on day five

I almost went to bed without posting!  I'm not even a week in and I'm already being a slacker.

1. I am currently watching "The Wild Thornberrys" on Netflix.  This is one of the Nickelodeon greats from my childhood!  Really, this show is so good.  Nothing says happiness quite like nostalgia. 

2. Zelda the cat isn't much of a snuggler--in fact, she almost never jumps on a lap--but for a few minutes today she curled up against my leg and it was adorable.  Cats are so worth it.

3. Between shelving books and working the printing press, my fingernails have been looking mighty gross lately.  I took some time today to paint them bright pink.  Bright pink wards off grumpiness.  Fact.

on day four

Today's bounty of blessings:

1. My dear friend Meg posted a link to eShakti on her blog, and it made me so excited when I found it.  You can pick out a cute dress and submit exact measurements, sleeve and skirt lengths, etc.  You get free customization on your first order, too.  New modest dress for me?  I think yes.

I'm struggling to find awesome things from today.  Isn't it funny how you can immediately remember all the totally crappy parts of your day, but the not-so-crappy parts take some thinking to unearth?

Oh, I remembered a good one:

2. Two of my co-workers have pre-teen daughters, and both girls made me colorful, decorated "Katie" signs for my desk!  I mean, I just met them, and they're already so sweet to me.  I'm going to see if I can make them some cute accessories.

3. I made a Goodwill stop and bought like-new copies of Wicked, Cold Mountain, and The Brothers Karamazov for $.99 each.  Even though I have a "to read" list so long that there's a good possibility I won't get to these books for at least a year, this absolutely does not diminish my satisfaction at their acquisition. 

I'm actually really surprised that, after fishing for three things that I didn't think were "good" enough to count, I feel like my day has been more productive and satisfying than I thought it was before I started. 

on day three

Today's thoughts of thankfulness:

1. I swore I wasn't going to spend any more money on books for a while, but how could I resist a Latin children's book for under two dollars at Borders?  Unexpectedly finding this little gem of a dead language made my day. 
2. I made it through my entire "to be printed/shipped" list at work! 
3. I've been getting burned out with going straight from the office to the bookstore with only 20 minutes to eat dinner, but today I went to Moe's for food.  Moe's!  Who on this planet could ever be unhappy with eating Moe's for dinner?  Aliens, that's who.  Burrito-hating aliens.

on day two

Today's spoils of gratitude:

1. I had to drop by Walmart on my way home from class, and I got a parking spot right outside the door.
2. I cashed my first full-time job paycheck!
3. I've been on an anime kick lately (Miyazaki, anyone?) and one of the girls in my graduate cohort brought one of her movies to class for me to borrow--she just handed it to me and said, "I thought you might like this!" 

on the fact that I am a whiner

One of the goals on my 99 in 999 list is to make a list of three great things that happen every day for six months.  This is because I am Whiny McWhinerson.  So, starting today, I will be posting daily, and you better not complain about it, because this is a complaint-free zone for the next six months.

To quote myself: "If you ever have a day when you're feeling upset, inferior, frustrated, or annoyed with everything going on in your life, come post a comment on my entry for that day.  Find at least three wonderful things that happened that day and brag about them.  I've found that the more you talk about them, the more you notice them, which is why I'm excited to start 'gratitude hunting.'"

You heard me, anonymous blog stalkers.  This is a participatory project! 

And so we began. 

From today:

1.  My HEL (read: History of the English Language) professor handed back our midterms today, and I got an A!  He even wrote "excellent job" at the top of my essay, which pretty much made me feel like a rock star.
2.  I was seriously stressing out because I've been working 60 hours a week (until my Borders store officially closes, I have two jobs) and legitimately haven't had any time between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. to write my term paper.  Our first draft is due tomorrow, and I've barely broken the surface of graduate-level research.  I found out tonight that the draft only has to be six pages instead of the fifteen I was planning.  Six pages is a piece of cake!
3.  I was craving green olives (I know the word "craving" is always associate with "pregnant," so to preemptively answer your question: no) and Ricky immediately drove to the grocery store to get some for me.
4.  (I'll add an extra since it's the first day.)  I got to name the new computer at work.  The first name that popped into my head was "Beatrice," of Dante's Divine Comedy fame, and now every time I log onto the server I'll get to see a great literature reference.

:)

on blessings

Seriously, guys, God is so good.

As many of you may have heard, Borders filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy yesterday, which means they're closing about 200 of their stores...mine included.  I had been reading the Wall Street Journal (totally owning adulthood like a champ) and was pretty sure store closings were going to happen, so last week I started searching half-heartedly for jobs.  I figured that I would have a few months until the store actually shut its doors to find something, so I wasn't too concerned, but when I saw an ad in the town paper for an assistant at a local publishing firm, I knew I had to apply! 

The job had been posted for about a month at that point, and my hopes weren't high when I submitted my application.  The next day (the next day!!) the creative director at the firm called me to set up an interview for this morning.  When we met for the interview, she said they still had a few more applicants to interview and would be getting back to me early next week.  This afternoon (this afternoon!!) I got a call back letting me know that I was "definitely the one" they wanted, and could I please come in tomorrow morning to sign paperwork?

I am so over-the-moon about this whole thing.  When I realized I might lose my job, I prayed so hard to find another one quickly.  I mean, it took me nearly three months to find my part-time bookstore job!  I never dreamed I would find a full-time job in my field--with a real grown-up salary and real grown-up benefits--the day after it was announced that my Borders store would be closing in one month. 

At my new job, I'll be helping with product design, writing, editing, and shipping.  When I told them I was "a spelling and punctuation tyrant" in my interview, I've never seen anyone get so excited.  That's when I knew I was in the right place.  I mean, do you know me?

on other blogs

Recently, I stumbled across this post at the blog Single Dad Laughing.  (It's worth a read...and by that, I mean you NEED to read it.)

I've been kicking societal ideals of normalcy in the shin ever since.  I mean, it's not like I wasn't already, but I was all hush-hush about it (for some reason that now I can't really remember).  If people came over unexpectedly and my house was a mess, I made up some excuse to satisfy the judgmental thoughts I assumed they must be thinking.  I felt terrible if I didn't make dinner often enough--not because I cared, or Ricky cared (Ricky has got to be the most laid-back guy that ever was), but because someone, somewhere, had made dinner-making a big deal and I wasn't living up to whatever standard had been imagined.

I see this even more with parents and children and the thousands of medications taken all around.  Your child hates math?  There's a pill for that.  Your child can't sit still for 30 minutes?  He's not normal.  Your daughter doesn't interact well with other children?  She must need therapy. 

There are, of course, situations in which professional help--for children and adults alike--is necessary, but I can't imagine it's to the extent to which we make it.  What is "normal," anyway?  What if mild ADD is normal?  What if it's normal to be depressed every now and again?  Who made these arbitrary rules and why do we make ourselves sick trying to adhere to them?  It goes beyond being thin/pretty/smart and permeates nearly everything.

Anyway, that's all in Single Dad Laughing.  I, however, would like to respond to that blog with this one: Why I'll Never Be An Adult

My house isn't always clean.  I absolutely do not wash my dishes every day.  My bookshelves are pristine and my closet is not.  I procrastinate most everything until the last possible moment.  Furthermore, I am totally ok with all of this.  Ricky is totally ok with all of this. 

The point here is that you should never feel bad for not living up to some fabricated societal standard--ever.  If you're comfortable with who you are, then you are normal.  Congratulations.

Also, that Hyperbole and a Half post is dang funny.  I hope you read it. :)