My Daily Dose of Happiness

 

-         Waking up and snoozing for another 10 minutes

-         Toast with butter, sugar and cheese

-         Checking email and receiving anything but none

-         Email-ful of photos from family and friends

-         Getting an offline message from YM

-         Text messages from friends back home

-         Finishing that last load of laundry

-         Finishing just any chore you’ve been putting off in your to-do list

-         Stefan singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars while pretending to wash hands (from the Potty Power DVD)

-         Stefan reading out anything numeric around the house, eg. microwave clock, calculator buttons, model code on the telephone shower, ml of his shampoo, telephone numbers in leaflets, prices in the IKEA catalogue, page numbers, etc.

-         Blogs that keep me entertained on boring days

-         Showbiz gossip as if I’m back home

-         Finishing a meal with Stefan

-         Having the last piece of chocnut and polvoron from Aunt Judith’s pasalubong

-         Stefan eating a whole peach

-         Stefan excited over his glass of milk

-         Taking Stefan out for a walk

-         Updated photos of my Friendster friends

-         Checking on Stefan to find him still napping, which means more “me” time

-         The sound of kids playing on the street

-         Rain pitter-pattering on the window

-         Phonecalls, except from telemarketers

-         Finding that last Thomas & Friends DVD at the library

-         Sherwin coming home from work

-         An excited Stefan to see his daddy

-         Daddy and son doing storytime

-         Stefan’s asleep which gives me and Sherwin our own personal time

-         Stefan sleeping through the night

-         Midnight snack of ice cream, chips or just green tea

-         Watching Friends reruns          

-         The highway/grassfield view outside the window

-         Aircraft noise, that I have become immune to, that makes me imagine a trip going home or a vacation

-         The tons of magazines that Harriet has lent me, she got from Phils

-         Self-help books that help me become a zen parent

-         Classical music or Enya that put me to sleep

-         Waking up to another day where greater happiness awaits        

 

The secret to finding eternal happiness, to me, is finding joy in the most simple things.