Gratitude Month continues

Day 5: tv show

I’m grateful for the mandalorian because we watch this one with our older 4 kids abd it’s something we look forward to doing together every weekend.  Plus, Baby Yoda? I mean come on. So cute. 

I’m also grateful for This Is Us. The storylines from day one have been relatable to the Willy family, from the partially biological “triplets”, being an interracial adoptive family, the house fire, and the many ups and downs of foster care. I also love me some Mandy Moore and spent many years in the early 2000s trying to copy that short haircut she rocked.  If I had a “guilty pleasure tv drama” I suppose this fills that category. 

Day 6: someone you’re grateful for

This Lady, right here.  Right now our relationship is so one sided it gives me an ulcer to think about how much I take and how little I have to give back.  I’m running on fumes all day, every day, and she never patronizes me. Instead she says things like “I know there is nothing you can toss of your plate, or I would take it for you.” And “Good job balancing today!” And “I don’t know what you’re going to find time to do that, but I know you will”. She is encouraging and hopeful and I believe her when she tells me “You’ve got this!”  Even when I know she isn’t feeling well or having a hard week, she listens intently when I schedule my week or day or hour out loud, and she replies to my chaos with the cheerleading of an angel. 

Day 7: social media platform 

Instagram. I took Facebook off my phone a month or so ago, and don’t miss it one bit. I think I’m going to deactivate my account. I like Instagram. If donehinv bothers me, I don’t follow it. In general, it’s a pretty uplifting place.  I think that the people who have figured out how to make IG a business for themselves are basically brilliant. Not celebrities or anything. But I look at some of these influencers and think about how most of the lives of the accounts I follow are really not very different than mine. 17K people are watching this lady rebuild her house after a fire. And she’s getting paid and loads of free swag.  Same goes for the mother of 7. I mean, I don’t dress my children like it’s early 1900’s with the button up shoes and adorable caps on their heads, but this lady is getting paid to share her “pro tips” like “feed them pancakes for dinner.”  Know what o get for feeding my kids pancakes for dinner? Mom guilt 🤣🤣🤣. Really though I think it so clever how the gears work inside the entrepreneur brains of these women who’ve figured out a way to turn themselves into a brand and provide financially for their families just by sharing edited versions of their lifestyles.  Who wants to pay to come watch me do laundry? Anyone? Beuler? 

Day 8: a coworker who made a positive impact 

In high school, my first “real job” was at Eagle Ridge Golf Course. I was the lone girl out of a dozen male peer coworkers who drove the caged cart on the range that picked up the golf balls,. We also cleaned out, pressure washed, and put away golf carts as they came in, and washed driving range balls.  I quickly befriended all of the old guys who had retired from careers and now worked part time as course marshalls at twilight for golf benefits. Those guys were very serious about their roles and were often comically at odds with the teen boys I worked with because the boys were sloppy, always wrestling,  or messing around (ie just having fun being teenagers). Being the odd one out meant I was the sweetheart of the golf course, and the Marshalls were all eager to share their wisdom and work ethic with the young girl who was willing to work and learn and learn to work.  Yes please call the office They always had lessons for me and each day was like a line from Vince Lombardi’s “what it takes to be number 1” speech. I left that job with a love for precision and efficiency. I learned how to be charming, likeable, and diplomatic. I learned to be brave and was supported and believed when I spoke up  against a teen coworker who was sexually harassing me and stalking me after work—it was all the older course marshall mentors who followed up with my boss to make sure the situation was followed up on. They promoted me from the cart garage and driving range to “greeter” and I checked in the players as they arrived. I was the “welcome face of Eagle Ridge”.  I really believe it was working with a dozen “dads” (who were much like my own amazing dad!) who all got to know me and genuinely cared about me and my future to make sure I did a top notch job, that helped me develop a lot of the work ethic and hospitality that I have today.  They had high expectations, but each were good at explaining those expectations, and helping me to meet them.