Inspired by Marco and Tiffany Arment’s Top Four podcast, I thought I would list some things from this year that make me happy.
- Gas-powered leaf blower. It’s like a vacuum cleaner for the patio! In 6 minutes things look tip-top. So much better than the annoying corded one that finally died (good riddance).
- Sonos speakers in multiple rooms. It just feels so futuristic to have the music playing everywhere.
- Selling unwanted things on eBay. I’m at the point in life where I get rid of things, and things valued over $20 are worth your time to sell on eBay, especially with eBay’s postage calculation and printing service. A good pro tip is to not sell it at auction, but a set price – if it’s sitting in the drawer doing nothing, let it sit online, keep a few boxes on hand, and then print and ship away.
- Getting rid of stuff in general makes me happy. I like things, but, in the spirit of Kon Marie, only the the things that I really like. Anything else that I don’t like, don’t want, or is broken, I take to the charity shop or the trash can.
- Having an iPhone to quickly capture videos of the kids . It’s so magical to capture silly moments and events, and then to re-watch them later. What will it be like for my kids, who have all this material from their lives? In contrast, I have no such videos of my own childhood.
- Sitting by our firepit. We invested in a patio and firepit for our backyard, and we’ve used the heck out of it. It’s very peaceful to sit out there, or have friends over. Fires bring people together.
- The sink disposal in the kitchen. With a family and children, it’s so great to make the leftovers disappear. It’s like magic!
- Apple’s AirPods. I used to carry wired headphones, and I spent forever trying to untangle them. Apple’s headphones always pulled out of my ears, given time – I think the cord weighed and pulled them out. The AirPods solve all of those problems. They don’t get tangled, don’t get pulled out, and they work well with all my devices. Such a great invention.