Gratitude with Attitude

On this day we are supposed to be extra thankful and share what we’re thankful for. The top of my gratitude list is pretty standard (family, friends, food, etc.) so I won’t repeat what you can get scrolling through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Let’s just assume I have all the same feels as everyone else. Instead, here are the things for which I’m grateful that never get mentioned.

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Day Off

Zoe was off school today, and I was off work, so we did what mothers and daughters since time immemorial have done: we went shopping together.

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I feel the need…the need for speed

For a few weeks now, I’ve been getting irrationally irritated at my computer. Any time I was on the internet, the thing just seemed to draaaaaag. I type cnn.com and then go make a cup of coffee and visit the bathroom and trim a hangnail and bake 18 dozen cookies and then check the computer and the page would be maybe half loaded.

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Monday Monday

I had today “off,” which of course meant I was busier than if I had actually worked. I found our missing cuckoo clock for M to hang, and cleaned the nasty stuff off the feet of Zoe’s stepstool from her bathroom so we could attach new pads that are clean and not covered in adolescent girl hair and cat fur. After taking Zoe to school, I got in a 4+ mile walk which led to the complete draining of my iPhone battery. (Side rant: Ever since I upgraded to the new iOS the damn thing won’t hold a charge. Given how much I use my phone during the day, this is really starting to hack me off. It’s a 6S, so, you know, not insanely old. Heck, my contract isn’t even up until April, so it’s way less than two years old. I’ve tried all the tricks except flatlining it, which I hate doing because I’m always worried the backup won’t work and I’ll lose stuff. Ugh. Technology.) After a shower, I cleaned up around the house, placed a box on the front porch for volleyball uniforms to be dropped off, and headed out. Picked up a prescription and the dry cleaning, and took Daddy to two doctor appointments. Those took way longer than expected, but I was able to get some work done while I waited.

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What’s in your refrigerator right now?

Today’s prompt asks me to look in the fridge, and I thought I’d go with it since the only thing I typed today was a grocery list. I don’t usually type my grocery lists, but I was on my computer anyway looking up recipes and started a Word doc because I was too lazy to get up and go get a piece of paper. I ended up liking the Word doc because when my list was complete, I cut/paste everything into the order that I walk through my grocery store, which made a huge difference when I was actually there. I just went down the list, and I didn’t have to stop and scan the entire thing over and over to make sure I wasn’t forgetting anything. This is revolutionary, because I am a huge dork who gets really excited about efficiency. I’m pretty sure I will never, ever hand write a grocery list again.

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Uh Oh

That night you hit 11:25 p.m. and realize, “Oh, crap. I didn’t make my picture of the day and I didn’t write my post of the day and now I’m tired and have no subjects for either. Outstanding.”

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The best of both of us

Tonight was one of those nights where I am reminded once again that my darling child consists of a combination of genes from both me and her father. It’s freaky when that happens.

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Adventures in Caffeine (Subtitle: Coffee: the Devil’s Drink)

Many of you who know me personally know that I have been decaf for years. Decades, even. I, unlike the vast majority of the population, do not need caffeine to be annoyingly perky in the morning. I’m just naturally someone whose peppy personality pisses off my colleagues who are more dependent upon their daily cup of joe to wake up and get going. Now that I’m older and my trusty Stomach of Steel that could consume anything my college self stuffed into it with nary a grumble has turned into a dyspeptic, grouchy old hag who is never pleased about anything, I can’t even enjoy a can of soda without there being…uh…repercussions. So, I ingest no caffeine on a regular basis. This hasn’t disrupted anything except that sometimes I just want an ice-cold Dr. Pepper, damn it. It’s not even for the caffeine. It’s because Dr. Pepper is the most delicious drink on the planet.

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