A Treasure Found at Home

1. clue logic puzzle game
2. snickerdooddle
3. coffee taste test
4. toddler’s “vote” t, with a donkey and an elephant on it
5. snorty little pug at the coffee shop
6. this american life podcast

the particular “this american life” i’m listening to today is about sleep issues – fear of sleep, sleepwalking, etc. first, let me say that even though i have trouble sleeping when i’m stressed, my problems are no where near the level of these people. and for that, i’m thankful. very thankful.

one man, though, was talking about watching “the shining” and how he didn’t sleep for something like two years (!) after he watched it as a six year old. and the funny thing is while i know i have never seen that movie, i do have a very vivid memory of seeing one scene from it *in a theatre*. for many years i thought i must have seen it as a trailer before some other movie. but, what children’s movie would show a trailer for “the shining”? and especially, why would they show the scene with the elevator doors opening and blood flooding the halls? i wish i knew what was going on that i saw this scene.

i didn’t sleep well last night. i do that when there’s a lot on my mind. so, i was awake at 4am and just feeling drifty again about 6:30 which was my hard deadline for getting out of bed this morning. i know most of you do that every day, and you feel very, very sorry for me for having to join your ranks. today they’re doing work on the sewer system in my neighbourhood so i can’t use any water between 7am and 5pm. not unless, they mentioned, i didn’t mind having sewage backed up into my home.

uh, no, done that, been there, it sucks canal water with a flav-o straw.

anyhow, not much sleeping makes me grumpy, so today my list of small things to be grateful for starts with itself.

1. this list, for reminding me when i need it
2. TED iphone app
3. galahad kept my spot on the bed warm for me while i quick showered
4. ranch carpool buddy offered to let us take her car
5. chalk board

1. alone in the office… mucho quiet
2. meditation
3. peanut butter pows
4. Burning Man Tickets!
5. yummy sammich for lunch
6. sunshine to warm the office in the afternoon

first, the not so small:

my friend garma was jumped (as in beat the h-e-double hockey sticks up) at 2am sat morning on her way home from dancing with friends. it was random and sudden and *shakes head*. they were in front of her at a stoplight and claimed she hit them and demanded money. things went downhill from there.

she is really mostly fine. i went to see her yesterday evening after work. she looks bad, sure, but it took almost no time at all to get over that and see the garma who’s always there. of course she’s still shaken up, there are the same questions that come up for anyone in this situation: what could i have done differently? what should i do now?

there is also the acknowledgment that the people who did this have some very different ways of relating to the world than we do. they are the result of causes and conditions that she and i and most of the people we’re friends with have not experienced. i’m not trying to make excuses for them, they certainly had a choice, but trying to see their choices through our eyes doesn’t do them any favours either.

garma just wanted them to see her as a person. and they weren’t interested in that. they were interested in financial gain and a gain of power through fear. they got her ipod and her laptop and her messenger bag and a free tank of gas before her credit cards were canceled.

but they did not get power over her. the bruises will fade. the blood will not prevent her from loving the world as fiercely as she did before she stopped at that intersection. and that is grace. that is what they did not take from her.

the small:

1. octiles – a game of the week that we both really like
2. our old printer turns out to be colour
3. warm afternoon sunshine
4. taller desk – will hopefully lead to better posture
5. hanging out and chatting with “evil” sparkle
6. unexpectedly seeing an old friend

1. an unexpected visit to fairyland yesterday
2. a couple unintended hours to myself last night
3. yummy pasta early dinner with good company
4. dog in the office today
   dog kisses
   dog cuddles
   sweet dog looks
5. heaters!
6. sudoku

1. hula during the miss america pagent
2. hard conversation turned out well
3. skype
4. started plan to get house in better order
5. made it to the store before the crowds this morning
6. remembered to clean out car while in parking lot near a trash bin

1. got the printer set up in our new office at work
2. t was in the office
3. felt like i might be getting j’s cold, but seem not to be actually
4. def leopard and taylor swift on crossroads!
5. crazy early morning videos when i can’t sleep
6. comforter actually does

ok, i missed yesterday, but that turns out to be a good thing after all.

1. now i can easily write my list in the mornings because i have the whole previous day to pick from
2. iTunes genius playlist generator
3. LOST!
4. cute baby @ lost viewing
5. yummy drinks out with friends last night
6. someone left OJ at my house after a potluck brunch, and it was just what i wanted when i woke up at 3:30am this morning
7. i got back to sleep after waking @ 3:30 this morning
8. iphone, so i could entertain myself in bed when i was awake @ 3:30 this morning
9. dude, it’s friday

• ran into s and her baby h.a. (who was born on my b-day) on my way for coffee this morning
• convenient yay obama street party just down the way from me
• no one else in my side of the office means i don’t have to use headphones
• greek yogurt
• hamster_grrl’s b-day!! (even if she’s off in belgim eating fries)

i used to carry around a fat little notebook to write my gratitude list in every day. i still have it, but i don’t write in it anymore. i’m not sure why.

instead, this! from schmutzie.com

• friendly, overexcited poodle on the way to coffee this morning
• vanilla cupcake!
• facebook integration with cnn.com for inauguration
• just saw “teh boss” in a tux. shamancy.
• hamster_grrl found her way out of a locked hospital on the night before her birthday
• weather is not too cold to have window open to let out awful smell from print materials
• i get to check off a box on my joesgoals for having done this today!