Okay, I’d be a total asshole if I didn’t write the obvious – I’m unable to articulate how truly grateful I am for my awesome family and friends, a few of whom I’ll be spending the evening with, and a few more with whom we’ll be throwin’ down a fiesta on Saturday. My tribe is my greatest treasure.
But my idea was to write up a semi-silly list of things I’m grateful, since I am an easily-amused person who really does get a big kick out of little things.
1. I’m thankful that Joel is so industrious and ingenious. Soon, I will be posting photos of the fabulous closet remodel he’s done in the bedroom. Thanks to his handiwork, we’re going to have a proper linen cupboard, and the layout of the closet-closet is going to be twice as usable as it originally was. Handy hands, smart brains, and a drive to “make it happen.” What a guy!
2. I’m thankful for Facebook, without which I couldn’t talk so much crap with so many people, so far away…and keep up with the neighborhood news from back home. Plus, I FINALLY get to see regular, new pictures from my sister of her adorable family.
3. I’m thankful that my hair is finally long enough to put in a real, non-angry-chicken-butt ponytail.
4. I’m thankful that Griswald didn’t turn out to be that terribly lost the other night when he escaped. I really do adore that horrible little varmint and would be pretty heartbroken if he got hit by a car, eviscerated by a neighbor dog, or just plain lost.
5. I’m thankful to have a job, even if I have to work on holidays. Like today. In a few hours.
6. I’m thankful for the vagaries of the weather, without which my daily commutes would probably be a lot less interesting
7. Pursuant to item 6., I’m also thankful for Thinsulate lined boots, ’cause sometimes the whim of the weather is to be fuckoff cold.
8. I’m going to get all earnest again and say that I’m thankful for my health. My job puts me in contact with a lot of people whose mobility is affected by their health, and they have to rely on a sometimes highly faulty network of people to do many of the things that I nearly take for granted; going to the store, the library, a friend’s house. I am so grateful for my good fortune that I am hale and spry and can just hop on a bike and go wherever I need to go, without waiting for a bus, a cab, a relative, a caregiver to tote me around, not finding myself stranded because I missed a ride, not having to continually negotiate such a basic necessity as transportation. I have gained a whole new sympathy and understanding for people who need assistance to do what they need and want to do, and I sometimes feel a bit guilty for my nearly obscene good fortune.
There are many other things for which I am thankful, I’m sure, but my brain isn’t working so well this morning. I try not to take things for granted, but since I am human, I do sometimes. I kind of hate the term “mindfulness,” but I guess the fact is that I do kind of try to live and behave deliberately, as twee as that sounds. To enjoy life, and all that schmackarooni.