Good Things

The last week or so has kind of been a crap sandwich.

I hadn't felt the October love for several days after facing disappointing news and hassles with contractors. I was keeping my chin up, though, until last Friday evening (around 8pm) when K found out that his Dad & Uncle Ed were planning to arrive in Austin the next day to visit their brother (Uncle Jack). Evidentally, Uncle Jack had a stroke a week prior, and his daughters (who live in Pflugerville) had told FIL & Uncle Ed that they thought he wasn't long for this world. Their unexpected arrival put a crimp into my weekend plans. . .which included having fun with my husband and celebrating my birthday on Sunday with a family lunch. Instead, I spent Friday evening and Saturday morning doing things like giving the guest bathroom an extra scrub and washing a load of guest towels & sheets. I must admit, I did consider for about 30 seconds that K may have planned some sort of surprise birthday get together at our house, and news of their arrival was an excuse to get me to clear the calendar and the clutter. Luckily, I came to my senses and realized he knows better than to think I would cheerfully uber-clean our house for my own party. Plus, he's only surprised me once in the nearly eleven years we've been together. I like to call that surprise "when we got engaged."

Anyway, to keep the story of the not-going-as-planned weekend short, let's just say I spent the whole weekend feeling selfish, annoyed, and a little depressed. I'd hoped to celebrate my troubles away, and that wasn't happening. I simply don't deal very well when things don't go as planned, even though I've had plenty of experience in that arena.

One of the things I'd planned to start around the time of my birthday weekend was a report on how my "73 in 730" list is progressing. I started the list on my 2007 birthday, and plan to finish on my 2009 birthday, so I thought this year's birthday would be a good opportunity to reflect on what's going on with the list, as well as catch up on a few things I'm behind on reporting. At the same time, I've realized I need a jolt out of my funk. So in addition to re-examining my list, I've decided that I need to find at least one daily good thing to report until Thanksgiving. Another blog I enjoy includes a daily Good Thing, and I think it could be a great motivator for me to stay positive.

Today I happen to have a list of Good Things:
* The crew working on the exterior of our house showed up before I left for work (earliest arrival ever!)
* K called me at work and told me a funny story about our kitty, who had been feeling puny the past couple of days but is now on the mend
* The internet made me laugh
* The weather is awesome, and I love it
* I had a cup of delicious frozen yogurt, generously paid for by surprise by a co-worker

I'm feeling better already. Next up, I will bombard my blog with updates!