List 43 things about my life that are good.

I`m lucky to have had a good childhood. I have quite a lot of issues with my parents, but still. They always try their best, they love me and try to help when things are difficult. And they love my dogs, and spoil them like grandchildren. ;)

Not that many years ago, dogowners could only dream of the medicines and rehabilitation options that my dogs, and Agatha especially, is now benefiting from. Noone knows what the outcome will be for my sweet Agatha, but at least she has a chance with all of the progress that has happened in medicine for dogs in only the last few years.

It`s easy to get caught up in frustrations about my difficult financial situation and all the things I can`t afford. But really, I`m seriously lucky. I have a nice place to live, all the clothes I need, enough unread books for me to have something to read for years ahead even if I didn`t buy any new ones, money for food and medicine and really everything I need and more. And I live in a rich country, with more or less free healthcare, free education and generally good welfare systems.

I only get contracts for a month or two, or sometimes even a week or two at a time. And the salary is ridiculous. But I love it! It`s a great place to work, lots of really nice people, and interesting and challenging work. And I get to do lots of fun and exiting things, like watching actors rehearsing for a play and learning how they work, or watch movies during work hours and get paid for it. Plus, I`m getting invaluable work experience that will hopefully make it easier to find a job that pays enough for me to live on it in time.

I have been sick for years, so I know what it`s like not to be healthy. I still have some problems, I get tired more easily than many other people, and some things, like cleaning and organizing, can still give me bad headaches. But those are tiny problems compared to what my health problems used to be, and I`m really grateful for my health.

And it only took 34 years! ;) But really, I have heard people talking about enjoying their work, and I never really thought I would experience that. To me, work had to do with stressful tasks, headaches and constantly feeling guilty for wasting time and procrastinating instead of working.
Working as a journalist is just a completely different experience! It`s not that I enjoy all tasks all the time. Sometimes it`s stressful, and sometimes it`s boring, and I still sometimes feel guilty for not being efficient. But no jobs are perfect all the time, and most of the time, I really enjoy it! And I also for the first time feel that I`m doing something I`m actually good at. Getting good feedback from colleagues and editors feels so good, and I do feel that I`m doing a good job. Yay!

A good teacher makes all the difference when learning an instrument really. Sometimes I show up at pianolessons very enthusiastic and eager to learn. Other times, I`m tired and frustrated about my life in general and slightly embarrased by lack of practice. But I always leave pianolessons feeling happy and enthusiastic and wanting to go home and practice all day long. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that my pianoteacher just loves music, he is so entusiastic about everything he`s teaching me himself, which makes it interesting for me too. And he takes me seriously and wants me to learn, even though I`m an adult beginner and will never be a concert pianist.

Beautiful, sweet, loving Agatha. She is an incredibly demanding dog ofcourse, because of her separation anxiety and severe health problems. But I am so lucky to have her. My mother says Agatha has the most soulful eyes she has ever seen. And she does. Agatha has a way of making everyone fall in love with her with her very social and gentle personality, and those big, brown eyes. She can even go up to strangers on the street and lie down to see if they will rub her belly. She loves her toys, and usually makes sure to have on in her mouth or very nearby, in case someone should decide they want to play with her. And it`s very hard to resist doing that. She`ll come up to me with a toy in her mouth, looking so incredibly happy, I very often give in and play with her a little.
She destroys toys very quickly, she loves tearing the stuffing out of stuffed toys for instance. But there`s a few favorite toys she really cares about, that she never tries to destroy. Especially her Winnie the pooh teddybear, which has been with her from day one. Winnie is almost 4 years old now, and not a scratch on him.
Agatha is the kind of dog who always wants to please, and tries her very best to do whatever is asked of her. And she`s such an incredibly happy dog. Even with all the pain and trouble she has been through, she`s always happy. Whenever I`m putting my coat and shoes on and tell her we`re going for a walk, she comes rushing up to me, jumps up to put her paws around my waist and hugs me for a really long time. It`s so cute! Sweet Agatha, I`m blessed to have her.

^{My dogs are ofcourse mentioned in random order here!}

Sweet, funny, loving, superenthusiastic Cora. She`s a fascinating and quite a complicated little soul. She can be very shy, and lets Agatha bully her without protests (I stop Agatha immediately when she does that ofcourse.) And if she`s lying on the couch for instane and I come to sit down, she looks sceptical, and usually goes to lie down somewhere else, like she thinks it`s not her place. But then all of a sudden, she can decide that she wants attention. She comes up to me and pokes me with her nose, and stares me straight in the eyes, wagging her tail saying “right. I`d like you to scratch my ears now.” Dogs don`t usually like to look anyone straight in the eye, especially shy dogs. But Cora can stare into my eyes forever if she`s in that mood.
And she`s definitely the hunting dog in the family, when she sees a duck, or even better, a cat, she`s howling and barking and completely forgetting everything around her.(She gets so enthusiastic she can even fly when chasing ducks, as the photo clearly proves) She doesn`t play indoors, but she loves nothing more than to fetch sticks outdoors. Or even better, playing with stones. It has to be a particular kind of stone, just the right size. When she finds one, she can play with it for hours if let her, just pushing it around and licking it. I have no idea what goes on in her head when she does that, she must be pretending that the stone is something else I think. And she loves to go to the playground and play in the slides. She`s so proud of herself when she does that.
Cora loves practicing obedience and tricks. She loses concentration very easily though, because she gets so supexited she forgets all about what I`m trying to get her to do, and starts flapping her paws, taking bows, spinning around and doing whatever she thinks might get her the treat.
Cora is just incredibly sweet. I`m lucky to have her in my life.

I was very lucky to find this place. Finding a place to rent with two dogs, and without a permanent job is seriously difficult. And this place is perfect for me. It`s big enough for me and my dogs, plenty of storage space, lovely high ceilings and big windows, cituated in a great area, it`s a nice apartment to invite friends over to, and most importantly, there are no monster spiders. And since I experienced what it`s like to live in a seriously crappy place last year, I do appreciate my lovely new casa Curlychaos more.