Thanks

It has come to my attention recently that, well, I complain about my life alot. This is a problem because even as I am complaining, there is a part of me that knows that I have a sweet life.  I’m just in the habit of focusing on the little irritating things that happen, and behaving as if those little things are my whole life.  It is critical that I not allow myself to be this sort of person, because:

#1             I make myself miserable
#2             I make everyone around me wish that I would just have a little car accident, just enough of one to send me away, just for a little while, so that                       they can have some damn peace and quiet
#3             if my boys grow up and display this attitute, I will have seriously let them down
and #4     if someone with my beautiful life can’t find gratitute, then all is hopeless.

So, today begins day one of a quick daily gratitude post.  The rules are simple: create a list every day, 5 items minimum, no max,  have fun with it.

Today I am grateful for:

1.         spell check (hey, it’s a start, and a darn good one, too)

2.       my job – being excited to get dressed and go to work, and talk books with people, and laugh, and not be mommy for a few hours

3.         discovering that I  love to write

4.        snow

5.        an outfit that feels good for today

In any case, I’m back on-line again, in a digital-photograph sense, and I will be sure to pose my children in many adorable and extremely interesting ways once they get home. And the camera gets charged.

Cranberries, Walnuts and Crumbled Cheese Over Greens

Dressing Ingredients

1 T olive oil

1T balsamic vinegar

1/2 t dijon mustard (I’ve been using stone ground – it’s what I’ve got)

1 clove minced or crushed garlic

1/4 t soy sauce

salt and pepper (optional)

Salad Ingredients

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup walnuts, raw or (yum) pan-toasted

1/2 cup crumbled feta or gorgonzola (my favorite)

I mix up the dressing and the salad and keep both in the fridge, then when I’m ready for lunch I fill a huge bowl with bagged salad mix of any kind on hand, add 1/2 of the dressing and 1/2 of the cheese mix, and eat! This will get you a no-brainer lunch for two days. I follow mine up with soup. Trust me, you’re gonna love this. It’s like green fudge.

Enjoy!

This is a flickr test post. Miles learned to walk last sumer using the keyboard stand as his walker.

So here I am three (or something) weeks later, having finished my three days of paid training, 4 (count ‘em – four!) all day shifts, with a check for $100 burning a hole in my pocket, and I have some thoughts.

First and foremost: low wage work sucks. Yes, there are good things about the job: some of the people that I work with are very cool and I’m glad to have met them, I love encouraging and enabling book lust in the customers, and it’s surprisingly satisfying to help someone find just the thing that they were looking for. On the whole, however, my experience of working has been that I go to work excited and ready, but I come home dead tired, with a sore body, and frustrated.

I’ve been extremely spoiled in the fact that I haven’t had to work to bring in money for over 12 years now. I’ve been insulated from the realities of the low wage working world (LWWW – of which I was a card carrying member from the day I turned sixteen until 12 years ago), and getting back into it now, as a 36 year old woman, has been educational. I want to impress upon my kids that the LWWW is frustrating, a little bit demeaning, and very tiring. These are all problems, for sure, but the biggest problem is that there’s not any creativity required to work an entry level job. I don’t come home from work invigorated or excited. My job is to bring my hands and feet to work, and then head on home. I want to engage my mind. I know that the shelves need to be straightened, and the cd’s need to be put away again (haven’t you people ever heard of itunes?)but really, it just numbs the hell out of me. I told my husband this morning that I don’t want a job, I just want to be a blogger.

I know, I’m spoiled, I’m lucky. Maybe the worst part of this working woman experience so far has been the knowledge that I’m such a weenie!

I have gotten two little fellas onto the potty successfully without using candy. In fact, I didn’t even know it was an option. (I never said I was smart, just always willing to steal a good idea when I finally hear it.) But I am a little bit older now, (read: my parenting standards are lower and I am no longer averse to using bribes) and I would like it very much f I didn’t have to go to Costco for any more diapers, and I am willing to do whatever will thrill this little boy into becoming a potty pro. So… we are scrounging the house for candy this morning, and Miles is running around naked, and thanks to Ben’s inspiration we just might have a big boy on the potty in a few days! Merry Christmas!