French Christmas

Thankful for Things Great and Small

 

Eariler this week I tried to be thankful for the neglected details, the things taken for granted. Today, tomorrow, and all this weekend, I'm thankful for the obvious things great and small: the whipped cream on the pumpkin pie;  sharing the holiday with my boyfriend for the first time; the sounds of my family; the sight of my house when I pull up the driveway. Health. Friends. Love.

Those of you who know me know I'm not really religious, but when I think about all of these blessings, I think of the Sacred Heart and how full it must have been. This is how these blessings make me feel.

Photo: Istock

On the Flip Side

My midwestern heart is divided right down the middle, one half in Chicago and one half in Detroit. The Windy City is where I've made my new life, but the Motor City is where I cut my teeth--it's gears and phrases and landscape are in my very DNA. And it's been getting it's teeth kicked in lately, so if there was ever a time to remind people why it's awesome, now would be it. So Detroit, I'm ever so thankful for you, and especially thankful for:

5. Faygo Rock 'N Rye
4. The Michigan hand-map thingy
3. 1974 yellow corvette stingrays
2. The Ren Cen (aka the Renaissance Center)
1. Motown

See you in 26 hours, my love!

XOXO N.

Photo: Istock

My Kind of Town

Today's thankful theme is Chicago. I came here four (five?) years ago for grad school and haven't left for a whole variety of reasons, many of which I take for granted when the el is late or the Cubs fans in my neighborhood are too loud. Chicago, here is why I'm thankful for you:

5. Lake Michigan and the miles and miles and miles of bike path that let me see/worship/exercise by/its shores.
4. The Red line. Yes, sometimes it smells funny, but it beats gridlock and will take me from home to work to my boyfriend's any time of day, any day of the year. (And on New Year's, you can ride it for only a penny!)
3. You are the capital of the midwest. Big city attitude, hometown feel. Gotta love it.
2. Chicago Style Hot Dogs
1. Hello? Barack Obama.

Photo: Kristina Ogilvie

The Countdown is On!

Did you know that it's really Wednesday? In short week speak, that is, because there are only two more days left until the "weekend." (Aka the awesome four-day holiday.) Two more days of emails, frantic phone calls and management meetings. Two more days until mashed potatoes, spiked cider, and food comas. Two more days until freedom.

In honor of Thanksgiving, this week (or these next three days) I'm going to think of five things I'm thankful for, every day. And not just the obvious easy things, but the things I forget to be thankful for, thing that I often spend most of my time complaining about. For example, today's theme is things I'm thankful for about work:

5. My daily spinach, cucumber and ranch salad, which is free!
4. My boss, who let me go early on Friday night so I could go drink maragaritas at Uncle Julio's Hacienda with my co-workers.
3. My ridiculously easy commute, which keeps me dry in the rain and allows me to catch up on the gossip columns.  
2. The opportunity to always be better (yeah, that's right, I'm looking at you this week!).
1. The co-workers who keep me sane when the shit hits the fan.

Photo: Istock

The Hardest Things

Maybe it's just me, but sometimes it seems like the things we love to do can also be the hardest. I'm the perfect example. The thing that makes me the happiest in this life (the purpose thing, not the family and friends thing), is writing. But sometimes the idea of working on a freelance piece or starting a new blog post fills me with anxiety from head to toe.

Is it fear of failure? Overall laziness? Not sure yet, I'm still chewing on it. If I figure it out over the weekend, I'll be sure to let you know.  

Cultivate the Pause

Mmmm. In a little bit I'm going to yoga. Hot, sweaty, glorious yoga. Where I don't have to think about anything for 90 whole minutes. Where even if I want to think or stress or obsess about something, it's not an option. (Seriously, just try calcluating budget reports when you're standing on your head in a 95 degree room and see how far it gets you.)

Yoga is my reboot time. I don't care what kind of awesome computer you have, if you never turn it off, if you run too many programs at once, sooner or later something's going to short circuit on you. But if you can put everything on pause for just a minute, all the problems seem to miraculously work themselves out.

Photo: Istock

One little bit

I'm finding the mid, okay let's be honest, the late twenties to be a conundrum. The list of things to do has shrunk.

College? Check.

Grad school? Check.

Get an apartment and survive in the "real" world (whatever that means)? Check.

So now that all these things are done, I'm sort of not sure what to do with myself next. It was so much  easier when everything was laid out for me in a nice, neat linear path.

Of course, I have some big goals and dreams. (Who doesn't?) But the things I need to do to get to the big dreams very often get shoved on the back burner. The big just seems so, well, big. And after I get home from work and run on the treadmill and then stop at the grocery store for spaghetti sauce and throw in a load of whites, I don't have the engery for big.

So for now, I'm just shooting for small. One little thing every day. Five extra minutes on the elliptical (because I want to trim off five pounds). One blog post every week day (because I want to get in the habit of writing more, possibly all the time.) One freelance submission a month (because writing is all I really want to do with the rest of my life. Besides get married and have babies and such.)

Hopefully, all these little things will add up to something big. Or maybe at least medium. I could go for medium.

Photo: Istock

Trying to Resist

I think those crazy snowflakes I was talking about yesterday got to me. Despite all my best efforts to ignore the Christmas commercials, the holiday lights in my neighbor's front yard, and the carols that are already playing on the radio, I've been bitten by the yuletide bug.

I don't like to rush the holiday season. I think Thanksgiving is a lovely holiday that deserves its own celebration, without it's pushy older sibling hogging the spotlight. Thanksgiving maintains the best things about Christmas (family time, decadent food) and weeds out the bad (excessive spending, excessive stress, excessive everything). I think Americans in general should be a little more grateful for everything we have (and often take for granted), and like it or not, Thanksgiving asks each of us to do so, even if it's just until the pumpkin pie is served.

Therefore, I don't like to even think about mistletoe or eggnog until the day after Thanksgiving. But this year, I give up. Maybe it's because I'm really anxious to go home for the holidays, or because it's snowing already, or because I've got some really awesome gift ideas planned. Whatever it is, I gave in to the Christmas Spirt early, made my gift lists, and started digging out my Christmas cards. 

(My name is Noël, after all.)  

Photo: Kristina Ogilvie

They're baaaaack

Big, fat, we're-not-messing-around snowflakes, that is. They sent a few troops out on reconnaissance last week around lunchtime, and after securing the area, launched a full scale attack yesterday at 5:00 p.m. The last of the autumn leaves surrendered their outposts and ran for the hills. With our lines of defense broken and complete occupation imminent, it's time to pull out the serious battle gear: wool scarves, hats and mittens.

I don't mind so much this year, though, because for one, I have a crockpot. A crockpot is your most valuable ally in winter. It can be two freaking degrees outside, but knowing there is a big old pot of corned beef and cabbage simmering on your countertop can give you the strength to carry on.

And two, snow means it's time to go home for a visit. I am so thirsty for a taste of home--family faces, stuffing and gravy, my old bed--I can feel it in my very bones.

Photo: Kristina Ogilvie

The Center of the Universe!

Ok, maybe that's a slight exageration. But it is true that approximately one week ago, our sleepy little midwestern city not only got thrust into the national/international spotlight, but President Elect Obama (oooh . . . I love saying that!) also moved his headquarters to the building across the street from where I work. (I would take a pic and post it, but I feel for some reason that would be unpatriotic.)

So now every day when I come to work, there's crazy police cars and security and bomb sniffing dogs on the streets. And yesterday, when Hillary Clinton and President Elect Obama (yay, there it is again!) may or may not have been meeting about her becoming Secretary of State, they may or may not have been right across the street.

I'm a midwestern girl through and through--Big Ten football, cornhole (aka bags to people from Indiana), and all. I know we get overlooked as the "fly by" between the two coasts, which has always been fine by me. But now, it's like the rest of the world is in on our little secret.

Photo: Istock