My Top 3

I'm in a relatively good mood today and it feels like there is a lot to be thankful for...so here goes...my top 3.

1. I got a lovely fortune in my fortune cookie today. It said: The one waiting for you when you get home will be your friend for life. Here's to you Jack...thanks for all of the days where you wait faithfully at home and are happy to see me even when I've forgotten to let you out or buy you new bones.

2. I have unreasonable expectations about life. My childhood was good and I was an only child so I got my way a lot. Really...that's not how life goes. I have come to terms with all of it EXCEPT I like everyday to be exhiliratingly brilliant. That's not how life goes either. I don't like to waste time because there is a lot I want to do with my life. But today, something clicked and I am actually okay that some days are just days. Some days are even bad. But some days are just ok...and that is ok. There is a lot of peace in that moment. And I have a lot of peace today.

3. The weather! How boring is that :) But, after several really cold weeks, 50 feels like a heat wave. And the sun is out, which always makes me feel like singing. Spring must be just around the corner. I might even feel like exercising.

Weird Websites

Title: Uh oh...are you still going to make me some dinner?

Yesterday, on an internet adventure, I found a random website http://www.layingdowngame.net/ that I'm sure was started as one of those late night jokes that seemed like a really good idea at the time. And I think it is hilarious. I don't know what it is about it that makes it funny...but IT JUST IS. Go ahead...look through the pictures and tell me you can get all the way through the end without cracking a little smile :) So, of course, I thought it would be fun to make one myself.

Today, I am thankful for weird genuis websites that give me a good laugh!

ps. A really nice friend gave me a juicer yesterday so stay tuned for some GOOD juice posts.

Cupcakes, Flowers and Pickled Okra

Today was a fun Valentines Day before the Valentines Day. Lisa brought cupcakes with the cutest heart doilies on them. Normally I hate hearts and I hate doilies, but somehow the combination of the heart and the doilie is a winner. My parents sent me flowers...lovely! And my friend Danny brought me pickled okra. Yum (but random)! It made for the most eclectic Valentines Day yet..and it beats the socks off any old romantic Valentines Day. Thanks guys!

New hair day and Dog dreams

Today is the day I get to get my hair cut (and colored...but shhh don't tell anybody). I always look forward to this day for a couple of reasons: 1. I am so shaggy by the time I actually get to Shannon's chair its just sad (exhibit a: I actually let someone I didn't know cut my hair two weeks ago it was so bad and Shannon couldn't get me in sooner) 2. I rather enjoy the scalp massage that comes along with the shampooing 3. I love to talk to Shannon and I don't mind paying her to be my friend for a couple of hours (haha) 4. When else am I going to have time to catch up on my celebrity gossip magazine reading?

On a different note...do dogs have dreams? Discuss. (Did you just have a flashback from SNL and Coffee Talk because I just did.) My Jack woke up in the middle of the night and woke me up because he was frantically pacing on the bed. Then he laid down horizontally on the pillows and stuck his nose up under my cheek. He was breathing really hard and just seemed unsettled, so of course I started petting him. That seemed to calm him down and then he let out a big sigh and moved back down to the bottom of the bed. He's such a big baby, but I this is unusual behavior even for him. I don't know what scared him but best I can come up with is a nightmare. Maybe he dreamed they stopped selling WagginTrain bones at the grocery. Whatever the reason, I really enjoyed the unexpected snuggle.

Today I am thankful for dog dreams that get me unexpected snuggles in the night and I am thankful that in a couple of hours I am going to look like a brand new person...I'm sure of it.

My dad and crab legs

I love watching my dad eat crablegs. For him, it should be a sport...he loves it that much. Maybe that's where I get my love of food...hmmmm..... You should know that this man is unemotional. Doesn't get overly mad about things. Doesn't get overly excited about things. Except. Crablegs. Lucky for him (but unlucky for Browns) it is all-you-can-eat-crableg month. For $18 you can have a whole plate of crableg goodness plus butter...and catfish (but who would want to fill up on catfish?). We went last night and I watched him delve into his crableg sport with joy. Like any good sportsman, he has a system. Nothing but crablegs on the plate, other things like shrimp in a seperate bowl, seperate dish for melted butter, crableg cracker in one hand, small crableg fork in close proximity, napkins distributed around the plate (to gather the butter drippings) and a HUGE stack of napkins. Much like chip and dip, there is an exact science to getting the napkin to crableg ratio even. Too many napkins left, must get another plate of crablegs (you have to have some respect for the environment!). The only hazard to his sport is the napkin lint. When you use the napkin too much and get too much juice on it, it kinda shreds. And it leaves peices on your face. But that's ok, because that's when you know you've really enjoyed your sport. And I thoroughly enjoyed watching him. Today I am thankful for my dad and crab legs.

Being ok

I'm behind in blogging...or I'm ahead in being one of the worst bloggers ever contest...depends on how you look at it. Its just been so hard lately to find anything to be thankful for (except food and I felt I had already exhausted the number of times per week that I could be thankful for a food item). I guess I was kind of in a funk, but now I'm ok. And I'm back to being thankful!

Most of the reason I have been in a funk and something I have battled all of my life is other's opinions of me. I let other's judgemental words affect how I feel about myself...the careless, angry, harsh words seep in and stew until somewhere in my brain something clicks and (here's the ludicrous part) I actually believe them. I do believe there is a time and a place to take constuctive criticism because we cannot always see ourselves in an accurate light, but I ALWAYS take them. After taking all of these opinions in year after year, I was starting to feel a bit crazy...especially because most opinions that come from multiple others contain conflicting information (you're great, but thoughtless, no you're thoughtful, but selfish, giving, but too quiet, too opinionated, but maybe you could be just a little less opinionated in case a,b or c, too fun, not fun enough). Most people who are were giving these opinions are not even people who really care about me. I got to a place that I didn't even know who I was supposed to be day to day.

But lately, because of many prayers, kind words from a couple of friends and a few extinuating circumstances, I know that I am ok in spite of these opinions. I am immune to all of this information. Lets face it, others are always going to be judgemental and say harsh things. Someone told me lately that I can't feel bad about myself for something that someone else is doing. I pledge to only feel bad about myself when I know that I am doing something that doesn't fit within my moral boundaries or when I know that I have hurt someone because I was careless. That's all...otherwise I think that I have turned into a pretty great person. Today I am thankful that I am ok and that the sun shines in my life again. I am happy.