introducing: thursday thanks

there are many ways in which i fall short, and i miss the mark more often than i care to acknowledge. but if nothing else, there is one thing i am pretty good at: gratitude.

i don't know where it comes from or when it began, but i'm certain that i had a remarkable example somewhere who instilled in me the importance of this principle. i'm also certain i didn't recognize it at the time.

but as i've grown older, and every now and again, wiser, the principle of gratitude has on more than one occasion, been my saving grace. it keeps me sane, balanced, faithful, and hopeful.

there are always comparisons to be made with those who seem to have more or better, but i often find myself focused on those who have less and worse. they are everywhere. they are at work, at home, at school, in the grocery store. and there are those with less than them, those who don't go to work, have a home, get an education, or shop at a store. i am constantly amazed at how much i have been given, despite all of my shortfalls and missed marks.

with that said, i'm making my gratitude a little more public. i'm going to attempt to dedicate a post a week to the things/people i am particularly grateful for that week. we (and by 'we', i mean 'me') are gonna call it 'thursday thanks'. i've got a list already in, so now you have something to look forward to!

can you see my background?

i updated the blog look last night, but checking it out on my work computer, there is no design, no background, just content. so tell me, can you or can you not see snowflakes (give it a minute to load)? wait until it's 'done' before you respond. thanks!

looking forward

you guys all got that link from the last post, right? this one? ok then, moving on...

so here's the out of town work travel schedule for '09. if you live near any of these cities, or you want an excuse to visit one of them, start your planning now!

January 15 – 25 Orlando

February 14 – 19 Las Vegas

March 21 – 25 Las Vegas

March 25 – 29 Phoenix

April 22 – 28 Baltimore

June 26 – July 1 New Orleans

July 9 – 15 Seattle

August 27 – September 2 Kansas City

September 8 -14 Chicago

September 23 – 28 San Antonio

sadly, i'll be on the road for valentine's day (maybe that's a blessing!) AND my birthday (not so much), but i do like the fact that i get to start gallavanting again.

public service announcement

christmas is coming.

you're welcome.

okay in all seriousness, or in part seriousness anyway, gifting is tough for me. it's hard to pick out the right gift for someone, and somehow it's even harder to tell someone what i want. a common conversation around birthdays and gift giving holidays goes like this:

other person: what do you want
me: i don't know. nothing really
other person: come on, seriously
me: seriously, there's nothing. you know, when i want something i just buy it for myself

i don't know why this conversation happens, i always want stuff. i have an entire bookmarked folder labeled 'i want that', with a sub-folder labeled 'i want it now.' one would think i would just delve into the folder to find something reasonable and make it easy on the 'other person', but no, instead i always tell them there's nothing i want.

recently, i've been updating my boxedup account. it's a wishlist type service where you can grab things off the web and indicate your desire to have them. mostly i've been updating because it's a good way to prioritize, and while amazon sells ALMOST everything, there are a few other sites i visit. so, for the 1-2 of you readers who might be considering a christmas gift with my name on it, conveniently located on my sidebar is the boxedup widget, where you can see what i am lusting after, or you can visit the site at www.boxedup.com/tara3. don't be deterred by the fact that there are a couple of pricey items on top--there are much less expensive ones as you go...although if you want to help me get closer to my pricey items, gift cards are always welcome.

and if you happen to be one of the 1-2 people this will matter to, it would be really great if you'd create your own wishlist somewhere and then tell me about it so i don't end up looking or feeling like a chump.

this concludes today's public service announcement. i'll try to go back to once a week blogging again :)

other stuff

you know that book 'the secret'? i've never read it, but random people have told me random things about it, and if i remember correctly, someone told me once that one of the examples in the book was that if you wanted to get married, you had to sleep on one side of the bed and leave some space in your closet for your non-existent future spouse visualization to work. anybody read it? do i have that right? if so, i might be in trouble. i've always slept on one side of the bed, so i'm fine there. but my closets are full, and beyond that, i'm completely settling in to my new place.

and by settling, i don't just mean unpacking. i spent my saturday purchasing bathroom fixtures (towel rods, toilet paper holders, etc.) and replacing the current ones. i also have a mind to replace the medicine cabinet and light fixture. it just has so much potential!

i also went searching for window treatments, and this is completely new and overwhelming for me. the last few places i've lived have either had wooden shutters or roll up shades, but the new place had these horrible awful no good very bad vertical blinds. if they were full length, MAYBE that would have been ok, but my window is about 70 inches wide by 36 inches tall, and the blinds were old and yellowish and had this gross plasticy valance thing. it was the one thing i actually hated about my room and knew i wanted to change. i've been looking at options for a couple of weeks to replace the nastiness, but hadn't settled on a solution. i love the idea of roman shades, but after exhausting my google fingers, i still couldn't find any that 1) i particularly liked or 2) wouldn't have to be custom made for size. so i headed out to bed, bath, and beyond to see what i could see, and landed on a major score!

note: i recently replaced my bedding because 1) change is good, and 2) linens n' things is going out of business and had some great deals! the new color scheme is chocolate brown and blue. it's always been an appealing combo for me*, but the fact that it tied into my last scheme so well (the same blue and a sage green) made it easier to transition some of my matchy matchy stuff. i wandered into the window treatment area of the store and was getting a little frustrated. i was about to give up when i heard something. i'm not entirely sure what it was, but it sounded like angels singing. then out of the corner of my eye, i saw a light. when i turned, i was staring at the most perfect window panels ever. though made by a different company and located at a different store, these panels appeared to be made for my bedroom set. i looked at the price, and though slightly disheartened, i couldn't have hand sewn a more perfect match. so i selected a rod and went to make my purchase. which! is where i learned that my curtains were on clearance for 50% off. this my friends, is what we call destiny.

they are absolutely perfect and i'm really happy with the way the room is progressing, but what i'm wondering now 'secret' readers, is, have i sealed my single fate by settling in? am i doomed for a solitary life just because i want my room to look pretty?

*for those of you who may also find the chocolate/blue combo appealing, i discovered an entire website devoted to it today.