Grati-Tuesday (on Wednesday)

There is a meme going around the blogosphere this week about the ten things you are grateful for and I thought it was a nice idea to try to do it. Problem I’m having this week is finding time to sit down and type out the ten things I am most grateful for right now. I started this post on Tuesday (and stole the title from my friend Marsha who posts “Grati-Tuesday” statuses on Facebook) but now it is late Wednesday afternoon and this is as far as I’ve gotten. It took me a half an hour this morning to write one short email. I just keep getting distracted and interrupted. (Like just now, I got up to go take a shower and came back to find Emma using my laptop.) Anyway here we go:

1. Roadside garbage pick up. Come on think about it, how much would life suck if we didn’t have that garbage truck coming to the house once a week to take all our crap away? As you all probably know, I grew up on a farm and we didn’t have garbage pick up. What we had was a “burn barrel” and a big barrel that we tossed metal cans into and all “organic” waste went into a bucket on the kitchen counter and was tossed over the fence to the pigs after dinner. (I have told you about my award winning pig call haven’t I?) Everything else had to be collected and eventually taken to the dump. Of course back then we didn’t buy as much prepackaged “convenience” foods and things so we produced a lot less garbage. Anyway, I’m eternally grateful for those two big rolling cans in my garage that take our garbage, dirty cat litter, and recyclables away  every Monday morning. Without it I’m afraid my house would look even more like an episode of Hoarders.

2. My Dyson vacuum cleaner. Much like my appreciation for garbage men, my love for my Dyson stems from my fear of appearing to be a hoarder. The amount of dirt, dog hair and other grit and grime it sucks up every week would overwhelm this house in a matter of weeks.

3. The internet. Kind of goes without saying that my life would suck without the internet. I’ve made friends that I can’t imagine life without, reconnected with old friends and family, and am vastly entertained and inspired by things on the internet everyday. What kind of world would it be without Honey Badger, George Takei, Nerdfighters, Wil Wheaton and the Bloggess coming into my home every day? A sucky kind of world that’s what kind.

4. My etsy shop. I’m still working off the debt from the store and I would be so far behind without the income from my etsy shop. I have great customers that appreciate the quality fabrics and fast service I provide. Now it has gotten to the point where it practically runs itself. In the future I’d like to add to it and expand it and maybe get back into selling handmade items instead of only supplies. But for now it is providing just what I need.

5. The Albright Theater. I auditioned for The Laramie Project at the Albright in 2009 and it kind of changed my life. I’ve made friends that have become more like family. I’ve stretched myself creatively and broken out of my “suburban Mom” box. I have more self confidence now than I’ve ever had in my life. And I get to play dress up and make believe at least once a year if I’m lucky.

6. My bed. I love a good night’s sleep. When my house is overcome by garbage and dog hair I’m going to retire to my bed and never leave until the tv crews show up.

7. Lilacs. They are the perfect shade of well, lilac and the scent is heavenly. They remind me of my childhood. Right now I’m sitting on the couch and the scent of a small Korean lilac bush in full bloom is wafting in through the open window. What’s not to be grateful for here?

8. Antibiotics. (But not penicillin, that makes my hands and feet get all hot and itchy and feel like they are going to blow up and someday if I take it by accident again may just kill me.) But the other kinds of antibiotics are pretty awesome when taken only when needed and through their full course as prescribed. Without them there’d be a lot more dead people and lot fewer successful surgeries.

9. The aboriginal man or woman who first tamed the wolf. I say this after yelling at Maizey for counter surfing the last little bit of Brie I had heated up for part of my dinner, that’s how much I love my dogs. My life would be so much simpler, cleaner and I’d have so much more money if I didn’t have them but I can’t imagine life without a dog in it.

10. Steve, Sarah and Emma. Yep, I went there and closed the list with the gimme answer. Sue me. Just like with the dogs, my life would be simpler and cleaner without them in it, but oh so empty. (I wouldn’t be richer because Steve makes all the moolah around here with Sarah at a close second, babysitting pays better than retail.) There was a time I was sure I’d never get pregnant and never have a baby. Sometimes those days feel like a lifetime ago and other times it still seems like yesterday. Being a mother has been how I’ve defined myself for 18+ years. I’ve been a wife for almost 23 years. We got married pretty young. It didn’t seem like it at the time but looking back now 22 & 24 was pretty damn young to make a life long decision. It hasn’t always been easy but it has been worth it. We got a pretty good thing going here and I’m very grateful for it.

How about you? What are you grateful for? Will it take you two days to type your list? (By the way, it is now almost 7pm, I started this around 4pm. It’s been one of those days.)