Now, Dutch researchers think they’ve verified why this is so and how a joke helps us — most of the time – laugh it off and turn our negative mood positive.

It’s not as obvious as you might think, says Madelijn Strick, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher at Radboud University in Nijmegen, Netherlands, and the lead author of the study, published in the journal Emotion.

“Most researchers would argue that humor counters negative emotions because of the positive emotions it elicits,” she tells WebMD in an email interview.

via Good Jokes Cure Bad Moods.

For almost all of my life I have hated fish.  This has to change because I know how important fish is to healthy living.  You don’t have to be a diet expert to know why you want to eat fish.  So for the love of all things healthy, I made Tilapia last night!  I can honestly say that I absolutely loved the fish.  It probably had something to do with the fact that I was totally hungry when the dinner was ready, but I still loved it!  All I did was cook this fish on the skillet and seasoned it with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper.  I used no oils or anything on the fish and I must say that it was awesome as well!  I might have even liked this better than the steak the previous meal.

On a side note, my son David (who is only 7) greeted me in the morning with a huge smile on his face.  He jumped up off the couch and gave me a big hug and said, “Daddy, you look great! You must have lost 175 pounds already!”  That was encouraging in two ways.  One, my son feeling the need to compliment me because he can feel the struggle I’m in to be healthy, and then for him to follow through and encourage me was fantastic.  Two, thank the Lord I don’t have 175 pounds to lose!

Click here to view the embedded video.

I still can not believe I had my boys participate in the Coney Island Boardwalk game called “Shoot the Freak”. Check out the video and watch my sons shoot at a live person with a paint gun. Maybe it’s just me, but something just does not feel right about letting your kids take aim at another human being and shoot!

Of course I still let them do it, so I’m not sure what that says about me but I’m sure you all can leave comments to let me know.

Click here to view the embedded video.

All we wanted to do was get from the Subway station at Bowling Green to the free Staten Island Ferry so we could see the Statue of Liberty.  As we headed across Battery Park we got held up by three guys as they began their show.  Their acrobats and dancing were incredible, but the finale was even better! That’s when the kids get involved, but you’ll have to check it out (if you don’t want to watch the whole thing, because they’re not you’re kids, just skip toward the end and you’ll see the final stunt):

I had to turn on the lights in our family room and get this shot of our daughter Reagan asleep on the couch with our dog, Fergie.  I am a bad dad for leaving my daughter on the couch, especially since my wife just repainted her room at our daughters request.  She said her room needed to be updated to reflect more of a “tween” theme!  Am I in trouble or what.

I thought you might enjoy this video footage of the actual attack:

{vidavee id=”16444″ w=”320″ }

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Don’t say we didn’t ever try to be funny

This is how you reach someone that isn’t interested in a boring church

Five minutes hadn’t gone by when my 9-year old daughter, Reagan, came prancing in to the kitchen where my wife was casually standing trying to admire her new hair color in the reflection of the refrigerator. Amy turned to face Reagan, to check out what she thought of the new hair color and Reagan stopped dead in her tracks. She didn’t say a word, which left time for the other two kids to come flying in to the kitchen. The boys rounded the corner and came to a sliding halt when they saw their mother, and her new hair color. All three kids just stood their trying to figure out who this strange woman was standing in their kitchen.

Amy broke the silence to ask what they all thought of her new hair color. I tried to caution the boys, but I was too late. They immediately started freaking out about Amy’s choice in hair color. But to my amazement, Reagan stood firmly in the center of the kitchen and pleaded for the boys to stop teasing mommy. She then said one of the most classic lines in Reagan’s young life, “Stop teasing mommy…she only did this for Halloween. She’ll change it back in a few days.”

I fell to the floor laughing. I couldn’t help myself. Thankfully, Amy laughed as well.

Amy’s hair is back to normal today…after her brief stint as Elvira’s hair backup.

Now that’s a Christmas song!