Dec. 19: Gratitude

My friend Sherilee does a regular Friday Night Grateful Moment on her blog that I always enjoy. It makes me see how complain-y I can be. Thinking of what makes me happy isn’t hard—there are plenty of things—but the really big stuff that went on this week (the weather), well, it sucked, and memorably so. I’m really, really, really trying hard to be positive here.

I am thankful that I got out of the house today. I ran some important errands. I got a much-needed haircut when Marvelous Michelle managed to squeeze me in before her vacation. The roads were clear—even dry in some places—and I came home feeling like I accomplished something good. That’s a nice feeling any day, of course, but when you’ve been trapped in your house by the weather for what seems like an eternity… Nice. Very, very nice.

Mom got us a GPS unit for Christmas. I wrapped the empty box and put it under the tree, because there was no way I was going to wait a week to start using this awesome little gadget (she gave us permission, by the way). No, a GPS is not a necessity, especially since I can navigate the Portland area just fine, but it’s so darn much fun. One of the options we went for was text-to-speech; that means it speaks street names, so instead of saying “turn right in point-two miles,” it says, “turn right on Sunnyside in point-two miles.” Coupla things that are funny/weird so far: it says “Barkshire” instead of “Berkshire” (annoyingly often, too, as that’s one of our cross streets) and “Interstate Two Hundred Five” instead of “Two Oh Five.” I gotta navigate on the west side to hear how it pronounces “Couch” and “Terwilliger.” Heh heh.

With the exception of one, all Christmas gifts I’ve ordered have arrived and will be ready to distribute on Christmas morning. As I do most of my shopping online, this is a big relief. The one that hasn’t been delivered yet? I ordered it in late November. Grrrr.

I re-connected with two dear friends on Facebook this week, friends that I lost touch with a long time ago. It kinda makes me love Facebook again, like I did when Sherilee and I found each other last summer.

There is an amusing blog I’ve been following called Queen B Mommy. Lately the posts have been link-y (and less funny), but the entries around Thanksgiving were especially entertaining.

Christmas cards have been coming in the mail. We feel so fortunate to have such good friends and loving family. (No, my grandma doesn’t send us one. I know you were wondering.)

I mentioned them in my last post: Clementines. Yum.

Just finished reading a surprisingly good book: The Pixar Touch: The Making of a Company. It’s about how Pixar started out and eventually became the entertainment powerhouse they are today. I think what’s amazing about it is that these are not people who are overpaid for their work; they are hugely talented artists and the best in their field. It makes you happy to root for these guys when you see how hard they worked to make such fun movies.

Not sure what is going to become of our Christmas plans, but in an effort to keep this post more positive than most: Christmas is coming! That makes me gleeful.

Don’t worry; Stuff Jen Says will return to its regular snarky, complain-y content soon. Tomorrow, probably.