6 THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY

I was tagged by Amy to list 6 things that make me happy.

1. My kids make me happy, not when they are arguing with each other, but when they are listening and being will behaved.


2. The joy of running, it is hard to believe that 18 months ago I began with a morning 5 minute walk, and now I will go out for a strong 2 hour run through the desert.


3. Having a secure job, there are so many people out there that are stressing over layoffs, etc. I am glad to have been in my job for over 10 years and have a union contract that spells out how layoffs would occur and I am way down the list.


4. My over all health has never been better than it is now. I may have had less body fat on me when I was in the military, but I have never been so fit in my life.


5. Rediscovering God this year.


6. My ever special and carrying wife. I do not know what I would do without her by my side, in good times and bad times. She has been there to hold me up and to support me when I have fallen.

Thanks Amy for the Tag.
I will now Tag Chad, Julie, Java Mom, and Pat

Post Thanksgiving reflection.
Wednesday after work, I drove my son and I up to the in-laws house in Kingman, AZ. Lori and the rest of the family went up on Tuesday, so they got a longer weekend than I did. The ride was pretty un-eventful, dark, long, two lane road.
Thanksgiving day, while the food was cooking, I ended up chopping down a couple of LARGE trees, without falling it on the house or solar panels. Then, I had to cut the branches off and haul them off to the landfill. With the useful wood, I cut and stacked it for next years fires. Turkey dinner was good, a little blan for me, but I was limited to 500 calories for the meal. (One serving of Turkey white meat is about 200 calories).
Friday, I had my father-in-law put me in the bucket on the tractor and picked pecans for most of the morning and then husked them which left my hands black. They still are and now only looks like I changed the motor on an old car. The stains which penetrates several layers of skin takes several weeks to wear off. We also used the tractor to remove the stumps from the trees that I cut down.
Saturday, I ended up climbing up the windmill and oiling the motor, and repairing a couple of the blades. We then finished harvesting the remainder of the pecans and got more stains on my hands.
Sunday, I got up and went for a nice two hour run. There are lots of trails by my in-laws live and since I did not have a water bottle, I limited my self to two hours. I was able to pull 10 miles and 1500 feet elevation change up and down. The trails were some of the most scenic trails that I have ever been on and they are just right there from my in-laws house. Afterwards, we headed to the cabin in the Haulipai mountains to pick up some stuff we left over the summer. As we were pulling out and locking the gate to the cabin, there were about 6 deer, and I rolled down my window and had Kimberly unbuckle and she climbed on my lap. One of the deer came to the window and she handed the deer an apple. After the deer ate the apple, she came back and kissed Kimberly's hand. I tossed a couple of apples to some of the baby deers that were no taller than 2 feet tall. After watching them for some time we drove home.

On the weight loss front,