For lots of things. 'Tis the season for that sort of thing, so I thought I'd make a list. (You know that I am a lover of lists. Any excuse to make one is good enough for me!)
I'm grateful for:
Aunt Marie (Callendar's) Razzleberry Pie
Potatoes and Gravy
Good Books
Fabulous Friends
Modern Medicine
European Chocolate
Cousins
My Siblings
Extra Blankets
New Hairspray
A Cancer-Free CT Scan
New Kittens (that don't live at my house)
Christmas Lights
Hot Chocolate
Sunday Dinner
Hugs and Kisses
Babies
Girlfriends
Movies
Popcorn
The Gospel
Faith
Prayer
My Health
Parents
The George Foreman Grill
Betty Crocker Mini-Delight Chocolate Cakes
Freedom
Dictionary.com
PW's Short Ribs Recipe
Roasted Almonds
Cinnamon Rolls
Facebook
The Red Velour Robe
Arm & Hammer Toothpaste
Mom's Homemade Bread
My Laugh (because it reminds me of my mom on a daily, and sometimes hourly, basis)
The Cloud Bed
The Examples of My Friends
A Girl Named Zippy (best book ever - if you haven't read it, fix that in your life!)
Microwave Popcorn
Ibuprofen
Tylenol PM
Stool Softener (yeah, still... don't judge)
Cream (both heavy and whipped)
Shredded Wheat
Pain-free Days
The Ability to Roll and/or Bend Over
Having Sufficient Stomach Muscles to Wear Heels Again
Extra Pillows
Rain
Turkey and Cranberry Sauce (the kind from a can - delish!)
I'm going to Disneyland. And renting a wheelchair. I have special needs, and I don't care who knows it! (Also, rumor is that if you have a wheelchair, you go to the head of every line. Of course, I'm pretty sure the doctor's note I have will do that for me, too... So, maybe I won't rent a wheelchair. I'm gonna see how long I can stand/walk before I make the decision.)
Viva la Disney, people!
* Artwork courtesy of Judy Evans. (She called this "Laurie at Disneyland, with California hair" - because our hair gets WAY curlier in CA than it is in AZ.)
Because I have an eternally open box of these on my kitchen counter.
Breakfast, lunch, dinner, midnight snack... Any time's a good time for a cherry cordial, people!
I am usually a stickler for pricier chocolate (this we know: Laurie is not a cheap date), but there's just something about these stupid Queen Anne chocolate cherries that brings me joy. Maybe it's the memories of fighting my siblings (and/or parents) for the last one. (Maybe = absolutely in this context, btw.)
Please pardon the Britney Spears reference, but check this out:
What's that? Oh, that's a gas nozzle and hose lying on the ground by my car. How'd it get there? Oh, I drove off with the stupid nozzle in my car - AGAIN. Awesome! (The upside? This time around there wasn't a group of sweet Mexican men to heckle me. "Hey lady, you broke thee ting!" I know, it's not much, but I've found that it's best to be grateful for the little things.)
This is what happened:
I stopped to get gas on my way to work. I went in to get breakfast while my gas was pumping. (Cheetos and lemonade, for those of you who wonder what I like to eat for breakfast on gas station days.) I walked out, put my breakfast, my purse and myself into the car. Drove off. Heard popping sound. Muttered expletives (because I know the popping sound that the hose makes as it pulls away from the pump - I know it very well). Drove back into gas station. Parked my car. Got out, drug the nozzle and hose up to the pump. Walked into the gas station to tell the attendant that they needed to close down pump #12, as it had been incapacitated by yours truly.
Awesome.
I walked back into the gas station and the cashier (from whom I had purchased the aforementioned 44 oz lemonade and grab bag of Cheetos) asked if she could help me. I told her that I just wanted to let her know that I'd driven off with the hose from pump 12. She gave me a one-eyebrow-raised look and said "It's a good thing you don't have to go to traffic school for that kind of thing, isn't it?".
Like she knew I was a repeat offender or something. (I was at a different gas station this time, even.) All I can think is... it either happens a lot, and that's what she always says, or word gets around and I need to start buying gas on the other side of town.
I tweeted last night that I have a new singing boyfriend. It's true, I do. I went to see Straight No Chaser (I always want to punctuate their name - that's how obsessed I am with commas - true story) and oh, my word. The kid singing lead vocals on this song? Be still my beating heart. (And I'm not just saying that because he's singing a Mraz song. Though that would have been enough to do it...)
The Lady Gaga Medley? Oh, my. I laughed my fool head off. (I just wish the video was a tad bit clearer. The dancing - and kitty-cat arm moves - hysterial.)
Who loves a deep bass voice? I do, I do!
And who loves a good Michael Jackson cover? Uh... me. (Seriously, one of my fav things about this group is how they take songs from totally different periods/genres and fuse them seamlessly. Oh. My. Gosh.) Check it:
Most people know them for their Christmas stuff:
But seriously, check out their other stuff. Their new album? Seriously, A-MAZING. (And I'm not just saying that because I want you to support me in my new romance.) There's just something about an A Capella group. Straight No Chaser, they make me swoon.
I haven't? Well, shame on me for keeping my love for all things sweet potato hidden under a bushel.
I'm going to make that up to the sweet potato here and now by writing them a poem:
Sweet Potato
I love you so. I love you made into french fries. I love you baked. It mattereth not to me whether you are salted and peppered or covered in brown sugar, as long as you are smothered in butter first. I love you salty. I love you sweet. Basically, I just love you. So much.
Now that you know my love of the fair sweet potato, you can imagine how much this made me drool. (Both figuratively, and - I'm sorry to say - literally.)
Be still, my beating heart. (And gushing taste buds.) I think I may have found the holy grail of all sweet potato recipes. (Can I get some back up on wanting to substitute cream for the milk? Anyone? ... Anyone?)
Uh, yeah. I'll be making these this weekend. (You know, when I'm not working 10 hour days and I have time to cook delicious food and enjoy life again. Until then, it's Cereal-For-All-Meals-R-Us here at Casa de la Laurie.)
Okay, okay. Who's kidding who? She loves it, actually.
Behold, my birthday present to myself:
It's red, it's shiny, it's sparkly, it's a little ostentatious, and it has a diamond center. This sucker had my name written all over it. You know I had to have it.
Okay, wait. I just saw The Social Network this weekend, and I now hesitate to use that phrase, lest any of you think that my FB friends are just people I friend so I can raise my friend count, and not people I actually know. Let me re-word that.
I have a friend, with whom I went to high school, that posted the following video footage on Facebook.
That's much better, right? It sounds like he's an actual friend, not like he's just a Facebook friend. Not that I've actually talked to him - outside of FB - since high school. But I would if I could. ... And I'm not just saying that because he recently spent a year in Afghanistan and has very nearly perfect punctuation in all of his status updates. (We all know how I love a man in uniform - almost as much as I love a man who grammars. Be still, my beating heart.)
But I digress. (Like anyone wants to hear about my cyber crushes on men I went to high school with, anyway.)
The reason I wanted to post this video is that I thought, quite frankly, that it was AMAZING. I watched it a few weeks ago, and it's been on my mind off and on since then. Abortion is one of my own personal hot topics. (I would like to take a moment and publicly thank the Evers family for their contribution to the world. I love that the precious feet pins were my first awareness that babies are babies, end of conversation. I'm grateful for the examples of good men and women everywhere who stand up and say, and then do, something for the children who would be victims of the silent holocaust. May I be a little more like them. Amen.)
This woman's story? It's incredible. Her message? It's inspirational, on so very many levels. (Let alone the against-all-odds way in which she came into the world. Listen to her. She is a woman full of gratitude, living in a body with challenges the likes of which most of us will never know.) I am amazed by her.
I am awed by the story of her life. I am humbled by her testimony. I am strengthened by her will to make a difference in the world. Bless her. (I'm pretty sure He already has, over and over again.)
