Counting My Blessings

Although I should have been a princess, with the accompanying charmed life, things didn't quite work out that way. The past 10 years have been especially rough. But I am very blessed, and this is something I don't acknowledge enough. Maybe I get some of the pain because I'm not looking enough at the positives - so here is a short list of some of the things I'm thankful for:

• My children, of course. Although they can bring me my biggest challenges and sometimes my deepest pain, they are also the source of my greatest happiness. Although our family isn't perfect, I am proud that each of my kids have strong and unique personalities.
• My parents. I have great ones. They are genuinely nice people, and smarter than most people, and they've always been supportive of whatever I do.
• My siblings. Again - some great people. The really cool thing is that we like to spend time together even though don't see each other enough. They are also nicer than average smart people.
• My home. Both my house and where I live. I feel very fortunate to have a home. It took us 20 years to finally be in a position to own our own home so I very much appreciate having it. The best thing is the big front porch, where I love to hang out in the summer. Part of reason I love being on the porch is the view - and this is part of why I love where I live. Hyrum is a small town, butting up against the mountains in northern Utah. The view from my porch is a close up of the mountains where the sunrise is stunning. From the back deck is a slightly more distant mountain view, where the sunsets are always beautiful. I live in a safe neighborhood full of friendly people. The skies are blue year round.
  
• My employment. I'm fortunate enough to have two jobs, both of which are interesting. I like my co-workers at both jobs, and have better than average working conditions.
• My church. It makes me happy.
• My friends. I don't make friends easily, so I'm grateful for the friends I have.
  

Getting wet in the predawn...

For the past 2 1/2 years I have completely gone against my nature by getting up almost every morning before 5:00 a.m. to get into a cold swimming pool. It started when I was desperate to lose weight, but my feet were protesting my walking on them....so I decided I'd have to do something in the water. I am not a good swimmer, since I really don't like to submerge my face, so water aerobics was the route I chose to go. There are evening water aerobics classes at the local high school -but seriously....who has time every evening to devote to exercise, and who wants to go home with wet hair at 9:30 at night? Not me! So I decided to "plunge in" to the 5:15 a.m. class. This was a serious decision, since I have always been a night owl, but I needed to do something that my feet wouldn't protest.

It wasn't easy to drag myself out of bed IN THE DARK to face a pool full of strangers, but after the first couple of weeks my body no longer protested. It took a little longer to lose my shyness with the people - but how long can you feel like strangers when you get naked in the dressing room together day after day?

Now I so look forward to seeing Mary, Anne, Ruth, Ardella, Lila, Sarah, Stacie, Lisa, Dean and the rest. We are more than just members of a class, we are friends. Stacie is a youngster at 30 or so, and is the instructor on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but when she's not teaching I'm the youngest person there - and that doesn't happen often for me any more! I have learned about cooking, canning, quilting, and human relations from these ladies. I have learned how important it is to be able to laugh at yourself. I have learned that everybody has wayward kids. I have learned that a sense of humor can make even the worst situations bearable. I have learned that it's never too late to learn something new. And I have learned that friends are to be found everywhere as I treasure the wisdom of these ladies who range in age from the mid-80's to late-40's.

We are the "Little Mermaids" and I hope that when I'm 85 I'll still be crawling out of bed in the predawn darkness to plunge into cold water and keep learning about life.

My little guys

There are two "little guys" in my life who I love like crazy. First, of course is my son Ryan (I love all my sons, but the other three are past the stage of adoring me like Ryan does, LOL). Ryan is a six year-old kid who almost always sees the positive side of things. Naturally he has his grouchy moments, but his overall outlook is so happy and positive that he is great fun to be around. I need to be more like him!

My other little guy is my grandson, William. I just got back from visiting him in California, and it was so fun to see his smiles and hear his giggles. Like Ryan, he is easygoing. William is a baby who doesn't fuss for no reason, he saves it for when he really has something to say. One day while I was in California, we were taking advantage of a photo-op near a restaurant when a guy walked by and said to his companion, "That's the cutest baby I've ever seen". So when I say William is exceptionally cute, it's not just my prejudice talking!

New Year

It's 2008. I remember when I was in elementary school and there was talk about "the year 2000" - always with futuristic, science fiction undertones. I calculated how old I would be when the new millennium hit, and realized that I would be 38 years old! Then I figured I probably wouldn't be around for 2000, seeing as I would be so elderly and all.

A lot of my fantasies about the 2000's actually turned out to be true. We have so much technology that was seriously in the realm of science fiction when I was a kid - my computer and cell phone are far superior to what Star Trek was coming up with.

For my future I envisioned that I would either be a glamorous, single, famous author or a beautiful mommy with an adoring husband spending my life creating and maintaining a beautiful home. Neither of those happened. Not even close. So now I don't really think about what the future will hold. I've been around long enough to know that even the "best laid plans" rarely work out the way I expect so there isn't any point in laying any plans or dreaming any dreams.

It will be interesting to see what 2008 will bring. I know what I want to see happen, but since I won't get what I hope or want I hope that good surprises will outnumber the inevitable disappointment and pain.