Gratitude

I always try to remember my gratitude (it's kind of my personal mantra) when dealing with difficulties -- remember the good things in life and how the bad always passes. It's not easy, especially since I am an emotional fruitcake with extra nuts. The thing I like most about Thanksgiving is that it gives everyone a nudge to reflect on things that we're thankful and grateful for. I'm personally not crazy about turkey and mashed potatoes are okay, but I don't sit around dreaming about a big Thanksgiving meal. I like the reflective mood of the day, everyone concentrating on the good things we all enjoy, which really makes for good energy.

This year has had a lot of ups and downs and though I haven't always maintained perfect composure, I am grateful for many things.

I lost one of my best friends in the world to the Great Sunny Window in the Sky and another to the Wilds of Utah. I spent some time in hospitals and MRI tubes and dentist chairs and auto mechanics and all sorts of boring and dull and sometimes scary places. BUT if 'in every life a little rain must fall' then I've barely gotten sprinkled. Yes, losing Monkey and Adam were devastating, but Adam is still on this corporeal plane and a mere 10 hour road trip away. Telephone technology exists in Utah (just installed last month! [rimshot]) so I can talk to him by phone or text messages or the intertubes whenever my heart desires. Monkey is also anywhere-everywhere and I can talk to him too (and through the magic of technology, I can still hear his voice and watch him make bread).

I am grateful for so many things that a list is impossible. But at the very top would be Ryan and Ruckus, who are the reason that I am here. I am also grateful for my family who has supported me through everything and loved me despite of it all. I am grateful for my friends, new and old, who make my life so much fun. I am grateful for my online compadres who never fail to make me smile and keep me afloat from day to day. I am grateful for the opportunity to explore Los Angeles and open up a whole new world to me. I am grateful for my job that allows me to be creative and have fun and travel a bit. I am grateful for Ryan's job that also allows for creativity and fun and a lot of reasons for travel! I am grateful for my talents (limited, though they are) that allow me to enjoy the creative process in arts and crafts and sometimes even make people smile. I am grateful for every wacky, silly thing in this world that has made me smile -- everything from LOLcats to silly candies to art to my Pee Wee Herman dolls.

If you're lucky enough to be happy, you're lucky enough.