List 43 things in my life for which I'm grateful

in English. I went to a relatively small Baptist college, expensive but with a good reputation, for my junior and senior years. I would have gone to a cheaper public college had one been within commuting distance at the time, because money was tight. At this school, the belief was that undergraduates should not read literary criticism, should not do research or rely on outside sources, but should use only their own interpretive powers to deal with literature. As a result, I became very good at looking at what the poem/story/novel said, not what others said about it. I became very good at seeing possible interpretations stacked and layered like pancakes, each with its own flavor. I also became confident of my own abilities to deal with literature. Now that I am teaching literature, I can look back and see the quality and worth of my education. Worth every penny!

Today, Saturday, I am grateful for . . .

1. The Duchess of Duke Street and Doc Martin, two British TV series that Nick and I have watched on Netflix streaming video. Both excellent.
2. Caregiver B and the cheer she brings into our house every other weekend.
3. A summer off, for the first time in my teaching career.
4. Having a job, and not just that, but having meaningful work.
5. Talking to hubby’s dad today and finding him well.

I was thinking this morning about the days when I used to go to the gym. It was a half-hour drive each way; I usually stayed about an hour and went 3-4 times a week.

My Wii-Fit gives me about the same exercise time without the long drive. Sure, there are disadvantages . . . the gym had weight machines and they were my absolute favorite. The gym had aerobics classes with great teachers and great music.

But with the WiiFit, I get to exercise first thing in the morning and shower right after . . . no clammy gym showers or locker room. And since I can’t possibly leave Nick (well, yeah, I could get someone to stay with him, but that would cost time I don’t have, money I don’t need to spend, and the price of a gym membership, not to mention more time away from Nick, which I don’t want) this is ideal.

Love WiiFit!

1. Friend A. not being hurt and not being at fault in the crash that probably totaled her SUV today.
2. Chicken for dinner. (Okay, we eat chicken almost every night, but I still like it.)
3. Medium reruns on Lifetime every evening.
4. Lumosity.com
5. Sour gummi worms

We heard at wor yesterday that our senior secretary’s husband had cut off two fingers and a thumb with a table saw.

Of course, everyone was horrified.

Today, C the secretary was back at work, and what did I hear from her and from so many of my colleagues? Gratitiude.

C was grateful that the two reattached fingers seemed to be pinking up and that he did have a little piece of thumb, even though the detached part could not be reattached.

Others were grateful that it was not worse, that the hubby, who has other health problems, was doing okay.

It just amazes me that, in the face of disasters, we seem to be able to find things to be grateful for.

How easy is it to forget someone who has become ill and no longer works with you? How easy is it to assume that they’d rather be left alone or that you won’t find anything to say to them? Pretty easy.

But Nick’s dear and wonderful coworkers, after two and a half years, are still calling and coming to visit. Tomorrow, after I leave for work, six or eight of his coworkers will come to see him. How happy am I?

I give myself at least partial credit for that, because I decided early on that when people wanted to visit Nick, “no” was not in my vocabulary. It was never too early, too late, too short a notice. My house was never too messy, Nick and I were never too tired. They could come, period, and be greeted with hugs and extravagant welcome.

So yay! He will have visitors tomorrow.

1. The birds that are nesting in the mechanism that opens my garage door. I thought I had scared them off, since one of the parents nearly beat itself senseless against a window the first time it saw me. They are fine with me now, though if I make too much noise, the little chirpers in the nest grow silent. I only worry that the cats will catch the little ones once they fledge.

2. A productive day.

3. Getting to go to the sale at Bath and Body Works after work today, and picking up major bargains.

4. The sign that someone made for me with my office hours on it, with a kitty, a ball of yarn, and a mouse. Must find out who.

5. Hair that is long enough to put up, especially since I seldom seem to get the chance to dry it until afternoon.

1. for getting up the courage to approach my book again and for getting some work done on it.
2. for Bird’s Eye steam in the microwave veggies.
3. for my default mood: cheerful. I notice the absence of that mood because I am melancholy tonight (though I just smiled at the word melancholy, because it reminds me of the old joke—my melancholy baby: head like a melon, face like a collie. Haha.)
4. for my dear, soft, sweet kitties.
5. for my dear hubby and his sense of humor.

1. Cooking two nights in a row . . . and surviving.
2. Dear friends P. and A., and P’s friend B. P and B are going to fix hubby’s electric wheelchair so that it will fit into the van.
3. The nice woman in Sam’s yesterday who helped me unload my overloaded cart. She was a customer, and she helped me. She made my day!
4. The ground beef I got at Sam’s yesterday. Fresh meat that smelled and looked fresh, red all the way through the package and only 10 percent fat. Pattied and froze some and put the rest in my yummy spaghetti sauce.
5. B, who lent us DVDs to watch this weekend.
6. The weekend.
7. The strength, physical and mental, to take care of my hubby and stay sane (well, some might question that) and happy. Please, dear God, let that strength last.
8. My comfortable, wheelchair-accessible, light-filled house.
9. A new Dean Koontz book to read . . . Brother Odd. Loved Odd Thomas, though it has been a while since I read it. The woman who helped me unload my cart in Sam’s said there is yet another one in the series.
10. Feeling like I do a good job at work.

1. Gratitude itself. This goal helps me see the good things in life. Why focus on the bad?
2. A call from my father-in-law tonight thanking us for the Carlsbad Oblaten we sent him. He is an old-world sort, not a Hostess Ho-Ho type, and he really liked the treat.
3. Laughs at work today over the informational/inspirational program our division is presenting to its students.
4. Feeling cool at this moment instead of hot.
5. That the brown and yellow spider I relocated this morning was not a “brown widow,” a venomous new variety in our area. Her web was symmetrical, and a brown widow’s is haphazard, like a cobweb. Had she been a widow, I might have felt I had to kill her.
6. The smart little snake that wrapped itself around the handle of the filter basket in the pool so as not to be sucked down in the basket and drowned. He slithered off into the grass when I put the basket onto the concrete.
7. The pharmacy I use now. It’s more convenient to me than the old one, and they do just as good a job.
8. Our two new, enthusiastic faculty members at work. I like them both, and I am proud that I chaired the committee that hired them. I can’t help but look at them and notice how jaded some of our faculty are. Thank goodness for those of us that aren’t!