The End: 21 Days of Thanks

Lumping the final 3 days together is not really the best way to finish off my experiment, but on a positive note, I made it through with only 3 slip-ups! Here are my 3x thanks for Days 19, 20, and 21.

A guest appearance on K___'s blog. It's about her family (as is somewhat evident from the title OkMom&Dad), but I was tickled to show up in two posts about her brother, "Taboo" and "Yin."

Successfully finding Takoma Pool. With my unfortunately poor sense of direction and lack of smartphone, this admittedly took me over an hour; however, on the plus side, I did manage to correctly navigate the metro system (i.e. get off at the right stop), and it was a lovely day to be wandering around the suburban streets of Takoma. Plus, I'm getting less and less shy about stopping strangers to ask for directions!

My train was on time. It left on time and arrived on time. I can only hope that my flight tomorrow will be as smooth!

Seeing L___ the night I arrived. Seeing her upon arriving in a still-unfamiliar city is the best sort of welcome!

Seeing K2 and meeting her friends during the same work trip. It's so nice that my friends take time out of their schedules to see me when I am in town. It makes these work trips that much more fun!

The fact that I can give tasks to a shared assistant while I am away from the office, and he capably and confidently completes them. N___ is such a lifesaver; I don't know how we functioned before without him.

Meeting friendly work colleagues who make enjoyable and interesting dinner partners while travelling. I don't know how people can work for companies where they don't like any of their coworkers. Life would be miserable!

Being remembered by customers from my old paper route. A few ladies passed by my parents' house and, when they saw my parents outside, stopped them to ask how I was doing. One of them even mentioned the Christmas letter I used to write and include in the paper once a year. I am really touched that she appreciated them enough to remember them, even this many years later.

The opportunity to go to San Diego tomorrow! I'll probably only have a couple half-days to do any sightseeing, but it's a nice break to get out of the office and see another area of the country.

And that, folks, is it! Hopefully I've become less grouchy in the past 21 days, and while I can guarantee that I'll never stop complaining completely, hopefully this exercise has helped me tone it down a bit and become a more pleasant, positive person.

Eek! 3-Day Catch-up

I was terribly lax over this past weekend, so here are Days 16, 17, and 18.

A casual birthday potluck! Met some new game-loving friends of friends, ate some delicious food (compliments of A___, who is a great cook and hostess), and spent a much more social Sunday night than usual.

Train travel. It's so much roomier and more pleasant than air or bus travel, and certainly more relaxing than driving. Why did we silly Americans ever do away with 90% of our railroads?

My haircut. Even though it's grown out a little since I got it cut, it is still at a great length: makes a small ponytail, dries fairly quickly, and doesn't take more than 30 minutes to blow-dry and straighten.

The chance to see M___ and L___ get married! It was a beautiful day for a beautiful wedding between two beautiful friends. And also . . .

An excuse to dress up. Because let's face it: after high school prom, how many dress-up events are there?

A boyfriend who likes to match my outfit. I would never require this, but it does look nice, so it's especially gratifying that he does this on his own!

R___'s mom. At the risk of sounding like a suck-up, I have to say that she's generous and kind, and this past weekend gladly answered my question about wedding gifts in (lieu of my parents, who were MIA). It's so nice to have another adult I can depend upon . . . plus she makes really scrumptious cookies.

The fact that my iPod hasn't died yet. I am pretty sure its life has exceeded 2 years now, which is more than I had hoped for, so hopefully my gratefulness won't jinx it.

Netflix! Whoever came up with the idea of a subscription movie/tv service is a genius (and probably being rewarded accordingly). It's hard to believe that I went so many years without television . . . until I try to actually watch cable TV. Those are the moments when gratitude for Netflix overwhelms me.

Day 15, TGIF

It's Friday the 13th, but Day 15 of my 3x thanks experiment.

Central Park in the spring is beautiful! And full of very interesting people to watch on a long run.

Swimming 400 yards in less than 5 minutes and 30 seconds. That means my 100 yard pace times were below 1:25!

My boyfriend's enormous 46" HD TV. I would never have admitted it a year ago, but it really does make watching television and movies a much nicer experience. My little Macbook just cannot compete.

Day 14, Simple Pleasures

Sometimes I just wish this experiment was over! But I can't give up now. Only 7 days left after today (Day 14). . . .

When the subway shows up immediately after I arrive at my stop. Specifically, I am referring to the PATH train, which arrived almost immediately after I arrived at the station this morning, when I was heading to work. Then, when I transferred, that train arrived quickly too! A nice, smooth commute to work--just the way I like it.

Knowing people around the country, so that when I travel for work, I can visit them. Next week I get to visit two friends while attending a conference in DC, and although I don't know anyone in San Diego, I connected with a friend who moved to San Francisco, and she's giving me the "inside scoop" on what to check out when I visit that city in June! (Even better, she's a swimmer, so she can tell me where all the pools are located. Essential advice for a swimmer way from home!)

Photographs. I feel so sorry for people who lived before the age of photography. Not even digital photography, necessarily, but at the very least pictures to capture who you are and who you are with at a given time, in a given place. Looking at photographs is like looking backwards in time (a day, a month, a year), and looking at other people's photographs is like reading an intimate story of their lives. I am grateful that a friend shared his familiy vacation photos with me today!

Day 13, Quick and Easy

Good things happened early today, so I have an easy Day 13 to write up.

Free biking gear! Compliments of my friend/coworker S___. She is a former Ironman triathlete, currently on hiatus from the sport, and after we talked the other day about how expensive of a sport biking is, she generously brought me some of her old gear!

A successful solo swim. Despite his lingering biking injuries, A___ came to the pool this morning to putter around in the water while I came up with a swim set that actually went better than I had anticipated, considering that there were 4 stubborn men in my lane who refuse to let other swimmers pass. (In case anyone is interested, the set was 5x100 yards on 1:35, 4x100 yards on 1:30, 3x100 yards on 1:25, and 2x100 yards on 1:20.)

A live-in hug. I don't think I express my gratitude often enough for the available and willing hugs I get from R___ when I go home. That was one of the hardest things about living alone in a new city: the lack of physical contact. Hugs communicate "I know you" and "I care about you" in a simple and intimate way that simply cannot be replicated in any other way. I value them, so I am thankful to have one ready and waiting for me when I walk in the door!