August is National Happiness Happens Month, sponsored by the Secret Society of Happy People. Yeah, it sounds a little weird, but it's truly an innocent undertaking by a group of cheery folks, and I decided to follow their lead and spread a little happiness myself.

So I sent Bubby maracas. Not generic maracas like the ones I have (and love to shake around the patio, freaking out the dogs) as their long handles would surely poke out either his or his dog's eye at some point. No, what I found Bubby were educational maracas, with a "counting" mode and a "music" mode. It's the music mode I was most interested in though, as counting normally does nothing for me and I don't think recitation of numbers puts much of a smile on Bubby's face at this point either.

So I shipped the Happiness Happens gift to Bubby in hopes he'd smile ... and be happy.

At first he was not quite sure what to do with the oversized rattles.