Last one!

So, I've been thinking about today, and what I'm thankful for - and I  could go the frivolous route (a body shop that gave us a great deal and did a great job on fixing our car roof from the major scratches we put in it this summer while transporting kayaks) or "deep" (the chance to really reflect on all of the things that are good in my life), but I'm just going to go with what has stood out for me today: friends.

A friend gave us a lift this morning so we could pick up the car. I had a lovely working lunch with a friend who is also a colleague, and colleagues who are becoming friends. Got an email from a friend who received an unexpected postcard from me, and liked it. Went out to a movie with a friend; went to visit my sister who is also my friend (this wasn't always the case. We like it better this way), and came home to my best friend.

I'm thankful for my friends. (In case you couldn't tell...)

Cold & Rainy

As I walked home from the gym in the pouring rain, and splashed my way through many large puddles, I was VERY glad that hubbub and I have a safe, warm, cozy home to live in.

Checking in early!

Coz today I got a fantastic email from my sister, who asked how I would feel about us siblings not exchanging gifts this year.

Let me recap for you: Hubbub's family doesn't exchange presents. My extended family usually draws names for a Kris Kringle (so everyone buys ONE present - we've got a big family), but we're all travelling to Minnesota this year for Christmas, so we decided not to exchange gifts. Hubbub and I decided not to get each other presents - those plane tickets were expensive! My friends and I agreed years ago not to exchange gifts.

Which means I need to buy for two people: My mother, and my Redditgifts Secret Santa person.

And while I like giving gifts, I am sooooo glad that I have zero holiday shopping stress, expenses, etc. Whee!

This is me! And I'm loving it.

Today

I'm thankful to have had the chance to support local businesses at the Landsdowne Christmas market. I have a thing for farmers' markets, and going made me quite happy. Plus, we picked up some kale, which I've been looking forward to trying for quite a while! (A whole bunch of  bloggers I read have been going on about kale chips... Onto the bandwagon I go!)

I'm late! I'm late!

I feel like the white rabbit! I was very thankful on Friday for hubbub, who stepped up and made dinner & otherwise took care of stuff when I was feeling wiped and kinda sick (good news: I've gotten a lot of sleep this weekend and am feeling much better).

And yesterday, I was thankful for having a great day - relaxed, but still accomplishful. And I got a whole bunch of those nagging don't-take-long-but-wasn't-getting-around-to-them tasks, which I'm very happy about.

November 24th

HOT. RUNNING. WATER.

Hands down, what I'm thankful for today. Possibly the best part of running when it is cold out is the hot shower afterwards.... man does it feel good on cold toes and such.

Also, fun anecdote! When running buddy and I were out for our run this evening, this ginormous flock of geese flew over (off to the side, so they presented no immediate danger of... debris) and they were super loud, and it was really cool! Nature is neat.

Two at once... Again

Yesterday, I was thankful for all my running gear. Had a great tempo run!

Today I'm so thankful for my awesome team running the IM days conference with me - they're fantastic!

Thankful for...

Productive Mondays! And little ones going home from the hospital, all better.

It's been a good day.

Two at once!

So, yesterday I was thankful for all of the delicious food to be found in Stowe. And then I was thankful for the fancy gym at the hotel.

Today I'm thankful for modern medicine, and sending positive vibes to a dear friend with a sick little one. Hoping it is nothing the antibiotics can't beat!

Oh man

I'm already totally confident that I am *very* thankful for romantic long weekends away.

Today

I am really glad that I'm a librarian. I love being in a helping profession
n, and when you can create one of those "I love librarians" moments - when you can just see it on your client's face - well, that is just awesome.

Thankful

For all the birthday love I received today. It was awesome! I feel very special.

Thankful for...

Surgical vision correction! Today was my three-month checkup, and my eyes are great. My right eye ROCKED the exam - breezed through the bonus line no problem. My left eye didn't do so well on the bonus line... slacker.

Straighten up, left eyeball, or forever be subject to the look of disapproval

Thankful

That tomorrow is a new day. I hit a WALL this afternoon, and I'm exhausted. Done with today! But it is worth remembering that tomorrow is a new, different day, when I'm feeling this way.

Also, thankful for my super comfy bed. VERY much looking forward to a good night's sleep tonight.

Thankful

for awesome friends. Went to a show last night with possibly my friend with the best musical taste ( Cuff the Duke; Hooded Fang opened. Great show! It didn't end until 1am, so that totally counts as a today thing), a five mile run this morning with a friend from library school/former coworker, then brunch with some new friends, and dinner & a board game (Puerto Rico!) with some friends from undergrad - it's been a great, if exhausting (6 hours of sleep last night!) day.

I'm lucky to have so many great people in my life.

Thankful for

The awesome financial decisions that hubbub and I have both made up to this point (like, the accumulated years of good decisions we made independently, not just since we've been together), which (as the mortgage specialist we met with told us) puts us in an awesome position vis à vis the whole house buying business.

Today

I'm thankful for the service of our veterans. The world isn't perfect, but I think it is immensely better than it would have been, thanks to their sacrifices, and I'm deeply grateful.

Thankful for...

Tylenol.

It was going to be my sister, but this headache really sucks. Hurray for pain relief! Sorry, Sho!

Today I'm grateful for

Massages.

The one I had tonight hurt a LOT - just the way I like 'em!

Advice From The Internet

We've all seen them - emails with all kinds of "amazing" tips that your grandmother/favourite pilgrim/culture on another continent/savvy yuppie uses, and if you do too, it will change your life! They're all over the Internet too. A while ago, I saw a list on Reddit, and thought it would be fun to try them all out, and report back.

I didn't do that. I didn't keep the list. BUT I have tried a couple of these Internet tips lately, and think I might continue to try them out (where they're not potentially dangerous or expensive, natch) when I come across stuff like that, and let you know how it goes.

First up: Freeze enveloppes to make the adhesive unsticky so you can open them without ripping them. Why in the world would you need to do this, you ask? Um, maybe if you started writing & sealing wedding thank you notes, but failed to include the little card about photo sharing, and didn't want to waste the enveloppes. Just sayin'.

So anyways. I froze a bunch of sealed & addressed thank you notes. They did not unstick. Sigh...

Real life: 1, Internet: 0

Thankful for...

A slew of little reminders throughout the day that life is pretty damn awesome.

Nov 7th

Today I'm thankful for the Ottawa Public Library. I love the new site, like the app, and LOVE that we live so close (I can literally be there in 2 minutes. Granted, I ran, but still... it's a 5 min walk. Awesome.)

How did you think I got my paws on all of the books I've been reading lately? I swear, most of the time it's faster to go online, reserve stuff, and pick it up on the way home that it would be to go to Chapters and try to find the book to purchase it.

Rock on, OPL.

(Also, I'm super excited about the graphic novel I'm about to start. It's about Richard Feynman. Intrigued? Stay tuned...)

Nov 6th

Today, I am SUPER thankful for the gorgeous weather. Had a GREAT (and way warmer than expected) run this morning in the goooorgeous sunshine. Hurray! I don't think it'll last long, so I was thrilled be out enjoying the weather.

Thankful for...

the Internet! The afternoon I met up with some lovely fellow readers of A Practical Wedding for a book club meeting to discuss Caitlin Moran's How To Be A Woman. It was great! Making new friends as a grownup is ridiculously hard, so yeah - I'm way thankful to the Internet, today, for providing us another way to build new communities and meet new people.

Also, there was wine, which is also always nice.

November 4th Thankfulness

Today I'm thankful for all of our options for the future. 
 
So, after a discussion yesterday with a friend about our mutual frustrations about how much stuff costs, and how scary the thought of making big future commitments can be (signing a mortgage that will buy you a house in Ottawa, thinking about kids and the pressure to get that done sooner than later, etc), I'm thankful today for the fact that we HAVE the options. Even if they're scary - they're possible. Not just pipe dreams. Which is pretty awesome.

Thankful November

So, I'm a few days late jumping on this bandwagon, but a whole bunch of bloggers around the Internet have started  a thing where they post something they're thankful for each day in November. I thought about it, then forgot about it, but now I'm going to sprint, catch up to the bandwagon, and leap on. Here we go!

Oct 31 - Nov 2: I was thankful for a) my comfy bed b) my supportive hubbub and c) TV shows on DVD. Underlying all of this was a thankfulness for sick days at work, that I can take without fear of reprisal.

Like this. But less cute.

Nov 3: I'm really thankful to be married. I know it sounds cheesy, but I'm soooo glad to be done with being engaged. When I was little, I fantasized about being engaged (not the dress, the party, the ring... being a fiancée), and wanted a long engagement. I thought it was going to be this amazing time where everything was sweetness and light. Well, we had a long (14 months) engagement, but it was suckage and lameness. I mean, not all of it - but holy hell was I stressed. Now we're back to just being happy and relaxed with each other, and it is awesome. Love you, hubbub!

(It Was A) Happy Hallowe'en!

So, I didn't go to work today (this is day 3), but I did shower and put on pants. So I definitely think I'm a shoe-in for going to work tomorrow.

Anyways, Hallowe'en. It was fun! I borrowed an awesome Original Series Star Trek costume from my friend and coworker Meghan - she makes awesome costumes for conventions. (I'm taller than she is, so many jokes were made about skirt length being true to the show when I asked to borrow the costume. Oh, the 60s...) I tricked the hubbub into wearing his redshirt costume from his bachelor party... muahahaha.

I shellacked my hair into place...

And slapped on some green eyeshadow up to my eyebrows.

 He was an ensign, I was a lieutenant.

Woohoo! I think we make a good team.

We went to dinner before we headed to Great Pumpkin Charity Ball on Friday night, and it was lots of fun. The waiter got a real kick out of our costumes, and the party was a blast. It was the first Big Hallowe'en Party that either one of us had attended, and the costumes were awesome. It makes sense - we were all grownups who had paid admission to be there. People really liked our costumes - and we found another ST:OS away team member - sorry, hubbub...

Also, my friend C sent me an awesome pic of my itty-bitty nearly nephew in the Hallowe'en costume I knitted for him (green baby hat, orange baby cocoon... meant to be a pumpkin, Tim said he looks more like a chili pepper. Either way, he was WAY TOO CUTE for anyone's good).

Bleh

I've been home sick for two days. I swear, I'm going to work tomorrow just for the company. (Coworkers, you're lucky - I don't think I'm contagious.)