A Place for Gracie

I got nothin’… March 20, 2011

So what does it mean when all those witty, interesting monologues in my head stop once I have a place to put them? Maybe they were only witty and interesting in my head, although that shouldn’t prevent me from putting them on paper…um…monitor. Where do people come up with some of the fabulously fun things they write about? After I read them, I think, “Gee, that’s really great. I should have thought of that.” I didn’t though, or it would have been on MY blog, not theirs. Probably the words in my head these days are too negative to be shared. People don’t want to hear how lousy I feel about my job, when so many people don’t have jobs. When I think of my beautiful motorcycle, all that comes to mind is the battery I haven’t been able to install, and the lousy weather–nothing there to share, no mind-clearing rides to reflect on, just the possibility that I might have to hang a For Sale sign on her handlebars. My beloved dog, Rusty–there’s a fun subject, except it’s hard to think about him without realizing that I am on borrowed time with him. He’s pretty old for a big dog. But there’s something to be grateful for–he IS still here, still adorable, still acting as much like a puppy as he did when he was just a year or two old, still reasonably healthy. And that makes me feel better.

Gratitude. That brings a warm, pleasant feeling. Let’s go with that… My daughters–beautiful young women, and we have a great relationship. And THEY have a great relationship. I worried, when they were young, that they would hate each other because they fought so terribly, were so mean to each other. And now, they have days where they get together, just the two of them, for lunch/movie/shopping, whatever strikes their fancy, and they look forward to it! Who knew that they would be best friends after all the years of insults, tattling, fighting. Yup, a warm pleasant feeling, and it’s NOT because I just wet my pants!

Gratitude–for a family I love and am happy to spend time with. Parents, siblings, in-law siblings, nieces, nephews, I love them all! Mind you, we are not (REALLY not) perfect by a long shot. We are a loud, obsessive/compulsive, OCD-afflicted, nosy, controlling, sarcastic bunch, and we enjoy each other because we have learned not to take our dysfunctions too seriously. We recognize them, we make fun of them, we laugh a lot because of them. And we’d band together to kick the collective asses of anyone who hurt one of us! That’s never happened, but it could! Meanwhile, we’ll have a beer and a few snacks, and enjoy each others’ company.

Gratitude–for friends. Good friends, long-time friends, friends from way back who I’ve recently caught up with again (thank you FaceBook!), new friends, the many friends who have been true BFFs throughout the years but have moved far enough away that we had to change the approach to our friendship, and particularly, the BFF who lets me vent, who listens when I’m sad, who feels comfortable enough to vent to me, who thinks up all kinds of interesting things for us to do and places for us to go, and who accepts me exactly as I am.

Gratitude–for the people I work with. I work at a non-profit organization where we rely on volunteers and donors, and their time and money, to function. The people that I work with work hard to maintain both of these important assets, and believe so strongly in what we do. Despite how I feel about certain details of my job, I love what we do as an organization, and how hard we work to keep doing it. And some of those people have become good friends as well as being coworkers. It’s a bonus to spend time with them during the workday, to have lunch with them, and to see them outside of work.

Gratitude–for my reasonable good health; for the little house I live in, on the quiet street where there are few booming car stereos to bounce the knickknacks off my shelves; for my car and the previously-mentioned motorcycle that I love to ride, and will continue to ride until we have to part company for financial reasons; for cold, sunny winter days and warmish early spring days and the occasional snow day (is it too late to hope for one more day off because of a blizzard?); for all the good things it’s too easy to forget about on a bad day; for the good days that help me forget about the bad things. Thank you for each and every one of these things!

Maybe I got nothin’ much to blog about, but I got a whole lotta stuff to be grateful for. And grateful I am for these things and many others. I feel better for having written this–so even if my blog isn’t a high-traffic kind of a place, it’s still a good thing. So blog on, Gracie!