Things That Are Awesome!

This week has been so dull, lame, boring, miserable, (your adjective here) that I’ve put off going to bed at night for fear that each day would bring more of the same. But I didn’t spend all my time wallowing in the grumps! I also put together this list of all the happy things that I’ve got going on. At first I’d planned on calling it “Things That Don’t Suck,” but in the spirit optimism, I went with “Things That Are Awesome!” instead:

1. After a long, blistering summer, the Ember months (and October! God forbid we forget October!) are here again, meaning the beginning of autumn is nigh! While the first day of every other month barely registers on my radar, the first day of September is always a big event. It’s sort of like the finish line to a marathon that begins allllllll the way back in January. (I’m fairly sure I even fist-pumped once or twice yesterday morning.) The first day of fall technically isn’t until September 22 (It’s a little early this year! Fist-pump!) but no matter, I can smell the pumpkins and feel the breezes already. 
2. I found alfalfa sprouts in my non-alfalfa-eating parents’ fridge on Tuesday night, so I had the distinct and unexpected pleasure of eating a turkey, alfalfa, and ranch sandwich for lunch on Wednesday and a turkey and alfalfa salad today.
3. I’ve had a secondary source of income since I started my big girl job three months ago. (A freelance writing job, y’all, nothing untoward!) Having two sources of income has been a treat, and having a boss who appreciates my writing abilities has been the cherry on top!
4. I’m saving boo-koos of money by living with my parents. Instead of spending every other paycheck on rent, electricity, and groceries, I stick every other paycheck in a joint savings account and then sit back and watch it collect interest. And what of the paychecks that don’t go into the joint account? They sit in my checking account and dream about the day their miserly master will finally let them out to play.
5. My coworkers. Six beacons of Fabulous! in a company full of Can-I-Buy-You-A-Drink?s.
6. I’m finally eligible for my 401K and paid time off! Retirement’s nice and all, but PTO is the stuff of fairy tales—you mean I can get paid to watch HGTV in my underwear, pick the cookie dough chunks out of the ice cream, drink Ballatore from the bottle, and brush my hair with my fingers? Well why in the hell did I ever do those things for free? Even though I haven’t been allowed to use it, I’ve apparently been accruing time off since day one, meaning if I wanted to call in too-sloshed-off-mimosas-to-put-down-my-book-and-get-out-of-my-bubble-bath tomorrow morning, I totally could.
7. The movie Chicago. It’s been off my radar for a while, but I decided to re-watch it yesterday while I was on the wedmill and durn near fell off three times because I was too busy singing along and shaking my hips to put one foot in front of the other.
8. My mom walked into my room this morning and announced that today would be the perfect day for me to call in sick to work. A little perspective: my brother and I were not allowed to skip school unless we were puking up stomach lining and shooting blood out of our pores. But a little inclement weather on a workday and I might as well have woken up headless. Due to a rare genetic condition, I only get sick on Mondays and Fridays (weird, right?), so I had no choice but to trudge to work in the rain this morning. Still, it’s nice to know my mom has her priorities straight.
9. My Labor Day weekend plans! Saturday drinking wine in the Hill Country, Sunday shopping for antiques and eating German potato salad in Fredericksburg, and Monday doing a little bit of both. And how’s this for spontaneity—Sean and I planned the trip Monday morning, booked the trip Monday night, and will leave on the trip tomorrow at 9:00PM. Not bad for a couple that usually starts mulling over vacations three months in advance!