Zero's Pollyanna Glad Journal

It's been a while since I journaled.

First I've moved. The plant light experiment got mostly killed off in the move, but some of it is still surviving.

My husband is still in the Kansas City area, working on our house, which has been one bad turn of events followed by another. The up side to this is that between our lawsuit against the city (the first disaster was their fault) and the insurance claim (from the second disaster). We're getting a lot more done on the house than we had originally planned.

Meanwhile I am far away and by myself, which is something of a bummer, except I get to read as much as I want to and watch whatever I want on television.

My oldest dog died. What I have to be glad about there is that his death came suddenly over just the course of a few hours, and interestingly he lived long enough to spend the last ten minutes of his life with me. He literally got out of the car after a long car ride, and died a few minutes later.

my new job is very stressful, and it's exactly what I love to do. My boss says he's glad I'm a Pollyanna (I believe he thinks it is amusing, but I'm not sure if he's laughing at me or with me. Probably both.). If I had more time, I'd be having the time of my life, but my dream project had some setbacks before I ended up in the thick of it. As a result, there are many demanding days, and a few very "un-Pollyanna" days, but for the most part I keep it in perspective and look for something to laugh about. Sometimes it really is ridiculous enough to warrant a good laugh.

So on the whole, life is good... but really when wasn't it?

Hello, all! I haven't journaled in a while and thought I'd give a bit of an update. First, our old house is still under construction. We've added a retaining wall and my husband completely ripped the bathroom down to the studs, which were not in the original plan, but we got ambitious. It's going to be fantastic when we're done, though a bit disappointing to leave it so pretty.

At any rate, there is finally (after a year) a porch on the house. It is exactly the picture of charm that it once was, before the porch started rotting off of the house. The new porch (thanks to my husband's newfound respect for cement) will probably last long after our 100-year-old house has caved into the basement. I'm awfully proud of all the work my husband has done, though I wish we were done so he could join me here.

In the meantime, our dog has come to live with me, which is a real joy.

On the work front, we finished our big project, and have spent the last two months mopping up the little remaining pieces and trying to catch up with our other jobs. We did take time out this past week to get the team together and recount horror stories and a few bright spots. It was really neat to see everyone getting together without the stress of the project.

Life is good! Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Valentine's Day! The house is still up in the air, but today I am picking up my husband at the airport to celebrate Saint Valentine's Day. It will be wonderful just to be together again. Our plan is to spend much of Valentine's day doing normal things... spending time with the dog, making dinner, and watching television. We actually rented a hotel room with a kitchenette for our anniversary a few months ago, just so we could watch television, cook dinner and spend time with the dog. It was so normal, we were giddy. So I guess being seperated by circumstance has helped us appreciate what we have more.

He's and I are going through some particularly difficult times with one of the other organizations we belong to, which has been truly heart wrenching for us, but I am certainly learning who in my life can truly be trusted. I do believe that the world would be a better place if more people were like Pollyanna (not to be confused with Pangloss). I guess even Pollyanna learned that not everyone wanted to hear about or believe in finding the good in all things, though that's talked about in the second book, which very few have ever read.

I read in another book recently that some people are simply too afraid of not having enough or being enough that they can't see the value of what they have. That's truly sad, but I also heard that "happiness" is a growing area in the field of psychology... so perhaps there is hope yet.

I hope that everyone has a great day. I know I will.

Just checking in! I'm learning to appreciate Denver. I miss the huge thunderstorms of the Midwest, but I rather enjoy the odd unpredictability of weather here. It's funny to cross the street and feel like the temperature dropped five degrees or to see a snow covered truck parked on a dry street during a sunny day. At Easter we drove from the southwestern suburbs to the northeastern suburbs, and experienced five kinds of weather. Wow!

Today was a great day! We had a team building scavenger hunt at work. Our team came in dead last, but I don't care. We had great ideas and a great time... best of all there was no real disagreement on how to do things. Whoever had an idea or a desire to act did so and everyone else fell in line together. Our prize was an affirmation ball, kind of like an eight ball, but it gives you comments like "your breath smells minty" and it has a huge smiley face.

We talked a deli into letting us pretend to rob them so we could take a photograph.

One of our team members chased a woman dressed as a cow down an alleyway. I was right behind him when he disappeared down the alley way, yelling "Cow! Cow!" I ran to the alley and started to join the chase when I realized they were really full on sprinting down the alley. He caught the cow, but it looked like a scene from a cop show.

Later, I was the first to find the "light saber" in a planter, and was still trying to figure out what the rest of the clue meant when my team told me to yell "Aaaaahhh!" Totally trusting them, that's what I did, and this actor dressed as a ninja jumped out from behind a wall. My first thought was "Oh no! I have to fight her?" It turned out that she was doing dramatic sword fighting, while I had a semester of competitive fencing in college. I'm a first rate klutz, and slow as can be, but when someone leaves themselves that wide open, even I can successfully attack. I got her with a great left to right downward slash and then got the arm in which she was holding num-chucks (no she didn't intend to use them). When she fell, I stabbed her a few times (remember "fake" light saber) for good measure. We got some great photos and though my form wouldn't impress my fencing instructor, I really do look like I know what I'm doing. I certainly felt more proud of that, regardless of how unrealistic the whole thing was.

Speaking of proud, I started an attempt at running yesterday. I won't be running (okay mostly walking) again until this weekend, but I think it will be an interesting experience to actually learn how to run. For those of you to whom running came naturally, I'm really glad for you. Personally, I can barely walk straight and often fall out of my chair, so running is not second nature. I actually have to think hard about how my feet hit the ground. I'll be glad if I learn to run 30 minutes without stopping; and I'll even be glad just for trying to learn.

Much to be glad about today... next I'll be glad of sleep.

Wow this is a busy month for me. It started out at 4:00 a.m. on New Year's Day greeting the son of a friend when he returned from Iraq. Now that's a great start to a new year. When their son arrived we were all beat, but he was ready to eat, so we all headed out for breakfast at a local restaurant. What a blessing to have him home safe! We were all so excited.

Before he arrived we helped his wife move into their apartment, which was hard work, but my girlfriend and I still managed to make the most amazing scene at the grocery store. We went into the deli section looking for a sandwich and ended up oohing and ahhing with our noses to the glass over a display of brie piled with pecans, cranberries, apples and carmel. Then we turned around and saw all of the gourmet crackers. We were squealing with delight and amusing the patrons of the deli. Needless to say we had appetizers that evening.

We've got a new Big Boss which has added to the hectic pace of the end of year/beginning of year activities. I'm in between trips right now. I just got back from a meeting in New Orleans, where I met some very nice people... including a very nice cab driver from Eritria. I have to admit that the humidity, the rain and the fog were what pleased me most. Besides just missing humidity, the fog really adds an unexpected atmosphere to New Orleans.

Now that I'm home I am temporarily dogless. (First time in nineteen years.) Though I wake up every morning expecting my dog to come hopping onto the bed to wake me up, there is a certain sense of joy in knowing that I can leave the closet doors open and toss the numerous dog fur throws and covers into the laundry so as to enjoy what my house looks like without rags draped over everything. Every night I have a moment at work when I think, I'd better get home to feed the dog, and am disappointed to remember that he isn't there. Then again, I get to stay and finish my projects. There's always some sort of silver lining.

He'll be back next week along with my husband and we'll all be cozy on the couch just the way the dog likes it... and we do everything the way the dog likes. TTFN! -- z

Wow, it's really been eight months since I last posted. So much has happened.

First, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had surgery and is undergoing chemo. Nothing to be glad about on those scores, but we have gotten to spend some time together just talking. And as we keep reminding ourselves, she's going to live.

My mom is getting a kick out of being bald, but forbade the rest of us to shave our heads, which is the same as telling us to go immediately to the barber. Turns out my father and I both look good bald... okay, I look fantastic bald. I wear a wig to work so as not to freak out my very conservative bosses, but at home it's nice to take off my hair. I also have a new favorite thing, which is rain on my scalp. It's an awesome feeling.

This summer we took a trip to Italy. I was only able to stay for a week, but it was fun to finally be able to converse (somewhat coherently) with my husband's family. We also got to see Duran Duran play on the beach in a thunderstorm. (Gee, I wish I'd been bald.) My favorite part though was getting lost in Venice. This is becoming a tradition for my husband and I. We start out at Piazza San Marco, dive into the winding streets packed with tourists and take the first turn down an abandoned "alley." We stick to the most abandoned routes we spot. We found cats in a courtyard, a few tourist free restaurants where the locals eat, more than one deserted piazza, apartment buildings, private docks, etc. It's just fun to wind through the little alleys and never know what will be around the corner, even if it's something as ordinary as a bank. I really want to go back in winter, just to see it in the fog.

Well, it's time for breakfast. Cajun benedict with coffee and mimosas! Yum!