10 things that make me happy

So much of the time, things that make us happy seem to get pushed to one side while we deal with the up's and down's of life in general. it's not often you get chance to stop and think about what does actually make you happy. The lovely Diney has once again tagged me, but this time to list the 10 things that make me happy, and I'm more than happy (haha) to take time out and think happy thoughts and share them with you.

These are in no particular order or preference, they're just as I think them. Some might be a bit corny or obvious, but they are things that make me happy.

1. Isabelle. She is my 4 year old little ray of sunshine. I love all my kids very much, but I had Eve when I was not quite 17 and Russ 5 years later. They are now 24 and 19 and pretty much independent. Having another child after a 15 year gap aged 37 is a shock, but you have a completely different outlook on life and bringing kids up. It's far more relaxed. Isabelle is an intelligent little girl and is always smiling and laughing and coming out with some mad theory or other. She brings a lot of happiness to my life. She's got me through some pretty rough times in her short 4 year life span and knows what to do to make me smile again.

2. Mark saying I love you. I know that someone saying I love you makes pretty much anyone happy, but the thing is my hubby very rarely says it. It's not that he doesn't love me, I'm just supposed to know. That's the type of person he is. It was hard to deal with to start with because I'm a very touchy feely person and have no problems saying I love you to anyone I love. Mark was brought up very differently from me and you just didn't show your emotions. I am supposed to know that he loves me because he's still here. It might sound odd to someone who doesn't have a hubby like that, but when he does say it, it, he means it.

3. Getting the photo that I pictured in my mind and it coming out well. My camera is my outlet, and photography is the one thing that is mine and purely mine. No one can take it away from me. It's my way of expressing myself and pacifying the creative part of me. And the feeling of getting 'the shot' can almost reduce me to tears sometimes. Crazy maybe, but that's how I feel about it.

4. My camera club. Bit of an odd one this, but it's linked to my photography and this time on a Monday night is really the only time I actually get to be me, talk about something that is very important to me and share it with others who feel the same way. This is my time out off duty. I have no one else to think about during this time, no jobs to be done.. nothing.. I can be me.. I'm not someone's mum or someone's wife.. I am myself. This couple of hours on a monday night is my sanity time.

5. Getting into a nice clean bed. You know, when you've washed the bedding, it's been hung out and dried in the sunshine then put back on the bed because it smells so much fresher than the one that's been washed and stored in the cupboard as a spare.

6. Monday Morning. As much as I love my family, after the chaos of the weekend with eveyrone milling around making a noise and a mess, the bliss that is coming back from dropping Isabelle at school and everyone else is at work is wonderful. Walking into the house to silence and grabbing a coffee is, well..just ahhhhhh.

7. Watching a huge summer thunderstorm from inside the house standing at wide open patio doors. The smell, the sound, the atmosphere - just love it.

8. Pay Day. I'm not a materialistic person at all, but my other half is. No matter how I work the finances out and no matter how much I think we have for the month, half way through we never have any money. I always have to stretch the money out at the end of the month, so payday is a lovely day to reach each month.

9. Waking up to find my body is working as it should. This might seem a bit of an odd one, but as I have Fibromyalgia my muscles and joints don't always work as they should, particularly my back and hips. Some days it's so bad I have to hold myself up to walk (stubborn git won't use a walking stick unless I REALLY have to), so to get up knowing that my body is functioning quite well is great.

10. Bit of a silly one this, but knowing that people read my blog and sometimes leave comments. I sit here typing whatever drivel is in my head at the time and needs letting out. Sometimes it's the only way I can deal with things, by typing them up and getting them out of my system, but for someone to leave a comment and say they know where I'm coming from, or tell me that I'm not actually completely bonkers, is really nice.

So there you have it. Not as easy as I thought really. First off I didn't know where to start, and then all sorts started tumbling around in my head. Thanks Diney, I enjoyed that and have a lot to be happy about :)

I don't know very many people in the blog world, but if you want to be tagged, then please feel free to make your happy post.. although I am definately going to tag CG.. c'mon Julie.. lets see what makes you happy.