Where did the happy go?

i'm still sick, but a friend and I decided to make a pact and focus on what truly makes us happy, and follow those things through to the actually happy part... so that despite psychotwat bosses, despite icky adult obligations, despite our own fabricated roadblocks, we'd be pursuing something we can count on.

That begs the question though. What makes me happy. I unfortunately (and surprisingly) was kind of stumped when she asked. So I committed to her that I'd sleep on it and come up with some answers. I slept on a 2-day long headache however, so now i'm giving it it's just attention. Even if I start with what USED to make me happy, I figure it's a start...

So here goes...

My friend who I made this pact with makes me happy.
Book dates and any kind of hanging out with her, my oldest friend in the world.

Grey's Anatomy

Project Runway

Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood

Painting

Rearranging furniture

Organizing

Putting an "action plan" together

Making lists

Working on my planner/calendar (although this has been kind of frought with stress instead of being fun lately, perhaps because i'm not getting anything DONE that I put IN the plan)

Cooking

Life strategizing

Paper makes me happy: origami, wrapping, craft, construction, rice, it doesn't matter

Designing projects

Yoga. Power Vinyasa Yoga.

Designing my house, working on it's renovation and the future visual.

the word "potential"

Chick lit

Chick movies

Finding bargains

Buying clothes

I like the idea of treadmills.

waking up early, but energized

i like beer. and wine. and white russians. not all at once, not that that's never happened.

sex.

when the husband and I entertain each other and laugh and laugh til it hurts.

dive bars: beer and greasy burgers, too smokey to be healthy, a perfect jukebox, no sunlight to speak of.

natural sunlight in the kitchen

morning coffee

waking up naturally

girls night, girls weekend, girls anything.

gumbo night

trips to Santa Fe with my mom and sister

cheese enchiladas, sopaipillas, margaritas

shopping

pancakes with my mom

my memories of Paris, and the hope for the next trip

books. art books. big books, small books, any books, just lots of books.

holiday decorating

holiday baking

holiday cooking

planning and timing out a complete Thanksgiving feast and cooking for three days to accomplish it, even if it's for four people

dinner parties

MBA dinner club

school, continuing education, taking classes, buying class supplies, being a teacher's pet

organizing my office at work

looking at my art/craft supplies

researching/googling new things

my own version of IMDB.com six degrees of separation

celebrity photos, celebrity gossip

i'm addicted to internet news sites. not sure if it makes me happy or not, but I definitely get something out of it.

blogging this stuff

staying up late to watch movies, staying up so late it hurts

running errands, taking care of the mundane

when the husband takes care of himself the way i would

cheap (but safe) mani/pedis

puppies

fires during the winter

snow days

rainy rainy days inside

coffee late at night

cold weather

sweaters jeans and boots, dry hair, pink nose from the cold

going commando

the right bra

when i'm on the low end of my 10lb range

hot hooker shoes

sets and sets of makeup, different colors different types, train cases of it.

getting into a freshly made bed with clean sheets and freshly shaven legs

reading? does this make me happy? or do I just do it to unwind sometimes? or do I do it even to unwind or just because I started the book?

purses. purses make me extremely happy.

art directing fashion photo shoots. that's definitely the best part of my job.

the Grey's Anatomy Season 1 Soundtrack, I can listen to that over and over and over.

same with The Jayhawks Rainy Day Music

and The Old 97's Fight Songs

i like working in one room when the husband's in another room, and we're both doing our individual thing, and we meet up when it's time to go to bed

wandering around CVS trying new stuff

massive grocery shopping trips, and trips to Costco, NOT one-off trips to the store

Target. clothes, household supplies, maybe some new furniture. loves me some Tarzhay.

pressing cloves into an orange

movies with sets in European cities

Japanese screen prints

Is this a list of stuff I like? Or what makes me happy? Is the only stuff that makes me happy the "stuff" i'm listing?

I miss my almost paranormal connection to my best friend from college. it still peeks out once in a while, i can still read her mind when we're in the same room, we just aren't in the same room often enough anymore i guess.

going out to a nice dinner

i'm happy when i'm 'caught up' with the stuff i have to do and want to do, and i actually feel free to do whatever comes to me. this almost never happens.

compliments.

reading craft blogs.

flower arranging.

baking bread.

flannel pajama pants and a wife beater under a blanket on the couch.

picking at my face is satisfying. but doesn't make me happy. especially when i make it worse. that sucks.

christmas music. especially that song by The Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLachlan, what's that called... I could listen to it forever... it's a version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen...

twinkly lights all year round, especially entwined over an arbor, with wisteria, making something like a Tuscan or French beer garden

to be continued.