Things I love: a therapeutic experiment

I am in a sour, rotten mood (I have a sneaking suspicion that it is due to holiday burnout, but I'm hoping that's not the case!). I will chalk it up to not getting my workout in today. At any rate, I'm going to list 24 of my favorite things in an attempt to cheer myself up. 24 is my favorite number, for reasons that are too boring to explain, so let the fun begin!

1. I love purple. I have loved purple for as long as I can remember. When I was 5 years old, an aunt gave me purple Keds, and I remember thinking, "this is the best gift anyone has ever given me." Purple makes me happy, and I'm drawn to it.

2. I love real Christmas trees. I don't have any pets, although I'm desperately waiting for the day we can get a dog. Is it strange that I love to bring in a real tree because it's a living thing? Don't worry, it's not like it keeps me company. But... well, in a way I guess it does. There is something friendly and welcoming about a Christmas tree, and I don't get that feeling from the fake ones. OK, moving on, because this is getting weird.......

3. I love reality tv (the competitive kind). I'm a huge fan of American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, Amazing Race, Biggest Loser, Project Runway, Real World/Road Rules Challenges, Dancing with the Stars, America's Next Top Model, and some of the smaller, one-run competitions, like "Legally Blonde: The Musical" and "Grease: You're the One that I Want!" I get quite worked up over watching these shows and can't fall asleep immediately after watching. This is frustrating for Scott.

4. I love Morningstar Farms "Chik" Patties. They're really, really good. They taste like a breaded chicken patty, but they are a vegetable product. The consistency and flavor are just right. Yum.

5. I love Madison. Madison is a mini-San Francisco (Californians don't believe it and don't like it when we say that, but I don't care). It is diverse, rich in culture and the arts, holds a college-town atmosphere no matter how big it gets, and has a large and active gay community. I love Madison, I just wish it wasn't so far from the coast. It's a very fun place to be.

6. I love teaching. I will bust the social norms that prevent us from bragging and say that I'm quite good at it. I love the first- and second-graders that I teach, and I love what I do all day. Unfortunately, I'm realizing this year that I'm becoming too comfortable in my job. This is my sixth year and I have *everything* under control (starred only because nothing is ever completely under our control), and I don't need to spend every moment of my day prepping and planning. Because of this, I find myself sitting at my desk more than I ever have in previous years. It's time for me to move on next year... to what, I'm not sure. We shall see.

7. I love exercising. It. just. feels. good. I love running, spinning, lifting weights, practicing yoga, walking, biking, swimming, hiking, rowing (haha... on the machine), and following instructors in ridiculously complicated cardio classes. I feel better when I'm active and worse when I'm not.

8. I love hooded sweatshirts. Specifically, I love Scott's hooded sweatshirts, but I have no photos of those. There is something so cozy and comforting about a hooded sweatshirt. Maybe it's because they remind me of college, when fashion was all about comfort (especially for those 8:00am classes), or maybe because they remind me of being warm on a cold day, which you'll read about in number 14.

9. I love scrapbooking. I am at peace when I'm scrapbooking. I like to gaze at my photos, do a little color-matching and a little embellishing, and preserve my memories forever. I became a Creative Memories Consultant not just to make money, but because it's something that I love to do that I want to make a career out of.

10. I love being married. From my first date with Scott, I felt comfortable and relaxed. I've felt "married" since our first month together, because I knew from the very beginning that this was it. But now that we're *actually* married, I know just how awesome it is. It's great. He's great.

11. I love choral music. I've belonged to choirs since I was in the 4th grade, and I miss singing. Some of my favorite pieces that I've sung with choirs have been Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Ave Maria by Franz Biebl, Silent Night, and songs from The Mikado and Miss Saigon.

12. I love snowmen. I made the mistake of telling people that I "collect" them, and for 5 years received nothing but snowmen as Christmas gifts! Now I don't share that with people, but I still put them all over my house in December, so I guess it's not really a secret.... I do, however, have some specifications as to the snowmen I prefer. I like them to be white, not off-white or cream-colored (that was really popular one year, and I did not care for it). I like them to be happy, not sad or serious. I like a carrot nose, not a button or round nose. Finally, the cuter the better- I prefer cute snowmen over "classic" or antique snowmen.

13. I love dark chocolate. The best (in my humble opinion) are Dove Dark Promises, but I'll eat any dark chocolate. The darker the better... Italy has some of the darkest, most bitter chocolate I've ever had, and I LOVE it!

14. I love rainy nights. There is nothing more cozy to me than being in a warm house, on the couch with a blanket, while it just POURS outside. I don't even care if I'm alone (although I'm always happier when Scott's home). I can be watching a movie or TV, reading a book or magazine, or even cleaning the house. It's so nice.

15. I love Broadway musicals. I guess they don't specifically have to be on Broadway, but I love musicals! The first one I saw on stage was Miss Saigon, and it actually was on Broadway. I was on a high school band trip to New York, and we also saw Les Miserables. Since then, I've seen Ragtime, Rent, Beauty and the Beast, Cats, Phantom of the Opera, The Lion King, A Chorus Line, 42nd Street, South Pacific, and Chicago. I feel like I've been to more than that, so I'm probably forgetting some... but I've also seen Ragtime, Rent, and Phantom multiple times. Tickets to musicals are ALWAYS in the budget!

16. I love Tim Gunn. I want him to be my uncle... or my next-door neighbor who stops by to borrow sugar and gossip about the other neighbors. I want him to help me sort my closet, go shopping with me at H&M, and walk to Starbucks with me. He is just fabulous.

17. I love sweets. I could fill 24 "I loves" with goodies, from cookies to cake to candy to pie to muffins to tarts to tortes to breads to frozen treats. But I suppose I'll just use one "I love" and cover them all. I have zero self-control when they're in my kitchen (hence the "I love exercising" above), but I'm surprisingly very controlled when it comes to buying them. I think that's the only reason I don't weigh 300 lbs.

18. I love Love Actually. This movie tops my list of favorite movies of all time. I laugh when Hugh Grant dances, cry when Emma Thompson opens her Christmas present, and bawl when Colin Firth marches through town to find Aurelia. I walked down the aisle to the Glasgow Love Theme from this movie, and every time I hear it I'll think of my wedding. I LOVE that.

19. I love the smell of coffee roasting. I say that I love the smell because I actually do not care for coffee. I'm not sure if I love the smell because my parents made it every morning as I was growing up, or if it's just generally pleasing to me. But I often wish Scott would start drinking coffee in the morning so I could have the smell in my house as I wake up... I could be like the people in the Folgers commercials.... ahhh....

20. I love yearbooks. They don't have to be MY yearbooks, I just love yearbooks. I'm a very school-spirited person, so I've always enjoyed watching cheerleaders and basketball games and the marching band in the halftime show. I tear up when I hear the Graduation March. And I really, really enjoy looking through yearbooks.

21. I love summer fruit. I routinely eat a container of blackberries in one sitting. I find it incredibly rewarding to painstakingly and precisely cut a pineapple, even if my hands get sliced in the process. I can devour half a watermelon without a second thought. There is nothing like eating 3 kiwi fruits for breakfast, especially if you sprinkle a little sugar on them first. YUM.

22. I love my mother-in-law. I know I haven't mentioned my family, but it's a given that I love them (and I recently commented on how much I miss my parents, so you already know). This one is dedicated to Scott's mom. My mother-in-law is very eager to please, almost to a fault. She just tries SO HARD to make sure that we'll have a good relationship, and we've become very close. I really like her and I feel very fortunate to get along with her as well as I do. This makes me feel really optimistic about the grandchild situation!

23. I love the snow. I miss the Wisconsin Christmases (notice that I did not say I miss the Wisconsin winters... just Christmas). Once you've had a white Christmas for 12 years, there is really no substitute. Christmas in California is incredibly anti-climactic for me, and almost sad. I love my Christmas in the snow!

24. I love my life. I try to be an optimistic, positive person, and when it comes down to it, I have a great life. I have a husband who is my perfect match (I could elaborate, but I find gushing over one's husband to be a bit vainglorious), I have a house to live in and a car to drive, I have a secure job in an insecure economy, I have good credit and minimal debt, I have a healthy family, and I have many good friends. What do I have to complain about?



Whew! Well, kudos to you if you read this entire post. I didn't expect you to, since its purpose was to be therapeutic for my bad mood. While I was writing number 18, Scott came home, which greatly improved my mood, and I'll admit that writing all of these things helped a great deal. Next time, perhaps I'll be more specific... I'm thinking "Songs I Love," "Movies I Love," and in honor of number 17, "Sweets I Love."

A bientot, mes amies!