All things considered...

So, on my 51st birthday, I...

was awakened at 1:30 AM by an insistent Great Dane with diarrhea
and again at 4:20 AM
oh, and at 6:30 too
then I went to work where I
got to order toner for the copier
officiated at the funeral of our color laser printer
observed the demise of my pc's hard drive
and bounced emails all over the planet
coming home
I got to help clean up the schnauzer's throw up
and do it again
and then the Dane rained
again

so I take stock

wife - awesome
sons - great
family - supportive
home and hearth - intact and in the same place they were before Ivan
work - meaningful - eternally so

and I remember that I'm here because my Mother put her grief away in favor of love...

and I end the day certain that Somebody up there likes me.