Days 16-20 GRATEFUL for lots 'o stuff

Yikes. How did the time get away from me? Let's play catch-up . . .

Day 16 - Grateful for a furnace that works
Day 17 - Grateful for the UPS guy, who never judges me
Day 18 - Grateful for a spontaneous lunch with friends
Day 19 - Grateful for the work ethic of my students

Which brings us to .. . Day 20, and I'm grateful for my cooking talents.

Working full time teaching, and then add 27 hours of working at my other job on the weekend, makes for a very tired me . . . so I'm not very blog-tastic at the moment . . .

Day 15 - GRATEFUL for a washing machine

I remember the days of lugging baskets of laundry to the laundromat. I liked to go on Sunday morning so I could use 3 or 4 machines at once. I always tried to take grading or other work to do - but it was still such an inconvenience. I'm SO grateful I have a washer and dryer right outside my bedroom. The laundry may pile up for a couple of weeks, but I can put in load after load while in my pajamas and get other stuff done around the house as well.

That's all . . . got to go put in another load . . .

Day 14 - GRATEFUL for DVR

Which I am getting caught up with this evening . . .

Days 12 & 13 - GRATEFUL for sleep & speeches

Friday was a loooooooong ass day. Worked at MR (a phone answering service) from 6am-2pm, then had the start of our forensics work weekend from 5-9pm. I was so grateful for the hour-long nap I squeezed in, well, I could have cried.


Today, I was incredibly grateful I got to sleep in. I had to be up at 7am, but that's an hour longer than I usually get to sleep! Listened to forensics kids all day, and I'm looking forward to getting to bed early so I can be up early again tomorrow.


Life is good when I can find the time to sleep . . . ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Days 10 & 11 - GRATEFUL for efficiency

Yesterday was such a busy day at work, but I was able to get a TON of grading done. I was so grateful for having the time to catch up!

Today I spent the evening getting my taxes done. Again - so grateful I had the time to do it!!!

Day 9 - GRATEFUL for my child-with-fur

This is Buffy. You might call her a dog. But you'd be wrong.

She is my child-with-fur, my PITA (pain-in-the-ass), my fur-baby. She likes to drink my coffee and chew on kleenex. She hates snow and loves napping in a puddle of sunlight. She hogs the bed and steals the covers. She hates being awakened from a nap. She'll lick the face off of anyone who will let her on their lap. She buries dog biscuits in the couch and dances in circles for a Pupperoni. She sometimes attacks the TV when she sees another dog on it. She has patiently let nieces and nephews pull her ears and chew on her tail. She is terrified of the linoleum floor in the kitchen and is happiest curled up next to me on the sofa. During my darkest days, I knew when I got home I could count on her to cuddle on my lap. For 12 years she has blessed me with her patience, trust and unconditional love.

She's not just a dog . . . and for that, I'm grateful.

Day 8 - GRATEFUL for inspiration

It's no secret that I really, really love my job. One reason is that I get to work with a very dear woman. K-Mo (her nickname) is one of the most organized, passionate, hard working, loyal, honest and beautiful women I know. She is an amazing wife and mother. She is unabashadly ethical. She is book-smart, street-smart and common-sense smart. She is funny as hell and has a laugh that invites you to join in.

K-Mo, I'm grateful to have you as a colleague and friend. You inspire me in ways I can't begin to articulate.

Day 7 - GRATEFUL for sunshine

After a week of gloomy, rainy days . . . the sun shone and it was 60 degrees. It's almost 7pm and it's still light outside. My mood jumped from content to HAPPY!!!

Day 6 - GRATEFUL for High Heels

I love wearing high heels. There is something incredibly powerful about being able to navigate the twists and turns of daily life while balancing on toothpick stilts. Pointy toed, wedged, platform, peep-toe. This seemingly bottom part of my wardrobe has the biggest influence on my mood. Heels can make me feel flirty or sexy or demanding, and the clip-clip-clipety clack of my heel on the pavement sets a beat to live by.

Why do I get such joy from the superficial gleam of patent leather pumps? Because they make me feel ALIVE. For years, I was simply too big to wear high heels. I once broke a pair of shoes because they couldn't hold me up. I shuffeled and wobbled when I walked, and the only job my feet had were to quickly get me through a crowd so no one could stare at me too long. There was a time in my life I only had slip-on shoes because I couldn't reach my feet. I couldn't tie a pair of laces or buckle a cute T-strap.

Then my body changed and a whole world of shoe possibilites opened up. My feet didn't mind standing. Or walking up and down steps. Or being noticed. My feet might hurt after 12 hours of 4 inch heels, but they have exciting tales to tell of the sidewalks, hallways, roads, hiking trails, county fairs, malls, college campuses, and farmer's markets where they have taken me. My feet don't have to help me hide anymore. My feet want to be noticed. I want to be noticed - from head to shoe.

(For Joel - who inspired this post - I think "The KJ Museum of Shoes and Handbags" is a GREAT idea!)

Day 5 - GRATEFUL for the weather

Because it may be raining, but at least it's not snowing.

Day 4 - GRATEFUL for Tulips

An amazing surprise . . . a bouquet of orange (my favorite color) tulips (my favorite flower) sitting on my desk when I got out of class.

Thanks again to my incredible forensics kids . . . I'm humbled and honored . . .

Day 4 - GRATEFUL for Orange Slices

Some days a traditional dinner won't do . . . and on those days, candied orange slices hit the spot. Orange slices happen to be one of my dad's favorite candies, so they always make me think of him.

(And in a continuation of yesterday's post, my forensic's team brought me lunch today. I was surprised, touched and felt very, very appreciated!)

Day 3 - GRATEFUL for my team

I returned to work today after being out of commission for nearly a week. I was a little woozy on the way there, wondering how I would survive back to back lectures and coaching the rest of the day. As I came down the hall to my office, I could see something was different. Covering my office door were signs proclaiming this "coach appreciation week"!

I coach the university's forensics team and these young men and women are some of the most intelligent, funny, hard working, dedicated and determined people I know. These students inspire me, frustrate me, challenge me and teach me something new every single day. Being able to watch them grow and mature in the 4 or 5 years they are "mine" is truely one of the most precious and treasured parts of my job. And if I am some small influence in that development, well, I am honored.

Day 2 - GRATEFUL for Kleenex

I've been sick for 5 days - according to the Doctor, I have bronchitis/pneumonia. I'm on steroids, antibiotic and cough syrup with oxycodone (!) in it. I thought I was feeling better yesterday, but crashed in the evening was up coughing all night, and had a spiked fever again this morning. When I'm sick, I just want my mommy. But she is 4 states away, so I have to make do with the dog. And the Kleenex.

If I didn't have Kleenex (and I'm talking name-brand Kleenex, not Puffs or cheap Walmart brands) I would have a sore nose and be even more whiney than I am now. So thank you, Kleenex, for wiping my snotty nose, sopping up my poor-pitiful-me tears and giving my dog something to play with/shred while I was semi-conscious for the last few days.

30 days of GRATEFUL

You know those annoying people who always find the GOOD. IN. SOMETHING.!?

Yea, I'm about to become one of those. Today starts 30 days of things I'm grateful for. I don't think I'll have a problem coming up with things I'm grateful for, but I may have a hard time posting every single day.

Today, I'm grateful for arts and crafts. I live in a 3BR 2BA house and it is FULL to the brim. I'm feeling hemmed in and after watching 8 Tivo'ed episodes of A&Es Hoarders, realized I may have a borderline issue . . . so I've decided I'm going to go all Feng Shui on my shit - starting with the Craft Room. Uh-huh . . . I have a whole room devoted to crafts. It's supposed to be a guest room. It has a bed, so it barely qualifies. Every other square inch holds remnants of the many, many, many craft phases I've gone through.

Tacky plastic canvas from the 1980's? Yep, still have patterns and samples. Doll Making from the 1990's? Still have a whole box of doll hair and doll eyes. Christmas ornament bead kits? Check. Cross stitch? Check. Flower Making? Check. Embroidery? Sewing crafts? Clothes sewing? Rug making? Crocheting? Jewelry Making? Card Making? Scrapbooking? Check. Check. Check. Check. Check. Check. Check. Check. Name the craft and I've probably gone through a phase with it.

And now I'm throwing it away. That's right. Trash. I can hear my mother in my ear telling me that I should Sell. It. At. A. Garage. Sale.! I don't want to. I want it gone. As I survey the 6 trash bags I've filled so far, I realize that this carnage of craft history tells a story that I don't know anymore. It's the story of a lonely woman who wanted to make people love her by making them things that would be worthy of their love. I don't think I could recognize that people would love me for who I am.

I am 44 years old and I don't feel compelled to glue and sew and rhinestone my life together anymore. Some days are sparkly as a sequin and some days are knotted up like tangled embroidery floss, but I see the value in both of those creative messes. I wouldn't be able to appreciate color if some days weren't sepia toned . . . and I'll appreciate the space of my guest room now that I've known the clutter of the craft room.