Gratitude Attitude

A few years ago Colette and I made up a game to help get me through a difficult time. We would each take a turn and say something we were grateful for. We would take long walks and just go back in forth coming up with the most random things that we were thankful for. I remember vividly Colette being so appreciative of her toes that she named them Harry and Harry Conick Jr. The things we came up with weren't big things, but it really helped me get out of my slumpy mood and made our friendship even closer as we laughed about the crazy things we came up with. So in the spirit of our thankful game and in an attempt to sound unoriginal I thought I would list a few simple random things I'm grateful for during these coming days of Thanksgiving.

I'm grateful for the way leaves crunch on the ground under my feet.

I'm grateful for the sore ache of muscles after a good workout.

I love the way my body feels in the morning as I'm just waking up....complete relaxation!

I love the way the air smells on winter mornings.

I'm thankful for warm brownies and cold ice cream.

I'm grateful for old warn out slippers.

I'm love puffy coats and gnarly old scarves.

I'm grateful for Ibuprofen or any medicine for that matter.

I'm thankful for Far side comics and Steve Barry (remember the closet Colette)

I'm grateful for batteries and jumper cables.

I'm thankful for toilet paper.

I'm grateful for my favorite pair of shoes-comfy rocket dogs

I'm thankful when other people get hiccups and not me.

Calculators are always good, as well as space heaters and whiteout.

I really could go on forever, but you get the idea...I'm pretty dang grateful for just about anything and everything.

Where are you from?

Not an unusual inquiry I know, but I often get this question after I start talking. This didn't use to be an issue. In fact growing up my identity was never questioned. Moving a few 100 miles north to Logan, UT seemed to do the trick. It was here my first year I picked up my first accent, nothing authentic mind you, but just a funky blend of whatever I could pull from my mind. My first year roommates only encouraged this behavior by mimicking me. We would go home for Holidays and talk normal the whole time while home, but as soon as we called each other we transformed into our alternate self's. I assumed that as long as I wasn't around any of my roommates I talked completely normal. It wasn't until I started getting the constant questioning of where I was from that I started to think I might have unconsciously picked up a random accent. I continued on through my years of college with inquiries as to the origin of my strange vernacular continuing. I eventually moved down to salt lake leaving behind my college accent and the questions. That was until I moved in with some new friends who had there own fun southern twang, that I gradually picked up as we talked. The question was raised again, "Where are you from?"... (me looking slightly confused) "South Jordan...?!?" But eventually, just as I had done with my "Logan" accent, I moved on, and packed it into a small forgotten corner of my mind. Recently, I have discovered that I have not lost them as completely as I thought I had. This year while at girls camp I told a few stories of my college days to the girls only for them to demand that I say certain words again. I thought this was strange until I realized why. They were all trying to figure out where I was from. All I could do was laugh at there requests, because I couldn't believe I had fallen back into my old college self. I still get requests from them to say something to them in my accent (I'm not even sure what it is). It does my heart good to think that I can throw so many without even trying. And apparently Roy has picked up my accent as well, as I see them often commenting that he sounds like me when he says certain words. So here's to the girls that made my accent what it is today, whatever that may be and confusing people as to where I'm from.

100 things

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Totally copied a post from someone else's blog to your own

51 out of 100, not too shabby for my short time on this planet.

Nemesis

I'm going unleash my words of disdain today. Lately I have taken up hating buses. They are everywhere! In front of me, behind me, pulling out of side streets....Everywhere I tell you. They always seem to pop out of no where and block my view and slow me down. I probably see half a dozen buses in my 7 minute drive to work everyday. If its a good day I get behind the buses that don't have stops on my route. Unfortunately, most the time its a bad day and I get behind the bus that has 3 stops within two blocks. The view of those unsightly yellow giants just turns me livid. I didn't always have such a dislike for buses, but lately they are just getting under my skin. All I want to do is yell at the top of my lungs..."OUT OF THE WAY YELLOW BEAST!" I can't it explain it, but there it is: an irrational dislike for buses. Go figure?

Back From the Trailer Park

The Hoffmans have returned from yet another venture to the Florida Trailer park. This needs no explanation if you all know Roy. We were able to stay with Roy's brother and meet his wife Donny from Brazil for the first time. We had a lot of fun with them. Roy got drive around his old stomping grounds again and show me the places of his childhood. Being back in Florida always brings up the most colorful stories of growing up Hoffman, and it was fun to see him reminisce about life in Bellvue. This time we actually got to rent bikes and ride the Santos bike trails. These trails are massive! They span the entire Width of Florida and you can easily get lost in them. It was on this bike ride I finally saw a Banana spider...Nasty big spiders...uggghh!
It was the first time in a long while that all the siblings have been together. Randy has a month leave before he is shipped off the South Korea and he is looking very trim. I had to take a double take when I saw him since his stint in the army. Grandpa is struggling with his health, but despite this him and grandma remain independent and that's good to see. Mom, Dad, Becky, and Ryan are still living life per usual. I can tell that there are things he misses...the space, back roads, and the heat especially, but ultimately I can tell that it's hard for him to go back. It seems to get more and more depressing every time he returns. He gets to talk to Robert about it a little, but I don't think anybody really understands what he feels when he comes home. I know he appreciates that back here people seem to do things...nothing in particular, just actually doing something. He despises that nobody, except for a few rare people, does anything there. Despite the sad reality it was a good trip. We got to do and see a lot of things and see some people that we don't get to see very often and I know that was good for both Roy and me.

One of the Coolest things

Last night Roy and I had the once in a lifetime opportunity to watch a space shuttle launch. Roy's brother Robert invited us to go along with him and his boss down to cape canaviral to see a night launch. I never thought I would be able to see such a thing, and lucky for us that we did because it apparently is the last one they will be doing in the United States. Ultimately, in a couple years, Nasa will be launching all shuttles from Russia. So I count myself very lucky to have been apart of this experience last night.

We got the chance to watch the launch from a boat on the ocean away from everybody and we got one of he closest shots of the whole thing. Even still we were about 10 miles from the launch site. We saw the light from the launch first and then we felt the heat. We were all sitting there wondering were the noise was and all of a sudden a loud rumble hit us and slowly got louder until it dissipated. In all it only last for about a minute and half, but was one of the coolest things I have got to see in my life. We were all happy that we got to see it, even if we were stuck in traffic for 3 hours and didn't get home till 2:30 in the morning.

Where's my bat?

Let me take you back to 6:15 this morning. We are slowly rousing from our restful night when there is a knock at our front door. Roy being suspicious grabs the handgun from under the bed (if any of you know Roy, this makes sense). Turns out it's a cop, and luckily he didn't see the gun Roy was wielding. Apparently we have been victims of vandalism...again. About a year and half ago my tires were stolen, and this morning we awoke to spray painted cars. I felt just like I did when my tires were stolen: angry, confused, violated, and angry again. All I could think about was how much I would have liked to have taken a bat to some punk kids knees. These acts are completely senseless and stupid. If it's a thrill your seeking, do us all a favor and jump off a bridge. I'm so mad that people can get away with being completely destructive to others things. The sad part of this is that we didn't even get the full brunt of this random act of vandalism. Our tail lights were the only parts of the car that were tagged, but for dozens of others in our condo complex entire cars and even some condos were covered in spray paint. I hope that eventually they will find the kids that did it and there will be restitution, but all I really feel like doing is pulling out the Louisville slugger and taking some practice swings.

Missing Fall

I awoke to snow this morning. Not huge mounds of fluffy snow mind you, but enough to get me thinking about what's to come. I love snow and winter is definitely not at the bottom of the seasons for me, but today I found myself missing fall. Where did it go? I felt deprived of my autumnal experience this year. The weather was either seasonally warm or seasonally cold, nothing in between, and the leaves just weren't at the top of there game. I kept hoping that eventually fall would find it's way here, but with the view outside my window today, that hope is dwindling. Instead I find myself fighting the urge to listen to Christmas music (which I strongly oppose of before December 1st) and curl up next to the Christmas tree at night and take in that deep smell of pine (which I also strongly oppose of out of turn). I hate that Thanksgiving is overlooked and pushed aside and I hate that seeing the thin layer of white this morning started pushing this overlooked holiday out of my head. I guess in some small way I just wish I had gotten my fill of fall in preparation for Thanksgiving, but I guess just like mother nature I have other things on my mind.