First World Gratitude

Back on Thanksgiving, I published a list of 50 things for which I am grateful. I struggled with 50 and decided to stop at 25, but the more I listed the more I was able find. But while it is great to be thankful for caramel macchiatos, I decided to take my gratitude back to the basics.

I am grateful that...

• I can walk my dog in open spaces without being afraid or even thinking about land mines.
• I can speak my mind without fear of being thrown into prison.
• I have access to clean, fresh water anytime I want by turning a faucet.
• I can choose and switch my own religion without fear of my family wanting to kill me.
• I survived to be an adult protected against life-threatening diseases like polio.
• I can go outside of my house with my head and legs uncovered without my husband, father or brother as a chaperone.
• I never needed to fear the "rite" of genital mutilation.

America isn't perfect by any means and I am grateful to live here for more than the above reasons, but let's face it, the world is full of suck. The following are links to the some of the above issues if you are compelled to learn more to help reduce it.

- International Campaign to Ban Landmines

- Amnesty International

- Charity Water

- Human Rights Watch

- World Health Organization

Best Books of 2009 (part two)

Part Two! Let's get right to it, shall we?

Best Classic

- Beowulf: Okay, I sort of cheated and read David Wright's prose translation instead of the poem, but nonetheless, I was hooked from the first "chapter." Plus there are some great footnotes with plenty of historical information and context. Such heroism! Such drama!

Most Disappointing Book

- Life of Pi by Yann Martel: This book was beautifully written so no quibbles there, but I think maybe I missed all the allegory and symbolism that is supposed to be there. Anyone who has read it out there? Maybe you can clue me in.

Best Series

- Harry Potter by JK Rowling: Holy cow. I'm afraid few years will be able to beat 2009 in the book department. It was the year I caved and read the entire series - nonstop. I went from "meh, the movies are pretty cool" to "OMG I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY DIDN'T INCLUDE [insert trivial point here] IN THE MOVIE!" Yes, I turned into a giant Harry Potter nerd. The kind that can quote, discuss and now scours the internet for spoilers on anything. Anything! I loved the depth of the characters and the cleverness of the writing. Total fan girl.

Best Book of the Year - A Tie!

- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling: A complex satisfying ending to a great series (see above).

- Return of the King by JR Tolkien: Oh, the joy of following The Deathly Hallows with Return of the King. I found myself re-reading over and out loud sections to my poor husband. Lovely character drama and heart-pounding battles made this another satisfying end to a marvelous series. And the scene with Eowyn (you know the one) - killer.

Best Books of 2009 (part one)

In 2008, my new year's resolution was to read a book per month. I know that doesn't sound like much, but at the time, I was reading about two books per year. To my surprise and delight, I actually kept that resolution. In 2009, I upped the ante to 24 books - and, on New Year's Eve, I finished book #25.

To keep it interesting,I follow a loose pattern of reading a fiction book, a non-fiction book and a "classic" - because I have multiple books going at once there is much overlap in the order as well as overlap in the genres (classic is usually fiction too), but it works to keep me from getting into a rut.

So without further ado, the (first part) of the Best Books of 2009.

The Best Non-Fiction Book

- Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan: A politically charged manifesto on how our food gets to our table. I seriously changed my eating/food purchasing habits after reading this book to include taking part in a CSA as well as stopping my consumption of commercially processed beef.

Honorable Mentions: A Year of Living Biblically by AJ Jacobs and Elements of Cooking by the passionate Michael Ruhlmann (if you love from-scratch cooking, then Ruhlman's blog is a must)

Best Blog-to-Book

- The Daily Coyote: A Story of Love, Survival and Trust in the Wilds of Wyoming by Shreve Stockton: A rare book from a blogger that isn't just a compilation of blog entries. Instead, the book is a full narrative of the story of a woman and her coyote - all against a blazingly beautiful Wyoming backdrop.

Honorable Mention: Rockabye: From Wild to Child by Rebecca Woolf. I think this may have been one of those blog-entry-compilations, but since I was a recent convert to her blog, it was all new to me.

Best Non-Fiction Subject Matter with the Worst Writing

- The End of a America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot by Naomi Wolf: The subject matter detailing steps from democracy to fascism is provocative, relevant and scary. Everyone should know what this book says. It's a shame that the writing presented only statements backed up by sources in a series of footnotes. I struggled to finish even though I was anxious to know the ending.

Funniest Book

- Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris: Simply the funniest book I'd read in a long time teaching me the valuable lesson that exercise and belly laughing don't necessarily work at the same time. The first part about Sedaris's youth and drug use is pretty raw, but second part describing Sedaris's adventures to learn French in France with his longtime partner is hilarious.

Next up...Most Disappointing, Best Classic, Best Series and Best Book of the Year!

2009 in Images

Happy New Year!

For us, 2009 was a year of many changes - most good (but expensive) and some not so good. But we persevered and here we are!

The highs of 2009 were plentiful.

• Buying our first home together. We love our new home with our small living room and ginormous kitchen. We love the challenge of making this place our own.
• Stable and steady jobs for both us this year.
• Welcoming Jeely, our rescue mutt, into our home. She could possibly be the Happiest Dog Alive(tm) as that tail rarely doesn't wag.
• A rainy lush summer that triggered a love for all things green in our beautiful yard.
• Singing together for the first time in the same choir and having it bring us closer together.

The lows? Nah. We're making a fresh start here with a new year. Never mind the lows.

Below are some of the images from 2009 gathered into a slide show. What's missing from this slide show are any images from my choirs which represent a huge part of my life. It is tough to sing and photograph yourself at the same time. So choirs, next year expect to see that camera!

Happy 2010 and thank you all for being a part of our lives.

2009 in Images from Txgrrl on Vimeo.

(Soundtrack is "The Aspidistra Files" by Stars. Video works better with HD off)
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50 Things I'm Thankful For

I have a zillion things to be thankful for and here are fifty of them.

1. The Internet. The single greatest invention of our time, I say.
2. My pit-bull mix, Jeely. For teaching me that saying "never" most of the time doesn't work.
3. My circle of friends. You people rock.
4. Being alive. When asked what the most surprising thing about my heart transplant experience was, I always respond "that I made it out alive." No joke. It was tough. I am incredibly grateful, even now, to be alive.
5. iTunes. How did I organize my music before? And talk about instant gratification.
6. Really good design
7. Noise cancelling headphones
8. My new-to-me car and the friends that sold it to me.
9. The fact that I can dispose of my old dead car easily and free just by donating it.
10. Adobe products - most especially Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop
11. A fantabulous husband who is also my best friend
12. My crackberry (I'd be lying if it wasn't there!)
13. Having a challenging and fulfilling job
14. Legend of Zelda series and Rock Band for keeping me off the streets
15. My mom and dad for being my inspirations
16. Caramel macchiato lattes
17. An affordable warm house
18. My former low sodium diet for getting me off my butt and into the kitchen
19. Facebook
20. Digital cameras
21. Almost everything that comes off a pig
22. Sleeping
23. Food that is so good you want to cry
24. That I can leave my job at work so I have plenty of time for playing
25. Treadmills (and that I can use them at ridiculously high inclines)
26. Movies that make me laugh and that have no blood splatters
27. People demonstrating kindness
28. Google. Oh Google and your assorted and sundry products, I love thee.
29. Wireless internet and the fact that I can get wireless internet/VoIP on my crackberry
30. My incredible sister
31. Color
32. Living on the plains but only 20 minutes from spectacular mountains
33. The possibility that a public option might actually happen (no more pre-existing conditions! no more lifetime cap!)
34. A husband who is a computer genius
35. Sweatpants
36. Blogs
37. My cats even though they never leave the laundry room any more
38. A husband who makes wonderful lattes so we can occasionally save a couple of bucks
39. Ready to assemble furniture until such time we decide that's where we want to spend our money
40. Danskos
41. Digital cameras for giving me something to scrapbook
42. Art museums
43. The Lord of the Rings books and movies
44. Tivo. How did we live without this?
45. Hulu. For when I forget to set my Tivo.
46. Dishwashers
47. My choirs for giving me a voice and not just for singing
48. My night-owl genes because I love being the keeper of this legacy
49. My new(ish) heart and the individual who said yes to being a donor
50. God

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ummm, yeah

So I will admit to being a bit absent here on this blog. I say at least once a week..."I need to update my blog!" and then going about working on my crafts, cooking, singing, working...and it's two weeks later and then two months later!I am back, yet again. With no major goals to update regularly, which is probably good because I don't think I have many readers (hi mom!) but I think I do need to get my write on. Just a bit maybe.

The haps around here? Oh, so much. Besides the crazy that is my job which I don't discuss here anyway, I've been wildly practicing with my two groups getting ready for our two early fall shows! Early fall shows means summer practices but Christmas off - so it all balances out in the end. I would encourage everyone (hi, again Mom!) to come check out our performances. We have new directors for both groups and a new freshness and energy.

• Modern Broadway by the Northland Chorale on 10/23, 10/24 and 10/25. Click here for more info and to buy tickets.
• To Touch a Hundred Flowers by Sine Nomine on 11/21 and 11/22. Click here for more info and to buy tickets.

We've also got a new member of the family. Introducing the very sweet and eminently lovely Jeely.

And my beloved mean green Taurus (aka Taurai) finally bit the dust at 199,685 miles. I have a wonderful new car but every time I see the Taurus sitting out in the front, I still think I would've liked to have gotten those last 315 miles! We are going to give it away and if anyone has a suggestion of a good charity, I would appreciate any ideas!

And lastly, I've been a crafting fool. My new house means a new scrapbooking/craft area - just for me! And nothing helps fuel a passion like a space to do it in. Even a tiny space. I've also discovered online classes. For a mere $20 (or so) per class, I can be challenged and learn new ideas. Happily, one of my all time favorite scrappy inspirations is hosting an online class on making a very cool minibook. A link to the class shop can be found here. Here is are a few examples of the patterned paper lusciousness that came with the class kit.

Seriously nom.

Colorado Rocks!

Can you believe that THIS is only about 80 minutes away from my house? Actually, I can find this 20 minutes from my house, but who wants to camp that close to home?

For many years, I didn't go up into the mountains very often. Anything above Denver's 5,280 ft was difficult. Camping had to be done at lakes (although very enjoyable) and hiking was completely out of the question.

Now is a different story. Now...

We hike. (Nine miles on the Colorado Trail at Little Scraggy)

We eat.

We watch CavemanTV.

We live in tents.

No showers. No laptops. It could not be more fun.