John Stossel has an interesting article called Life is getting worse and other myths in which he lists his "top 10 list of foolish myths". John Stossel's take on "Money buys happiness".

A few of these myths have some truth behind them. For two or three billion people in the world trying to eke out a living on a dollar or two a day, money would buy some happiness. If you can't feed your family, money makes a big difference. But in America, research suggests that once your income reaches $50,000, more money won't make you happier. People say they'd be happier if they "just made 20 percent more," but "happiness researchers" tell me that such happiness quickly fades. A survey of 49 of the Forbes richest found they weren't any happier than the rest of us. One expert put it this way: "Even though no one can be blessedly happy without external goods" -- such as money and the things it can buy -- "we must not think that to be happy we will need many large goods." It was Aristotle who said that, and he was right.

But what I really like is his take on marriage and what you do with your life.

What does bring happiness? Marriage (not always, obviously, but on average, married people rate themselves happier than singles), deep friendships, belief in God, and purposeful work. Aristotle was right again: So long as you have the resources you need to take care of yourself and do good deeds, it's your own actions, and particularly the noble ones, that make you happy.

I can say that my marriage to Jane has definitely made my life happier. What do you believe?

On October 27^th of this year my car was broken into in front of my home. The thief left a beer bottle and took the leather jacket my wife gave to me as a Christmas present last year, my digital camera, iPod, Motorola Blue Tooth headset, and my check book. My check book contained a few checks, department store credit cards, health insurance cards and my Social Security card.

I called my credit union and put a stop payment on the checks but I had forgotten about the store credit cards. They charged a bunch of stuff at Robinsons-May including gift cards. Then they had Robinsons-May pay for the bill with an electronic check from my checking account. Robinsons-May has not been very helpful. I did get my card canceled but they did not return the funds to my checking account. I contacted my Credit Union who was very helpful and at least they are investigating the unauthorized transaction and the funds have been returned to my checking account.

We now park our cars in the driveway. Even in a nice neighborhood bad things can happen, so don't leave anything out in the open in your car as it may be too much for some people to ignore. When I was a child (not that long ago, I'm only 49), we never locked the doors to our home. Now it sometimes seems that we have to live in a fortress.

We've moved into our home and it is very nice. It cost a lot more than I thought with the termite damage and the additional plumbing to the guest room attached to the garage, but it was well worth it. I'm very happy with the result. We have a beautiful home that is warm and comfortable. We love having company and we're looking forward to the new year and all the changes it will bring.

As soon as I get another camera, I'll post some pictures.

May the Lord bless you and keep you and give you wisdom.