Even though school starts in August in our area, when I was a child, school always started after Labor Day. I loved the anticipation of heading back to class. I read with excitement the list of needed supplies ("one Pink Pearl eraser", no other kind will do). I carefully packed the items into my backpack. Back-to-school time meant new clothes, and I knew exactly which outfit, down to the socks, I would wear on the first day. Ahhh, structure and routine!
My school days are long-since gone. Even my children have outgrown the K-12 days. However, September comes and I instinctively have a need to get completely organized! Of course, as an adult, I have more responsibilities than just one notebook with 5 dividers, so I am not completely organized!, but I took steps in the right direction this week.
This week, I am thankful for:
1. A working printer. Last week, my trusty ole printer gave up the ghost. After a google search to troubleshoot the problem, John declared the printer gone. A big box from amazon arrived recently, and we are happy not only to have a printer again, but are amazed at its wireless capabilities. What? We don't even have to connect it with a cord to the computer! I can even print from my phone!
2. A working refrigerator. It seems like our appliances only hang on to life as long as their comrades do. The fridge got word the printer died, and figured, "Well, if he can go, so can I!" Fortunately, the repairman was able to revive the fridge so we once again have cold milk in the house. Hopefully, none of the other appliances will get sick.
3. Shelving units in the garage. Our neighbors have friends who were moving and giving away a garage full of sturdy shelving units. They offered us some of them. What a wonderful gift! Although the garage is not 100% organized now, it is so much better. John now has room to walk around his project car!
4. New opportunities for oldest daughter. She recently applied for, and got, a new job. Her last job was good; this job is better--a "grown-up" job, in her words. She'll be working as an admissions counselor at a school. I'm so happy for her!
5. More frequent blogging. After a very sparsely-blogged August, I managed to publish more regularly this past week. (Have I mentioned I like routine?)
6. New clothes. I might not be in school, but that didn't prevent me from getting a new outfit. I'm not a frequent shopper for myself, but I did take a couple of hours this week to try on a million things, and purchase three items.
7. Cooler temperatures. It's only been in the 90s outside this week. Inside the house, I've even felt chilly and put on a sweatshirt. I can't figure out if I've just become a wimpy Californian, or if I'm starting to come down with something, or if I'm having some sort of anti-hot-flash, but whatever it is, I'm enjoying feeling chilled!
8. No-harm-done accidents. While driving (well, I was actually at a complete stand-still in traffic) on a Los Angeles freeway yesterday, the car in front of me rolled backwards and slowly collided with my car. I saw him coming, and so tapped my horn just before his car impacted mine. The funny thing was, the driver threw his hands up in the air in a "What did you do that for?" expression. He got out of his car, saw that there was no damage, and got back in his car. I told him that he had hit me, but I don't think he believed me. I think he thought I was crazy. I think he must have taken his foot off the brake and just wasn't paying attention. When traffic got moving again, I made sure to leave extra room between our cars, and was happy when another car decided to move between ours. When his car exited the freeway, I said, "Good-bye, little white car!" and relaxed a bit. The whole experience was so ridiculous, I'm still laughing about it.
9. The peace that comes from temple attendance. Fortunately, the accident happened on my way home from the temple, so I was in a calm, happy mood and could easily laugh off the incident.
10. Pho--and great company with which to share a meal. John and I discovered a new-to-us Vietnamese restaurant in our area. I love Vietnamese cuisine, but there are not many places locally that serve it. We will definitely remember this place for future date nights, too.
Thanks for back-to-school season, whether or not school is involved.
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David and I eat pho at that Vietnamese restaurant! We'll have to do pho together sometime. I'm thankful for Youtube explanations of Bocce Ball so now David and I can have many evenings of enjoyment secure in knowing our scoring is correct! :)
ReplyDeleteI don't know how we managed to miss it before--we've eaten next door multiple times. Yes, let's go eat pho! :-)
DeleteI love Pho and living in Orange County we are surrounded by a lot of good Vietnamese restaurants. Hope your temps stay down and that maybe we even get a few sprinkles soon! I remember rain.
ReplyDeleteWe used to live in Orange county, and remember some really yummy restaurants. (Our problem was we could never remember exactly what we ordered!)
DeleteRain would be good!
I am so happy for your big girl too! And that Pho...yum. You take lovely pics, Kristi.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I was thinking the photos were a bit utilitarian this week. I'm glad you enjoyed them. :-)
DeleteSomeday I might come to you and ask if I can cite this post for illustration purposes of the rogerian worldview! As often happens, these days, I read something and I think, 'that says it so well'.
ReplyDeleteMy wife Phyllis is also a roger with a strong secondary clark and says things that, while reflecting her worldview, is nevertheless very 'accessible' and understandable.
I totally love #8! truly an example of the how perspective is everything! I agree, not only did he not believe you, (to him) you drove into him (or, the earth rotated under both of you, causing the two cars to come together).
You demonstrate far more patience and charity than I might have in that situation! lol
…is that an old Rambler? (in the garage photo).
Apparently roger is an easy language to understand? :-)
DeleteThose of us in my car did have a bit of fun imagining the conversation he must be having with his passenger: "Crazy woman driver! So fed up with being stopped in traffic she honks at me and then rams me!" I like your earth rotating idea, though--maybe I'll have to check the geological webpage and see if we had an earthquake just then.
If we hadn't just been in the temple, I might not have been as patient. I always emerge from the temple with a good attitude.
The car is an old Ford Anglia--the "Harry Potter" car, if you are familiar with the books/movies. John's first car was an Anglia. He sold it, of necessity, after we got married, and I've always wanted to find another one for him. A few years ago, I had success! (They are rather uncommon in the US, but were quite popular in England.)
I had a similar "accident" last week. I had just parked on Main St. and the SUV in front of me kept backing up to leave a parking space and bumped into my car. Thankfully, no damage.
ReplyDeleteIt is mysterious how appliances tend to crater at the same time.
I'm sorry you had a similar experience, but I'm glad everything is OK.
DeleteUsually, our appliances die right as we are preparing to move. We have no plans of moving anytime soon this time, though.
A new restaurant, new outfit, and semi-organized garage? That is an awesome week, Kristi!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to your daughter - a "grownup job" is a big step and really does feel good. I wish her great success and happiness.
Fall...has a funny way of kick-starting us all back into a (better) routine. Something about the school year does it. And I've been a teacher for fifteen years besides, so that really deep programs it. I'm a bit nervous about this year now that I'm no longer teaching. I had grand plans for managing everyone's schedule and routine...aaaaaaand then I've been sick this entire first week! So far, nobody has missed school or work or gone lunchless, though, so I guess it speaks well of my family that they're managing to muddle through pretty much without me doing much more than wiggling my little finger in their direction.
Anyway, glad the accident was no big deal - it is a blessing indeed to be in a state of mind where you can shrug it off and realize it was not a huge thing. Too many people are so stressed out and upset by life in general that they blow things so out of proportion.
Beautiful sky in that temple pic!
I'm sorry you've been so sick. I hope you feel better soon! Good job in having your family trained so well to pick up the slack while you've been out of commission, though!
DeleteGetting organized in September is awesome...trying to do that too --but not too successful - I love buying supplies too new pens, pencils, colorful pens - and notebooks. Sounds like you had a great week and congrats to your daughter! :)
ReplyDeleteWe'll see if my motivation lasts long enough to finish the project, but even if it doesn't, progress has been made. :-)
DeleteMmmm...I love pho. Lots of similar experiences this week. I had an very minor accident like that once but with a very elderly gentleman that did not hear well.
ReplyDeleteWe also got a new printer this week and experienced that same wireless excitement. As my husband was carefully reading instructions and asking me to wait, I calmly linked my computer to the printer and printed out, "Brian is a fat pig." That got a laugh.
John's car project looks so cool!
I'm usually the one to read instructions, so I just let John set up the printer. :-) Wireless is great, isn't it?
DeleteIm pretty sure i left a comment here earlier... I know I did but it must be waiting... I just came back though to tell you I had a dream with you in it! BIZARRE right?! You were very nurturing and concerned that Tsering ( who is gone now) and I got dinner while we were in the desert...you were very sweet! thankyou!
ReplyDeleteHmm, your original comment never came through. Maybe blogger will deliver it sometime.
DeleteI'm glad to hear that I was nurturing and concerned in your dream. If you are ever out here in the desert, I will be happy to have you over for dinner! The story of you and Tsering is so incredibly powerful--a true love story. I believe relationships can continue beyond this life, which helps give me peace during times of loss. Tell you what--regardless of whether you make it out to the desert, after we're all old and gone, the four of us: John and I, Tsering and you, will sit down and chat over dinner! How 'bout it?
Deal! THe dinner wasnt at your house... it was actually in the desert... I still don't know how you pulled it off!
DeleteI'm not sure, either! :-)
DeleteI learned to make phõ just so I could afford to have it much more often. The only place where I could afford to get it reasonably cheap-- I think they went out of business! I was really upset because they also ran an Asian market in the same building that's now a interior decorating store now. It was my favorite market, and the only other one I could find, well, my wife won't set foot in there because one of the proprietors is a creepy old guy that leers at her funny.
ReplyDeleteRecipe please? :-)
DeleteI don't even know how to describe the flavor of the broth of Pho, but the greens make the dish for me. Cilantro, mint, and bean sprouts combine in a way that is absolutely delicious!
ReplyDeleteLike I told Nancy, usually our appliances all die at about the time we are moving. We have no plans to relocate anytime soon, but I did tell John that if another thing acts up, we might have to take it as a sign. :-) (Not really)
I just love your list. It feels so good to be organized. I have refrigerator envy, and I do know that feeling - Things seem to break in threes.
ReplyDeleteThat they do. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my appliances can't count.
DeleteNow that I know we live in the same type of climate, I am so on the same page with you about temperature. Here in AZ we saw a spike in the temperatures that I know will dwindle down this month, but it has been slowly getting cooler which is nice.
ReplyDeleteWe even had RAIN today!!!! :-)
DeleteKristi! A most enjoyable read! It never leaves us does it? That sense of "first days of school". It's in the air, the light...so very palpable. I love that you bought yourself a "back to school" outfit:)
ReplyDeleteCongrats to oldest daughter on her new job!
I hope that you keep up your new pace of blogging. It's tough sometimes to stay regular (sorry, no pun intended!) I am trying to do the same.
Ah, the Pho. I keep hearing about this. There is a Pho restaurant near where I live. The last 2 times I went in for a take out menu they've been out. I suspect they don't have any so I just might have to go in for a sit down meal. I've never had Vietnamese food before, so don't quite know what to order!
It's all good, but besides the generic "pho", I don't really know what anything is called. The menu lists the food in Vietnamese, and the English descriptions aren't unique enough to be memorable. (There might be several "Beef dish with vegetables", for example.) You really can't go wrong, though!
DeleteWe are refrigerator twins, except yours is probably much cleaner than mine in every way (inside, outside, upside, downside). I enjoy your blog & love all your great commenting friends!
ReplyDeleteWell, Jenna, nothing forces a refrigerator clean-out more than having one go out of commission for a couple of days. I don't recommend it.
DeleteMany of these great commenting friends I have met through the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop. It's a very friendly group of people. We'd love to have you link up a post of your own! :-)
Oh wow, I know too well how appliances love to enter and exit our lives in the same short time span. Usually in threes. Your calmness in dealing with the rolling car and the driver is inspiring. And as always, your pictures are great.
ReplyDelete