Giving Thanks

1. I am thankful this year to have the most delightful and supportive friends. These are the friends people, I, dreamed about. They are forever understanding, 3 of the most fun people EVER, and each person has their own individuality that is never compromised by the group. They are so comfortable with being them and I can't get enough time with them. Because they bring out the most fun and crazy person I am, I am so indebted to them this year. Thanks friends!

2. I am thankful for my family's places that they fall. In this economic crisis, I can't tell you have relieving it is to know that all of my favorite people have a safe and secure place to fall and with someone of their own. 

3. I am thankful for my suedo-sister-in-law. I couldn't have been more lucky to have found someone so lovely by chance. I understand when people are in anguish by their significant others family, but I am SO thankful for my Circus friend:) She is calm, normal, fun, reads everything that I do, even though I probably should leave some books to a younger age bracket, plays games all the time and I love that; people don't play enough games, she is always up for Thai or a call about anything and everything. I don't think you realize how appreciative I am of your company.

4. I am thankful for my cats. I know, I know, typical right, but let me tell you, they have a way of making even the most horrific day okay. The two of them were impulse purchases because I lost my beloved Frank, yet they have proved themselves worthy despite my irresponsible shopping habits. My dear Will, you are an asshole, but the best kind. You are the boyfriend everyone hates, but is a gem when no one is watching. You cringe at my touch and bat at my hand, until I pull a crinkly ball out and you play for hours. Once you have tired out, you meet me in bed and climb up my body and situate yourself right on my neck and drool for hours. You purr and purr insisting on more petting and snuggle for hours keeping me nice and warm. Thank you love, I see you for who you are. Now, Fluffy....or Mr. Darcy as I never call you by your real name. You are the light of my life. You are ALWAYS game for petting as you follow me loyally throughout the apartment day after day. Your funny noises and awkward behavior makes me excited to have a pure-breed animal around because you are in fact that weird. I love you both and realize that I am obsessed and I do not feel one bit ashamed for being so.

5. I am thankful for soccer. I despise you for taking Dave away, but I love that he has a special place with you. Dave's love for soccer is annoying at times, but I have to remind myself that it is his thing. He talks about soccer like I talk about our cats and Twilight...they are a match made of perfection. Thank you for being there for Dave as an escape and a constant source of enjoyment.

6. I am thankful for my new mattress. I have gone years not knowing what I should be expecting from my sleep and you have shown me the light. I love this mattress and can, and have, spent full days without moving an inch from the comfort of my 900 thread count sheets, 2 cats, a beautiful boyfriend, and my Sealy perfection.

7. I am thankful for my largest personal purchase this year, Nina. Nina is an item of necessity that again, I'm not sure how I carried on before without her. Micheal Kors made her just for me and although we had an unfortunate incident a few months ago with curry soup spilling all over you, you are barring the smell and trying your hardest not to make me vomit. Thus, although I marvel at you from afar because the smell kind of makes me gag, I love you and appreciate that you cost way too much but were needed just the same.

8. I am thankful for my extended family, the Provost's. Miss Joan is so unimaginably smart and gifted. Her mind flutters every which way at an impeccable pace. I have said this before, she makes me know more about Mrs. Smith because I truly feel like Mrs. Smith was Miss Joan 22 years ago. Annie used to talk about how she preferred our company to adults, and I understand why. I prefer Miss Joan's company instead of so many others because she stretches my brain, she shows me her world and it's optimistic wonder, we look at every bug/animal, and although I feel like when I am with her time goes so fast, it actually slows and she lets me witness her discoveries. My dear Finny. He is one of my own. His chaos and kindness from his core makes me literally have butterflies. He is so sweet and exuberant. Being with him is fast, but the kind of fast that is such a high. When he giggles, everything is light and funny. When he talks about his sissy, my heart mets. The person that capture his heart with have the life of their dreams. Again, I have said this before, but thank you EP and PP for letting me know your children. They are lovely and all the things I have to say are a reflection of you. You are amazing parents and in my field, they are hard to come by. What an example you are...

9. I thankful for school. Although I bitch and moan every waking moment about how hard school is, I love it. I love that I get the opportunity to exercise my freedom, even as a woman, and further my education. Being lucky doesn't get close to the monstrosity of being able to be educated. Thus, I will be in debt, literally and figuratively, for the rest of my life, but I will become Dr. Taylor....how lucky am I?

10. I am thankful for Dave. I get to come home every night to someone who loves me and welcomes me with a smile. He completes my weekends and always indulges me when I ask him to look at the Boys even if it is the 105th time. He vacuums and lets me snuggle under the warm laundry while he folds it and puts it away. He turns his heated seat on in his car for me before I get in and always drives because he knows I hate to. He listens as if he knows what I am talking about whether it is therapist babble, Us magazine gossip, or Twilight updates. He tries to understand why it is necessary to have 10 pillows on the bed and puts a fresh bottled water on my night-stand each night. When Im too tired to get up in the morning and turn my alarm off, he gets it and pushes snooze just the right amount of times. Most of all, I feel his kindness and loyalty to my core. I trust him more than anyone and know he is my partner. I am thankful to share my world with him and for him to welcome it with open arms. 

Smells Like Teen Spirit

Oh what a weekend! I have to go day by day just to explain the over abundant amount of chaos called my life. 

Friday:

With the brilliant help of my favorite people, we served 75 people Thanksgiving dinner with all the fixings! After, I went to Twilight with my seudo-sis-in-law and Kimmel:) I was SO excited and I must say, although their acting has not yet been perfected, the movie was smashing and I can't get enough of the series:)

Saturday:

Go to Barnes and Noble because Amazon.com hates me and apparently doesn't know what 3 day delivery means. My other Twilight books have not showed up so I went and purchased another....that's right I know have two of the same books. Anyway, the Power of 4 set off for Yakima to take Grammy out for lunch. Shortly after Mom gets in a car accident with a dumb-ass without insurance and registration, LOVE IT:( 

We get home, and Mrs. Smith and I hurry because we had to go see NKOTB! Yippee......We got down with 30 minutes to get ready and I must say, it was by far the best show I have ever been to, EVER. It was the first show that I knew all the fellow ladies were returning fans and the same age. All the other concerts I have been to included either a really old crowd or a really young crowd Finally, a crowd to be a part of. We met some lovely girls behind us that were a kick in the pants, made fun of a lot of crimped hair, side pony-tails a plenty, and lots of neon. We heard all the classics, Step-By-Step, Hang Tough, and The Right Stuff. I heart the early 90's!

Lots of drinks later, Mrs. Smith and I found ourselves in our hotels bar to finish the night off with some shots and fries...mmmmm!

PS Throughout the day I was reading New Moon (2nd book in Twilight series) and finished it within 24 hours, 550+pages and all!

Sunday:

Woke up to yummy continental breakfast and a day with my sister. 

In all, a successful weekend for sure. Every bit was too much and chaotic, but I soaked it up! No homework, work, or busy life to deal with...just teenage reading and a concert from my past!

Thanks for such a great weekend Mrs. Smith, it's in my top 5 for sure!

Shout out for Charles, feel better soon, and move in with my Mom already!

Like a Teenage Girl

When I was in 2nd grade I couldn't read. Looking back, I was a hopeless and chaotic child that was most likely undiagnosed with ADD. Oh well. My Mom basically told Ms. Dixon, and the rest of my school, "Shhhhh, don't tell her. She will have to figure out how to learn with this issue of hers." I did. I remember that 2nd grade year more vividly than all the rest. Ms. Dixon worked me hard and good until I loved to read. By the 4th grade I was reading anything and everything you put in front of me. By 6th grade, my sister was in high school reading all sorts of high school literature and well beyond any reading list any teacher gave her. Because Mrs. Smith was reading advanced things for her age with my Annie and Mom, I followed suit and started to read along with them. Not so unfortunately, I skipped reading all of those teen books filled with nonsense and girls worried about pimples. I was comparing the works of Jane Austin and gushing over my newly signed copy of To Kill A Mockingbird. Not your average tween. Thus my theory was formed. I read all of the intellectual books that would be on a regular college seniors work load at the age of 15 so now I am playing catch up to all of the dumb and mindless literature I should have read between the ages of 9-13. 

Example 1#:

Mom was reading the Harry Potter series and I thought she was an idiot. I was too busy reading the Formative Years of Freud. A couple of years later I picked up Harry Potter because I was bored over my Christmas break having read all 10 of my holiday books, and fell in love. I read them all religiously. When the last book was released, I was the twenty-something standing in line with my cape, wand, book, awaiting my certificate of graduation from Hogwarts and a petrified Phoenix tear. (Really it's a rainbow ribbon with a plastic chunk attached to it....it is very meaningful) I was that girl.

Example 2#:

I love all teen girl movies. Mrs. Smith and I cannot get enough of them, and I squirm with delight when they come out on video or On Demand. We are the only so-called "Adults" I know that have an infatuation with awkward teenage moments. Literally, I get a suspicious high when seeing them fall, get a pimple, or get a date. I LOVE IT! 

Example 3#: (Most important as I am currently trying to keep my mind distracted for enough time to not think about this for one minute...so far, not successful)

I constantly feel like I need to keep in touch with my teen base because they are a large population that I will be working with in my practice. Really, I use this as an excuse to read and watch everything teen related:( Anyway, a bunch of my kids were talking about this series of books about vampires that they love, called Twilight. Intrigued, I asked a few of my fellow classmates at St. Martin if they had heard of it, they said yes but didn't give many details. On a whim, I bought the first book on Friday and decided I would give it a try. Holy Shit! I'm in love and hooked. I cannot rave enough about these books and to be quite honest I can't really tell you why. They are intriguing and fantastic and I know why my kids think they are so great. Teens find themselves comparing themselves to vampire because teens think they are indestructible and vampires are. Very complicated concept, but believe it or not, resea

rch has show this to be true. Besides the point, I'm a suedo teenage girl and found myself done with the book in two days whilst completely ignoring Dave and gushing about the details of Bella and Edward to the teenage girls of the YMCA. I'm cool Teacher Taylor now. I spent 2 hours talking to 5 girls about how dreamy Edward is, when a Mom came to intervene and told me she thought it was nice of me to "play along" like I had read the book and enjoyed it in hopes to connect with kids on a deeper level. I have yet to tell her that I lead that conversation and I'm a groupie for Twilight. 

Anyway, get out and read it. I liked it and can't wait until Amazon delivers the next 3 books in 2 days even if I did pay $24 for them to be rush shipped! Happy teenage reading to you all:)

PS I pre-ordered my movie tickets to see Twilight the movie when it opens on Friday. I literally have butterflies when I think about how great it is going to be.

It Could Happen

On December 4th we are going to see Augusten Burroughs, and I am elated. It is a Pierce College in Puyallup, and I have no idea what or where that is....and I don't care! It is a small venue for only 200 people. In my head, it will go like this...

No one comes to this because they forgot the day or something of that nature. Because of this, we are the only four in the audience. Augusten asks us to move to the front of the room to ask whatever we like. He decides that this is a dumb set up and asks us if we would like to have dinner with him, Cow, and his boyfriend. Of course we agree and have a splendid time and he is sad when the night is over. We all exchange phone numbers and Mom invites him over for Christmas. He says, "Of course!!!," and we all get together days later. This is the culmination of our budding friendships because he decides he loves us and Seattle so much that he is now moving to Seattle!!! Much to my surprise he loves Queen Anne and moves in down the street. Sheri moves up because Augusten begs her and we all live within 10 minutes of each other. I watch his dog when he is away, and we all make fun of everything together....really, it is bliss. Augusten then decided that he is going to employ me after grad school because he loves me so much. I love my job and he decides to have his great friend Haven Kimmel come over. Augusten is over the moon that she is visiting and meeting us and guess what? She loves us as well and relocates her whole family to join our new literary family! Much to everyone's surprise, including my own, Dave and I decided to get married. Augsten is overjoyed when I ask him to walk me down the aisle. He is a vital part of our family. Over the years Augusten and Haven have become our family and now join us in Christmas crafts and Sunday dinners.

This is what I envision for our new lives after December 4th. Is it likely? I think so....It could happen:)

Grace

I watched along with everyone else last night. I haven't felt that kind of American unity since 9/11.

I was in my Senior year in high school, working as a teachers assistant in the office. It was early morning and I was walking down to give a note to one of the teachers. As I passed by one of the classrooms the news was on and a burning tower flashed quickly before my eyes as I walked past the class and up to the office. Again the television was on. We all watched in horror thinking, "What a terrible mistake." As we watched further, all of the sudden out of the corner of the screen, flew another plane. This was no accident. We all froze. I heard the world stop turning and it was so quiet that you could hear a buzzing in the air. At that moment, the intercom went on and I could hear the principal ask everyone to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Again, you could hear and feel the scooting of chairs and the voices of my peers echoing down the halls. I knew then, that everyone in the U.S. was saying a prayer, pledging their allegiance, or crying out. This was my first experience with a universal cry of sadness.

Last night, those feelings arose again. Not of sadness, but of camaraderie. We, as a nation, have been through horror for the last 8 years. I don't put all of the blame of W, but he definitely had his hand in the destruction of our country's moral, reputation, honor, trust, and freedoms. I watched each of the red and blue states light up wishing and hoping with each and every American for change. Hope was in the air. I felt that frozen moment. Suspended in air where I could actually feel a shift in the energy others were giving off. As we all cheered on the 44th President of the United States, the world experienced a bit more carbon dioxide than usual as the United States took a deep breath. The tension that built up and the times of holding our breath is over. Let it all out...breath.

So, I am lucky to have experienced two frozen moments in my life as an American. I am involved in a time where I feel heard and a part of something as uniting as voting should be. I applaud my fellow Americans, both Republican and Democrats alike, and can I say, you amaze me. I am so proud...

Barack Obama, you are so very lucky to govern the United States. We are versatile, resilient, and ready to take what is in store for us. With you by our sides as we step into the unknown, I cannot thank you enough for making me feel safe and a part of something big. The courtship is over, our anniversary will be January 1, 2009 and I cannot wait to start our 8 year marriage!

Welcome to my life.