Inner Excavation: Appreciation

Week one continues with the toughest assignment so far. This list was murder to assemble, and each item in it has its caveats. I'm saving those for another day. Here we go.

You know what I really love about me?

Even with these crotchety hands...
Even with these jacked-up hands...
I can teach you how to send a photo to Facebook from your cell phone and how to fix your blog. I can teach you how to choose the correct "there" for your sentences, make a website that doesn't look like crap, cook up a chamomile soap from olive oil and lye, and make kimchi with lots of ginger, like I like it. You'll probably enjoy learning a thing or two, too, because I am having fun teaching it to you. If you don't want me to teach you, I have no problem sending you shit from the internet. Like this. I like that I am a pretty good teacher.

Fairies
A pretty painting of fairies and birds by Arthur Rackham
I appreciate the little things. Look at these fairies - dang, they're as little as birds, so dainty and perfect! Little mayonnaise? It's adorable! Tiny yellow cup that can fit six pens and a crochet hook in it? Delicious!

But I also appreciate the little things in life, like a phone call from one of my kids, a pretty little weedy flower, a great cup of coffee on a very quiet morning, or an email from a cousin I haven't talked to in twenty years. I like that it doesn't take too much to put a smile on the old face.

Mah kids
Annie's is always awesome.
I like that I was a decent role model for my kids while they were growing up. They may have spent too many latchkey afternoons doing crazy shit like spinning each other in the dryer (I didn't find out about this one until they were way too big to fit in the dryer anymore), jumping off the roof onto the trampoline (and inviting the neighbor kids to do the same), and eating way too much Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, but they know firsthand that even an underpaid secretary can earn a couple of college degrees, keep a nice feng-shui-proper home (with a pool for the kids to clean), cook great food from real ingredients (on a charcoal grill! after a hurricane!), and take the kids to NYC for summer vacation without going into (too much) debt or sacrificing all integrity. My kids are my greatest priority, and I like that about myself, even though they're big (and awesome) people now.

Have some wine and plant seeds.
Have some wine and plant some seeds!
I'm a doer. My mother taught me that whatever I wanted to do, I just had to decide, and then do it. She predates Nike marketing by a decade or two, but she knew what she was talking about. I can't say that I attempt to do the most outrageous things, but I know that I can be a teacher, be a librarian, go to Scotland, or make a tomato growing box because I am determined to just freaking do it. Thank you, momma.

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