Grateful Blog

Today I’m grateful that:

• I finally, finally, FINALLY resolved the issue of my obscenely expensive but much-needed drug (no, not crack — that’s not THAT expensive) just in time, with barely a day to spare before I switch to a less generous health plan that I’m paying for out of my own pocket. I’ve now got almost three months to breathe a little easier. Huge sigh of relief.
• The people at Blue Cross Blue Shield are about 1000 times more competent than the f-ups at Tufts. I don’t want to have to pay entirely for my own health insurance, but if I’m going to, it damn sure is going to be to people who have a clue.
• I had a very enjoyable conversation to distract me from the stress and frustration of the above two points.

Today I’m grateful that:

• There is a Wild Card in this year’s American Idol. Because Matt Giraud belongs in it.
• My dad keeps me informed of Tom Brady’s marital status no matter the time of day or night. (For the record, he called me at 11pm to tell me Brady got married. He was also eager to point out that Giselle’s three dogs were wearing Dolce Gabana (sp?) at the ceremony.)
• I took the time to post pictures from my time in NYC at FoxSports.com. Brought back a flood of some of the best memories. Oh, and also some of the most insane. Also grateful that “the redhead” reminded me of his real name, cause he cracks me up, immensely.

Today I’m grateful that:

• President Obama is President Obama!
• I’m going to look at one of the positive sides of having more free time due to being unemployed, and that is having time to scan photos and post them on Facebook. I’ve been doing this periodically over the past few months, and over the past couple of nights, I posted photos from college, including many from my days at the school paper, the Defender, and many from the best friends I made through my years at St. Michael’s. Just posting these pictures brought me a lot of joy, but I had even more fun seeing the response from all of the people in them. I had so many laugh-out-loud moments today! 
• My cousin Mike got out of the Army last summer. If he was still in, I’m certain he would be going back to Iraq or more likely to Afghanistan, and I can’t even wrap my mind around that. I’m also grateful that my cousin Scott, who is in the Air Force, seems to be in a position as a flight instructor that will keep him from going back to Iraq or to Afghanistan … at least that’s what I hope every day.

Today I’m grateful that:

• Chad had a safe and uneventful flight down to Florida for the WeMedia conference.
• I got to experience a true Indian wedding (meaning about 400 Indians, and maybe eight white people) almost 10 years ago, and experienced firsthand the unbelievable music, dancing, clothes, and energy that everyone witnessed at the Oscars last night. Since that day, I have always secretly wished I was Indian.
• We can, for the most part, afford the health insurance that we will have to be paying ourselves in a few days. I mean, it’s an obscene monthly bill for people making money off freelance (which is great but so not the same as a paycheck every two weeks), but I do know that we are so much better off than many people. I cannot imagine how some people handle this, and I still consider ourselves lucky.

Today I’m grateful that:

• A really good book recommendation from Rach: “The Last Summer (of You & Me)”. I’m probably going to cry at the end, but hopefully in not a totally bad way. Plus it helped pass the time before Chad was ready to take a break from work and watch “The Wrestler” and then the Oscars.
• I managed to power through the first half-hour or so of nasty, nauseating, graphic violence in “The Wrestler” and finish watching the movie (just in time for the Oscars!). It was totally worth it. Haven’t seen “Milk,” so I can’t say whether Sean Penn did or didn’t deserve the Oscar, but I wish Mickey Rourke could have won it. Talk about giving your everything to a role. Wow.
• “Slumdog Millionaire” cleaned up at the Oscars! Honestly, this might be my favorite movie of all time. If you don’t love this movie, you’ve got to get your soul checked out.

Today I’m grateful that:

• I have a husband who understands the need for girls nights out.
• Kristen, Rachel and I managed to stay mostly out of trouble, despite the red wine and the trip to the Gunny, and without supervision. I’m proud of us!
• Waking up to a view of the ocean outside my window. Ok, so it was cold out there, and it was a view through a bit of a hangover, but still, it was nice!

Today I’m grateful that:

• There are people on The Real World Brooklyn that actually have working brains and perhaps even some morals. This gives me hope for the kids these days. I also love that they have a great sense of humor.
• I don’t have mice or rats living in my house. (If anyone watched the Real World, you would understand why I am grateful for this today.)
• Took a walk down memory lane with some old high school peeps, and realized I somehow managed to escape high school with little trauma and/or drama, relatively speaking. And by this, I mean, nothing happened that I would be mortified if it was made public on Facebook. Guess I was saving it all for college.

Today I’m grateful that:

• I got to work at NameMedia for three years. I met and stayed friends with some of the funniest, fun people I’ve ever known.
• I went to Mohegan Sun with said NameMedia people despite feeling pretty sick (oh, and also despite being unemployed). It was totally, completely worth it!
• I didn’t wimp out of rolling the dice in my first time playing craps. Turns out I am a really lucky roller. The entire table of strangers was cheering me on, and someone even gave me $29, just for rolling the dice! Why haven’t I been doing this my whole life?

Today I’m grateful that:

• I’m with someone on Valentine’s Day who gets exactly why I think Valentine’s Day is ridiculous.
• First official Red Sox workout! And Tek is “happy and confident.” That’s how I like him.
• Speaking of the Red Sox, the tickets for the family game finally arrived! For some reason there are four random seats in the middle of the group of 80 that don’t  belong to us. I feel sorry for  the poor souls who have to sit in the middle of us. They have no idea what they’re getting into .

Today I’m grateful that:

• Nothing bad happened to us on this Friday the 13th!
• In fact, both Chad and I got called back for second-round interviews. Yeehaw!
• Finishing the day with a dose of wonderfully amusing reality entertainment: Tool Academy, Rock of Love Bus, and Sober House. Which one makes you feel best about your own life? Considering that one of these is “Sober House”, the answer should not be as close as it is!