THANKFUL FRIDAY
Cindy Maddera
See this Instagram photo by @elephant_soap * 1 like
Early this week I was out with a virus that Michael had brought home last week (probably Zika). Then Wednesday night I went to bed at my usual time only to lay there with my eyes open thinking about bills and accumulating debt and how I was going to fix that. My skin was itchy because every time I go outside I come back in with five new giant welts from mosquitoes (probably Zika). My face itches because I started using a new face wash that made my face break out in a rash. My head itches because a few nights ago I dreamed that the Cabbage had head lice (she doesn't have head lice). While I scratched, I fretted about things I couldn't do anything about in that moment. I tried doing sixty one points of relaxation. I tried doing rounds of alternate nostril breathing. Finally, I got up around eleven and took a Benadryl, which didn't really stop all the itching, but did make me sleep.
I woke up the next morning, slightly foggy from anti-histamine blockers, but aware enough to realize what really was going on. Wednesday was the last day of summer and as I fell asleep it became officially the first day of Fall. There are parts of the human brain that still hold on to the old primitive man ways. Instead of panicking about not having enough food to get us through winter, I panicked about things I didn't get done or have yet to get done. Fall is a small snowball that becomes an avalanche that explodes into the New Year. As it rolls downhill it just gets bigger and faster. It's not even October yet and I already have most of the month booked up with plans. Fall is a reminder that we've maybe been overly ambitious in writing our to-do lists for the year. I used to chide Chris the Great List Maker all the time about how much stuff he would put on his daily to-do lists. Now, I am chiding myself.
As we officially say goodbye to summer, I am taking a moment to be thankful for the things I did this summer. Actually, I'm thankful for the things that we've done this summer. The best part of some of those things is that they weren't even on a list of any kind. They were spontaneous moments that we planned at the last minute. Today I am being thankful for being in the moment and for savoring those moments. I am thankful for tossing the so called to-do list to the wayside and forgetting about it all together.
Today is Amy's birthday. I bought her a card based on the picture on the outside without thinking about it being a blank on the inside. I rambled on and on in the inside of the card before coming up with a vision of us at 80. That vision includes a group of us all living in a retirement village together. I am thankful for Amy for more reasons than I can say here in this space. I am thankful for roasted tomatoes and jalapeno soup. I am thankful for Calamine lotion. I am thankful for you. Here's to a weekend that should be filled with equal parts relaxing and work (the garage is filthy) and here's to a wonderful Thankful Friday!