Obviously life is a pain-filled march to the grave from the second you’re born. But it’s the small things that keeps you marching. Do share the small victories, tiny joys, and the things that just keep you going.
Me: Yesterday while doing eye colors my students all claimed my sparkling green eyes were a baby blue. They were surprised when I proved they were green by walking around and giving them the ol’ crazy wide-eye.
When my co-teacher asked why they thought they were blue they replied, “Because he’s a foreigner.”
Also: Fat = American. This is despite my very obvious Canadian habit of constantly apologizing and lust for poutine.
There’s a lot to be said on a socio-political level about these assumptions, but my white privilege… which reigns here too… renders it all cute. Also, the kids are adorable. I can forgive them.
I helped a co-worker get a side-job: She works in the floral department of the craft store where I work, and she makes flowered headbands. She made me a beautiful one out of flowers I’d found amongst my mother’s things. Anyhow, a lady was looking at our premades to wear when she gets married, but didn’t like the colors we had. So I told her about my coworker - I wear my headband to work every day - and she liked it, so I got her info, brought them together, and it turned out well!
I started out the week ahead of things, with a relatively straightforward task that I was looking forward to getting done about halfway through Monday, and a decent to-do list to follow. That got interrupted by a critical task, other people needed help, then another emergency, etc. And so it went. Friday evening, I finally completed the task I had intended to be Monday morning’s. My to-do list had been sitting there glaring at me all week and I was feeling a bit of failure.
But, then I remember some of the things that were said in meetings this week, and some of the messages I got from people throughout the company. Thanks and appreciation, people from other departments telling my boss that I make their job possible, coworkers looking at my work and talking about how great it was, the boss asking me to take on some new responsibilities out of my normal area.
So, things that keep me going: that appreciation from coworkers. The knowledge that if I put my own to-do list on standby to solve bigger issues facing the company, people see that as a win and don’t just look at my task list and think I’m failing.
Reminds me again that I do better with ‘done’ lists than ‘to-do’ lists. Because I always end up doing a lot of things that weren’t on my to-do list, and the things that weren’t on the list are usually more valuable than the things that didn’t get done. They’re usually the ones that get the “Wow, this is awesome!” notes from VPs and customers.
Also a reminder to send some appreciation to my coworkers. Because that might be the thing that keeps them going too.
(Almost) all blue-eyed people are foreigners (to them), but not all foreigners have blue eyes.
I’m tempted to use the same logic as the last one, but compare the average weight of an American to the average weight anywhere else. We are fat bastards over here.
I didn’t think my really positive and terrific doctor’s visit today was stupid. But I was myopic to think it merited this topic thread.
No Doctors Today
They tell me that euphoria is the feeling of feeling wonderful
well, today I feel euphorian
Today I have the agility of a Greek god and the appetite of a
Victorian
Yes, today I may even go forth without my galoshes
Today I am a swashbuckler, would anybody like me to buckle
any swashes?
This is my euphorian day
I will ring welkins and before anybody answers I will run away
I will tame me a caribou
And bedeck it with marabou
I will pen me my memoirs
Ah youth, youth! What euphorian days them was!
I wasn’t much of a hand for the boudoirs
I was generally to be found where the food was
Does anybody want any flotsam?
I’ve gotsam
Does anybody want any jetsam?
I can getsam
I can play chopsticks on the Wurlitzer
I can speak Portuguese like a Berlitzer
I can don or doff my shoes without tying or untying the laces because
I am wearing moccasins
And I practically know the difference between serums and antitoccasins
Kind people, don’t think me purse-proud, don’t set me down as
vainglorious
I’m just a little euphorious
well yeah, considering my mom had a mastectomy by the time she was my age and my brother (who also had taught in S. Korea, first gig in Busan) won’t see my age, I think my health report was stellar, and I had a cute anecdote… but my sharing half the time attracts some mean drunk or someone off their meds to piss on my parade. Dunno why, it’s not like I do it to them. I should be thankful the two hours it was up had no likes or comments.
My own “Fuck yeah!” actually took place in July, but it’s kind of a continuing “Fuck yeah!” - I had a successful TURP and am now off my catheter. (Peeing is a much neglected pleasure.) The real “Fuck yeah!”, however, is that the excised tissue was sent off to Pathology, and turned out not to have been cancerous, i.e., typical benign prostatic hyperplasia.
This isn’t definitive, of course (I have more prostate than what was removed), but, given that I spent the summer of '16 undergoing radiation therapy for Stage 2 prostate cancer, it’s a hopeful sign.
Thus I sure as Hell won’t piss on your parade. Anytime you get a clean bill of health with regards to the Big C, especially if it runs in the family (my own grandfather died of prostate cancer), that is something to celebrate.
Carpe diem, my friend, carpe diem. Just keep an eye on the things you know can be problematic (due diligence, so to speak), but in the mean time, live. I am effectively menopausal because of the Zoladex injections I’m still receiving, and I’m getting mild gastrointestinal upset from the Actonel DR that is being used to deal the bone loss that goes with hormone therapy (side effects of side effects, eh?), but it is so preferable to the alternative.
