Weekly Gratitude - July 1

Life gets busy, bad days happen, and time flies. Sometimes I need to remind myself of all that I have to be grateful for, and all the blessings in my life. Sometimes the smallest things are the best things or the most important things. This will serve as my weekly reminder to myself that I'm a lucky girl!

This week's things I'm grateful for:

• I was reminded of how lucky I am to have parents who have not only always been there for me and supported me, but who also taught me about love and responsibility.
• I've had two weeks off from the real job. I've had the chance to be lazy and do nothing that is on my to-do list.
• I have two dogs that drive me crazy, but who brighten each and every day in some way.

Day 1

So this is my new blog. I've tried blogging in the past, well several times in the past to be honest, but I've never really stuck with it. But this time I'm going to stick with it- I think. My life isn't particularly interesting- unless you think dogs, work in the field of educational technology, and going to school for an EdD in Curriculum is the stuff that coolness is made of. Probably not right? But that's okay, because I have a feeling that this semester I'm going to need somewhere to decompress...so this is it!

He wants attention. He usually gets it.

I try not to be one of those really soppy I love my dog more than life itself people, but I mean come on. Look at this face.

What I've Learned From Being Sick

I've been sick all week. Today I feel like I'm alive, which is a huge improvement. I'm getting tired of being at home, but people keep telling me to stay home and get completely well. I've learned some things about myself these past 3 days though:

1. A girl can only eat so many milkshakes. It has felt like thousands of tiny pins have taken up residence in my throat, and every time I swallow or talk or cough (and there's been a lot of coughing going on) those pins are like tap dancing or something. Cold stuff makes this feel better. Hence, the milkshakes. Thanks to my wonderful Mom and Dad, I've had milkshakes from CookOut, Arby's, Sonic, and who knows where else. I never would have thought I'd get tired of milkshakes...but hell has frozen over because it has happened. I'm sick of milkshakes. But I'm still drinking them, because those pins in my throat haven't left yet.

2. There is only so much Lifetime Movie Network you can handle. I know, this sounds CRAZY right? But trust me- I've done nothing but watch TV and movies since Sunday afternoon, and well- yep, I've reached my Lifetime limit. (And Netflix- where is the Wii streaming I've heard so much about?)

3. No more alone time! All those times I've been surrounded by people or scheduled out the wazoo and have wished like crazy for just some "me" time? Well forget that! I've had more than enough "me" time- mostly because no one, not even my parents has wanted to be around me while I'm contagious. So my as before mentioned wonderful parents have been great...bringing me my prescriptions when I was too sick to wait, bringing lunch and dinner and the milkshakes, coming to take the dogs out, etc...they have come in my house, put whatever they're bringing down on the counter, asked me to open the canister of Clorox wipes and walked out the door by grabbing the knob with a wipe in hand. I'm tired of my own company. I think my dogs are tired of my own company too.

4. Being sick and not being able to talk is not a good thing ever- but especially when you have a 15 week old puppy in the house with you. And the dogwalker is one of the people who doesn't want to get sick. I'm sure the puppy has loved me being at home for the past 3 days. Probably mostly because the most I could do for most of it was whisper the word "no." And I probably didn't even sound like I meant it then. And when I say whisper, I should probably say mouth, as not enough sound came out to warrant it being called a whisper. So he's gotten away with lots. Um yeah.

5. Being sick doesn't make me a better blog writer- but it does make me a more frequent writer. Quality over quantity you say? Well sorry, but the girl who has been cooped up in her house by herself with 2 dogs for the past 4 days isn't really caring about that. So there.

God's Sense of Humor

I was a lucky participant and presenter at the 2010 NCTIES (North Carolina Technology in Education Society) Conference last week. It was a great conference full of lots of sessions and lots of tweets from even more sessions. I came back home from Raleigh energized and excited about putting into practice a lot of the things that have fallen to the wayside lately. I was ready to share ideas and realizations with the people I work with and couldn't wait to get to work Monday to get started. Then, on Sunday, I woke up feeling not so great. I told myself it was just allergies, so I got up, walked the dogs, got myself ready and headed to church. Well by the time I walked out of church, it was all I could do to even hold my head up and I suddenly had a fever. So, Sunday I did nothing but sleep and woke up Monday feeling even worse. I went to the doctor Monday morning and was told I had a respiratory infection that was definitely contagious and I needed to spend at least a couple days at home. So- my excitement and my plans for the week? Scrapped (at least until tomorrow). Am I any less excited? No, not really. But what have I been forced to remember? We can plan all we want, but we also have to be prepared for the unexpected- because sometimes that is exactly what happens.