Gratitudes 2018, Day 19

I’m writing this on my laptop today, so putting a blog post together can be a lot faster. To celebrate, this is going to be a deluxe version of Gratitudes: I’m gonna try to break stuff down into smaller details instead of just describing five big things. (I may end up duplicating some I’ve already written this way and I may end up reusing some in the future, we’ll see what happens.)

I was at work this afternoon (having a job, Questar Assessments, my mad proofreading skillz) when my cell phone rang (my cell phone, electricity, magical beams of energy that transfer sound waves from someone’s mouth into my ear across vast distances). I didn’t recognize the number, so I didn’t answer (caller ID, voicemail, being able to turn off the phone’s ringer). When I checked the message, it was from Michael’s, the art and craft supplies store (Michael’s, crafts, art, commerce). More specifically, from the Aaron Brothers custom framing department (Aaron Brothers, picture frames, the employee who called to let me know my order was ready). Teresa and I drove there after dinner (Teresa, my car, food), then we walked up to the counter (our legs, our shoes, our hands… yes, we hold hands—stop saying “Ewwwwww…”).

I’d go on, but I’m actually kinda stalling. The problem is that I thought about taking pictures of said order when we picked it up, but I forgot. Had I done so, I could have gone with five big things like usual, maybe something like Michael’s, Aaron Brothers, framed pictures and then the two items in the order. Since I didn’t do so, everyone gets to wait until I take the pics and can post them online. But hopefully, reading almost two dozen gratitudes in one simple paragraph… well, simple if you ignore the stuff I’m grateful for that’s in parentheses… but I hope it’ll keep you all content for the time being.

Gratitudes 2018, Day 18

  1. Weekends. It’s such a great feeling to get up, get dressed, take the dogs out, then when I get to the point when I’d pack up my stuff for work, I can shrug, say “Meh…”, then go lay down on the bed and watch videos on YouTube for a couple hours.

  2. Clean dishes. Shhhhh… don’t tell Teresa or she might start raising her expectations. Wait… she’s going to read this… Hi, honey! I love you!

  3. Bird feeders. We’ve got nine hanging on posts that we’ve attached to the railing of our patio, so while eating at the dinner table, we can look outside and see a whole bunch of birds joining us for our evening meal. (Sadly, it feels like one of them is almost like a sacrificial lamb, but squirrels seem willing to eat out of just the one as long as we keep it filled.)

  4. Birds. They’re pretty, they’re great singers, they’re fun to watch and they make excellent dinner guests.

  5. Sandals. Easy to put on and take off for walking dogs, they let my feet breathe in warm, sweaty weather and they’re pretty stylish, too. Sure, they leave weird tan lines on my feet, but it’s worth it.

Gratitudes 2018, Day 17

I know, I know… Day 18 of the process, Day 17 of gratitudes… I hope you won’t lose any sleep over it. I sure didn’t.

  1. A good night’s sleep. Sometimes you can get away with just a few hours; sometimes it’s more important than gratitudes.

  2. Engagement photos. Teresa and I finally have a whole bunch of good pictures together. We went out to a park this morning with the dogs, my parents, the photographer and his daughter and now we’ve got plenty to choose from for Christmas cards. Or at least to put on the mantel above the fireplace.

  3. Joe Conely, the aforementioned photographer. He could have just plopped us down on a bench and started snapping away, but that’s not how he works. He was extremely diligent, telling us to make subtle changes in the way we were sitting, the way our heads were turned and also making odd noises to get the dogs’ attention when they were in the shot. He’s also going to spend some time on his computer to make the good pictures… gooder? (Thanks to Joe’s daughter, Lilly, as well—she wasn’t holding the camera, but she was also providing input during the shoot to make the good pictures… gooderer?)

  4. Centennial Park, the aforementioned park. That place has so many different places for taking pictures. You can stroll down the boardwalk, lean against railings overlooking the water, sit on Adirondack chairs… there are rock walls and bridges and trees, oh my!

  5. My parents, the aforementioned parents. Teresa and I asked them to join us this morning so they could take care of the pups when just the two of us were in front of the camera. Mom, Dad and Lilly did a great job puppy-sitting on and off while we wandered through the park, looking for the right places to take pictures (next to rock walls and bridges and trees, oh my!).

Gratitudes 2018, Day 16

  1. Saved drafts. I’ve been writing these blog entries using the WordPress app, then copying and pasting them into Facebook status updates. What I didn’t realize last night is that I was a little too intent on copying and pasting. I opened the app to start writing this entry tonight, but then it said, “Hey, what you want I should do with these unsaved changes?” One quick check online later and I realized I forgot to hit “Publish” after I finished writing it. So two entries for the price of one on my blog!

  2. The last minute. For as long as there have been assigned tasks, there have been deadlines. For as long as there have been deadlines, there have been last minutes before them. For as long as there have been last minutes, there have been students crying silently at midnight because their 20-page term papers were due by 11:59 p.m. (And also people like me trying to finish their gratitudes one finger tap at a time…)

  3. Showers. Technically, I think I was grateful for this once before, but in that case, it was for the sake of rinsing off sweat. This time, I was rinsing off hair. Lots and lots and lots of tiny little hairs that seemed desperate to hang on to my head after they’d been set free by a pair of scissors.

  4. Haircuts. Because what better way to set your hair free? Sure, I suppose you could shave it off… get it caught up in some farm equipment… extreme case of radiation poisoning… you know what? I’m cool with just a haircut.

  5. Hair “product”. Expensive gunk that you can put it in your hair to make it stay in place. (Insert Something About Mary joke here.)

Gratitudes 2018, Day 15

  1. Poop bags. They may not be the most environmentally sound invention in the world, but compare that to piles of dog poop strewn around on lawns and driveways and sidewalks throughout the neighborhood because people refuse to pick it up with their bare hands.

  2. Dog leashes. A great way to keep your dog close by whether you’re walking the dog or the dog is walking you.

  3. Doggie treats. They can be a yummy dessert, a reward for doing tricks and a way to keep your dog from getting sick if she has to wait 14 hours between meals.

  4. Freshpet dog food. When we first got Sophie, she didn’t want to eat dry dog food. We initially got her to eat it by mixing it up with peanut butter. This type of food is healthier, so take a small scoop of it, stir it together with dry dog food and watch her bury her face in her dog bowl to scarf it up.

  5. Peanut butter. It can make dry dog food more palatable and probably tastes way better than a Freshpet and jelly sandwich.

Gratitudes 2018, Day 14

  1. Bananas. An excellent source of potassium to prevent my leg muscles from twitching randomly at night.

  2. Stretching. A good method of reducing muscle tension to prevent my leg muscles from twitching randomly at night.

  3. Foam rolling. A great way to press muscle knots and spasms out of my quads to prevent my leg muscles from twitching randomly at night.

  4. Not kicking people in bed. Because that could happen if my leg muscles were really tense and full of knots and twitching randomly at night. Ummm… I’m being grateful for a friend, of course. My legs would never do something like that. And as long as Teresa keeps wearing long pants, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

  5. Sleeping. I didn’t wake up when it happened… when it allegedly happened… and that’s what’s known as plausible deniability. Sweet dreams, everyone!