- Having the luxury to do laundry for free in our apartment...so when I am facing a pile of laundry that looks like this, and suddenly it's after 11pm, I can just say, "Oh what the hell? I'll leave those clothes in the dryer until the morning." (PS I used to be so crazy type A that I would not be able to sleep until they were all out, folded and put away. I am getting better at not caring so much.)
- Lighting my menorah with candles I bought in Israel three years ago, even though this year I'll use them up. Using a menorah that was handed down to me by my aunt.
- Friendships that don't age, and friendships that withstand the test of "will we be friends in real life?". A few months ago, I reconnected with a friend from high school, and it was like no time had passed. We're both a little older, a little wiser and all that, but getting together with her made me very happy that we're living in the same city again. Over Thanksgiving, A Serious Girl and I had an epic 3 hour lunch at an awesome little British pub down the street from our parents' houses. We grew up in the same town, went to the same high school (though not at the same time), and yet we were meeting in person for the first time (well, ok, except for an awkward introduction after a play in high school, which we each remember differently). Connected through a beloved teacher's incredible email update list, we became fast friends and pen pals, and we got along so swimmingly last week that we even forgot to take a photo for posterity. And then this week, I reconnected with three friends whom I hadn't seen in years. Three. In one week. I love them all, and it was just so lovely to pick up right where we left off. This was a long bullet point, but seriously, my heart is happy.
- Homemade soup. Thanks Jacqui; I finally made it. I can't find it on your blog right now, but it's the one with the spinach and artichokes and tortellini and white beans and oh my goodness it was delicious. There are leftovers galore, too.
- The feeling I get when I come home from work with an unusual amount of energy and decide to wrap presents, clean the house, start laundry, and make soup from scratch. I feel very lucky that these types of activities relax me, and that coming home and nesting gives me such a sense of calm and happiness.
- Having cuts on my fingers from diving into some ridiculously good crab last night. It's such a silly thing to complain about that I can't even do it. I have two painful slices on my thumbs, which I got when I devised a brilliant tactic for getting crab meat out of the legs: pressing down firmly with both thumbs until the shell snapped open. Hey, it worked. And it was so worth it.
- A great new job with great coworkers. I can honestly say that I am proud of the work my team is doing and that I enjoy going to work every day. I am excited about the work that I'm doing, and I feel like I've found a really good fit. It feels...good.
- Random luck...I've won two blog contests in the last couple of weeks: a basket of kitchen gadgets and accessories from Food on the Table, and an XBox 360 with a Kinect gaming console and a racing game from Dooce (and I actually know one of the other winners!). I mean, what? When did I become Miss Luck all of a sudden? I feel like I should buy a lotto ticket.
- Sharing a home with the guy I love. Last night, we opened our first Chanukkah presents and lit the candles together, and this weekend we'll get our Christmas tree. He's learned the blessing to say while we light the candles, and we're pulling our advent calendar out of the holiday decoration bin. I love combining our family traditions and being home together, and I just feel incredibly lucky.
Ok, sappy time is over. I have so many things I want to write about that I literally have placeholder posts waiting to be written. I could complain about not having time, but really, I'm lucky that I have been having such a wonderfully full life lately. Insert happy sigh here. Time to curl up with Harry Potter (I'm re-reading book 7) for a little bit before I fall asleep.
Don't forget to enter the latest giveaway to win $30 from CSNStores (y'all know I love them) before the weekend is over!
No comments:
Post a Comment