GarAttitude

GarAttitude...the best thing since Garanimals.

My brother was laid off a couple of weeks ago. That, plus Black Thursday, plus the tens (hundreds?) of thousands of layoffs and lost jobs in all corners of the global economy has forced me to wake up and smell my paycheck.

Really, I'm trying to focus on gratitude. It's kind of a fad these days, actually. There are articles and websites and a somewhat recent book all touting the health benefits of gratitude.

So I'm trying to be grateful for what I have, instead of thinking of what I don't have or what I don't like. So here's an attempt at identifying things that make the glass half full.

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I am very grateful to have a secure, well-paying job. I appreciate knowing that even in these bleak economic conditions, job openings are currently being posted that seek the duties, skills, and expertise required by my current position. That's a big deal. That is not something to ignore. But am I listening?

I'm very grateful that blogger does not charge me anything for this blog. Because it would suck to feel so blogfully incompetent AND go into debt for it.

I'm grateful that twitter lets me ignore it without consequence, unlike Plurk which is really good at making me feel like I suck at being human and I couldn't bum a nickel from a stranger if I had to.

I'm grateful for my house and my family and the sound of my daughter cackling at the 147th episode of Hannah Montana that she's watched today while waiting for mommy to think of things to be grateful for so mommy can finally end this post, step away from the computer and finally fix both of them a decent meal today.

I'm grateful the ground turkey didn't get stuck to the pan when I left it cooking while I snuck back over to the computer to quickly finish this post if I could just think of one more thing to be grateful for.

I'm grateful we don't have a dog, because letting a dog sit around the house all day with nobody home just spells disaster in the form of chewed up woodwork, digestion problems, vet bills, even more pet hair and the guilt I would feel for making it sit around the house all alone all day.

I'm grateful our cars are still under warranty. For the next three months. Maybe four.

I'm grateful my husband has a job, a part time job with lousy hours, so that we don't see him all weekend long, and is barely above minimum wage and has no benefits but brings in almost enough so we only have to use the credit card a little bit each month.

I'm grateful that my husband seems to care about the fact that we have to use the credit card.

I'm grateful I don't eat lunch. Seriously. Lunch is a pain in the butt.

I'm grateful for each and every comment I get on each and every post I dare to publish on this stupid blog that I love, love, love and which has broken my heart at least five times because I was apparently hoping I'd written something full of divinely inspired brilliance and was expecting the validating comments proving as much to come pouring in by the dozens and when that didn't happen I was forced to acknowledge that I just wasn't that interesting afterall.

I'm grateful for the delete key and that sometimes I know when to use it.

I'm grateful we found a girl scout troop without all the drama and stress of the last one and which has a leader who really likes me.

I'm grateful for the DVR's pause button and fast forward features. I really am. Shut up. It's the little things.

I'm grateful I snuck out of work Friday to go to a lunch thing with my mom and that she felt good enough to go and that we both found the energy to mix and mingle a little bit.

I'm grateful my parents live nearby, are alive and well and don't need in-home care and can still drive. And are able - and willing - to swing by school and pick up Q when I leave the office too late to make it to afterschool pickup by 6pm.

I'm grateful that the worst thing I can think of is that I stay at my current job for the next couple of decades. Cry me a river, already. If that's the worst thing I got going on, I'm fine.

I'm grateful that the whole law school question remains in the realm of fantasy for the moment, that I can research my options without jeopardizing my family's welfare.

I'm grateful for every contact, every supportive word I've found through blogging. I'm grateful for the money I've saved on therapy because of blogging. I'm grateful for avoiding the many fights my husband and I might have had if I hadn't already expressed my thoughts and feelings on the blog so that I didn't try to share them with him only to have him walk away for the thousandth time and totally piss me off because I suddenly find myself talking to an empty room in mid-sentence.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to be inspired. To get out of my own head. To feel connected.

I'm grateful for Cadbury mini-eggs, too.