands and albums here.

4. Writing

I find writing as a way to both switch off from the real world and completely frustrate myself. I hate to think how many weeks of my life I’ve spent writing paragraphs that no one will ever read, but I guess it’s cheaper than therapy. Maybe this shouldn’t be on here after all…

Apparently some kids stories I’ve written in the past are available on Amazon though so it’s not all bad.

5. Using Excel to make my life easier

Geek alert. I use Excel a lot as part of my day job. If I can get a nested formula, pivot table or even some sort of conditional formatting to make my day go a little quicker, I generally feel awesome.

I haven’t managed to put Sonic the Hedgehog in excel like this guy though.

6. Watching son play football

He’s football mad and plays for one of the local under 7 teams. Not the best in the team better than most his age and he still chips in with some goals. It’s a great to see the excitement he finds in even scoring a simple tap in – and then watch the pre-planned goal celebrations (typically a knee skid or dab) that he’s obviously got from MOTD or FIFA 17.

7. Throwing things away

Having kids who become attached to all sorts of broken plastic crap make this one a lot harder to realise. However I love the feeling of cleaning out cupboards, throwing out the rubbish from under the sofa and taking bin bags to the tip (or for recycling).

8. Watching daughter learn something new

At nearly four years old she is discovering phonics and the alphabet. There’s something amazing about watching her learn new things and seeing her joy as it click in her mind. It is also great when she spots a random letter on a sign somewhere and shouts ‘Look! D for Daddy!”

9. The Flight of the Conchords

They are New Zealand’s fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo, composed of Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. I will never tire of listening to their music or watching the two series of their TV show.

10. Pepsi Max

Um. Yeah, really. No room for my wife on this list, or even my pets, but Pepsi sneaks in. Don’t judge me.

So…

That is it, my list of 10 things that make me happy is complete. I now pass the burden baton of responsibility to the following folk:

Ricecakesandraisins – at the time of writing, the last person to follow me on Twitter. Bet you’re happy about that right?

Imbecwebb – the first person to look at/comment on my own blog, for which I am grateful. I’m sure she has nothing else to do anyway.

Grounddadday – his twitter profile is a dinosaur. Which is cool.

Daddyisbest – I’m sending this stateside!