Thanksgiving Gratitude

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for so much. As many of you know, it has been a difficult year in many ways. Still, I believe difficult times can make us all the more humble and thankful for the blessings we do have. I happened upon this quote earlier this week and embraced it:

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."

My goal is to be consciously thankful each and every day for the blessings bestowed on me. It turns what we have into enough....that one line says so much to me.

Without gratitude, nothing good in the universe can come to you. I keep coming back to this thought over and over again. Something in it has resonated with me.

Things to Learn

Words more eloquent than my own, from Maya Angelou:

"I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today,
life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow."

"I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she
handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas
tree lights."

"I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents,
you'll miss them when they're gone from your life."

"I've learned that making a 'living' is not the same thing as 'making
a life'."

"I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance."

"I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt
on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back."

"I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I
usually make the right decision."

"I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one."

"I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone.
People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back."

"I've learned that I still have a lot to learn."

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will
forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

Short Week

So far, this has been the longest "short week" of my life. Thursday is Thanksgiving, and noone is working after tomorrow. It should be a short week, but it feels already like it's gone on endlessly.

I had a test of patience today with an insecure sales guy and an office full of people who feel like they need to weigh in on everything, even if they know nothing about it. Suddenly, I found myself pulled into a meeting called by a lawyer and an administrative assistant to discuss sales strategy that the VP of Sales and I had already discussed and resolved. What? The lawyer and admin needed to weigh in on Sales Strategy? What? We couldn't get accounting or the receptionist to give us their opinions, too?

PALEEZ people. In my last job, I sold over $110M in business. I think I can handle this decision. Ugh! But I acted like a duck and just let it glide. I have other things to do, worse problems to think about. I refuse to let these little issues upset me.

But I'm glad it's a "short week" anyway. I'll be headed to Texas tomorrow for a few days of R&R, thankfully.

For Things That Weren't

Today, after church, I went into the Memorial Chapel, lit a candle and shed a few tears.

Tomorrow, Nov. 19th was my due date. It's the only due date I'll ever have, and it never actually came to be.

I struggled so hard with the shock of it all when it happened. And I knew this next week would be a difficult one. I've been dreading it for some time.

But today, I lit a candle for my little angel in heaven, whomever he or she was. It was all so fleeting, and so many other problems have presented themselves since then....problems that would have made the arrival of a new baby so stressful. I guess God knows what He's doing.

Nevertheless, the experience changed me. I will never look at the tiny, perfect hands of an infant again, without thinking of what might have been.

I Demand a Recount

Matt Damon is the Sexiest Man Alive?

It's official. We've run out of men.

That's the only explanation I can think of.

Eastern Promises Delivers

Haven't seen a good flick in a while. Heck, I haven't seen anything in a while, so it was a treat the other night to break from the action and escape to the movies.

Walked down the street to the local art theatre (yeah...I've been waiting to do that....Urban life rocks!) to see the late showing of 'Eastern Promises'....an indie flick centered around the Russian mafia in London. Viggo Mortenson and Naomi Watts are perfectly cast and give great performances.

I don't know what it is about mafia flicks. I love them. I find them fascinating. Must be the whole power thing, watching it in action. In this one, I found myself covering my eyes with both hands no less than five times. The violence was gruesome, and I didn't want it registered on my hard drive forever. So I heard it, I didn't see it, and that was enough to get the point across.

I must say that Viggo delivers one of the most unforgettable and realistic fight scenes I've ever seen on film. Like watching a car wreck, it was simply awful, but you almost couldn't turn away from it. Not to mention that he's totally nude throughout the entire fight, and that makes it worth a good look-see. *winks* Definitely worth the price of a ticket.

I give this one 4 out of 5 popcorn kernels. *****

Smart Car?

Yesterday, I test drove a Smartcar.

They're headed to the U.S. in January 2008.

I'm not sure I want one. I'm not sure I don't.

I wouldn't want to give up my other car for it. But it could be a fun little car to run around town in. Great gas mileage. Easy to park. Roomy enough for two. A novelty, at least for a while. Always thought they were really cute in Europe. But maybe that's because we didn't have them here.

Dunno. I'll think about it.

Bummed

I am so jealous!

The friends who traveled with us to London in March are headed to South Africa for a family visit over the next two weeks. First stop? London for two days. They are staying at The Carlton Towers and will have tea, scones and clotted cream there -- without us! Bummer!

They called tonight on their way to the airport to be reminded of the name of the fabulous Indian restaurant we ate at while there (Veeraswamy). Oh, sure, rub it in!!

I'm so bummed that they're going without us! :( But I do hope they enjoy, all the same.

Urban Bliss

It's Friday night. We spent the week moving into downtown Dallas from the 'burbs. 30 miles later, bliss. It's a really good thing.

Even though I'm in Florida working most of the time now, I'm happy to have the "other place" in a more dynamic part of Dallas. I feel like an urbanite, a city dweller now. Shops and cafes are nearby. Buses go down my street. I can walk to Starbucks. Things are just more interesting here. Yesterday....I saw a biker dude type with long blonde braids and a bright blue beard. You have to love whatever hallucinogen-induced thought process is behind that combination, God bless him. :)

I'm going to try to work from Dallas one week out of the month (which equates to about ten days when you include weekends), and three weeks from the Florida bungalow. I've discovered that my "escape" is wherever I'm not working....the place where the job is NOT. So Florida used to feel like the escape, and now Dallas does. Funny how that happens.

Tonight, I am incredibly tired. I have a million things to do, to organize, to put away. And instead, I'm sipping a glass of chardonnay, listening to the sounds of the city outside my window, watching the skyscraper lights twinkle. The Dallas skyline is right outside my window (see photo above). It's a really good thing.

What would make tonight better? I could really use a new Daniel Craig flick. That woudl be divine. Daniel, lover, hurry up and hit the cinema again soon. I'm ready and waiting.

More Than Enough Stuff

I'm in the midst of moving my "stuff". Several thoughts leap to mind:

- I have too much "stuff".
- All of my "stuff" is dusty.
- It's hard to look at this pile of "stuff" and imagine how it came to be.
- A lot of my "stuff" will be in the trash soon.
- I have sworn off buying more "stuff".
- "Stuff" is wildly overrated.

You just don't know how much crap you have until you try to box it and move it. Ugh.

More later.