Happiness is...

I looked up the "official" definition of the word "happiness" in the Webster dictionary: "a state of well-being and contentment: joy" also "a pleasurable or satisfying experience".

To me, happiness is:

- fun times with my family
- watching a movie with my girls
- spending alone time with Serge at the cottage
- discovering a new flower in the garden
- eating chocolate cake
- watching my two girls grow up
- a nice dinner with good friends
- being outside in winter when big snowflakes fall on my eye lids
- watching Hoffie do his tricks
- knowing Serge still loves me after all these years and loving him back
- spending time with my niece Gabrielle and nephew André
- getting a great pic by being at the right place at the right time
- making people around me happy
- thinking of my childhood with my mom
- sitting on a patio or on my deck...ah...summer
- laughing until you cry
- travelling...anywhere and as often as possible
- weekends and summer holidays
- making ketchup with my dad
- getting a good bargain
- mobility/health  
- planning a new home decor project
- dry roads
- eating homemade apple crisp with ice cream
- listening to Queen, Styx, any great music full blast with my headphones on
- cooking a nice meal with my daughter Véro
- a weekend in Montreal with my friend Fran
- reading a good book
- feeling appreciated at work, having great colleagues
- freedom post-hysterectomy
- a nice relaxing bubble bath
- technology (I can't live without it and don't want to ;)
- watching squirrels play in the backyard
- meeting up with childhood friends
- a hug from my dad
- being in the homestretch towards retirement
- loosing a few pounds
- eating Belgian chocolates (which prevents me from loosing a few pounds :)
- being called "mom" – should be one of the first on my list
- photoshopping and “playing” my pics
- decorating the house for Christmas and listening to Christmas music
- a phone call from my BFF
- reading a poem or story written by my daughter Geneviève
- watching babies be babies (Jeanne, Éliza, Luka, Rosalie and Tristan) because everything is a discovery to them
- laughing when doing the Christmas gift exchange with my in-laws (always fun)
- holding hands with Serge
- looking at nature, especially mountains and lakes/rivers/the ocean
- a clean and organized house (wishful thinking)
- exchanging with friends on Facebook
- spending the last 30 years with Serge
- being alive to turn 50

 ....and I could go on and on.

In retrospect, happiness is a mixture of everyday happenings; it’s the little things and rarely has anything to do with money. There is a certain measure of luck, but if you look beyond the bumps in the road...happiness is always waiting at the next turn.

 May your life be filled with the little things that fill your heart with happiness.