Tuesday, September 25, 2012

43. Mr. Brown Iced Coffee

Over the weekend, as I was at my friend's house for a bbq, I saw Mr. Brown Iced Coffee in her refrigerator. That brought back some fond memories of me drinking these delicious little cans of ready made coffee (complete with milk and sugar) during my stay in Taiwan, which I heavily relied on during my long hours of teaching. It's amazing how an object can trigger memories and emotions; I find it quite fascinating, sometimes things can trigger feel good emotions, and at other times, instantly take you to a place of sadness, or evoke feelings of anger, resentment or hatred. Thankfully, Mr. Brown brought up happy memories, since going to Taiwan to teach English as a Second Language was one of the best decisions I have made, even though at the time I was unsure, and had to overcome certain hurdles once I was there. Goes to show that sometimes it's worth taking a chance, "taking the plunge" so to speak, even if the outcomes are unknown. When challenges come up, it's worth telling oneself that challenges can be overcome, and with a little initiative, the universe will help with whatever one wants to achieve. You just need to put it out and sometimes surrender, like Oprah said during her pilot episode of "Oprah Presents Master Class."

Thank you, Mr. Brown for bringing up some good feelings, especially at a time when feelings of hatred, anger, stress, sadness, and resentment invade my sleep.

Monday, September 24, 2012

42. Nail Polish

Tonight I nurture my gratitude for nail polish, since I happened upon a nail polish that I have been thinking about procuring for almost two months. It's OPI's "Deutsch you want me baby?" I was at my local London Drugs, browsing through the nail polish section after having gotten my necessity item, and when I saw the OPI Germany Collection, my heart almost skipped a beat in excitement! And then I saw the beautiful blazing orange colour that screams of fall, which I had been looking for at a couple of salons and was disappointed to find that it had been sold out at both locations. This gorgeous baby was one of the few things that really perked up my day after a harrowing night of stress and insomnia.

I have always enjoyed wearing nail polish, occasionally stopping at my local retail stores to look for a nice colour to paint my nails with. Then nursing school came along, and my interest in nail polish waned, since I could only wear it on my toes. That inability to wear nail polish on my finger nails has definitely increased my appreciation for being able to paint my nails, and now that I am on parental leave, I am taking full advantage of having my finger nails covered in beautiful shades that suit my fancy.

Of course, I have nail polish blogs to thank for. Earlier this summer, I chanced upon nail polish blogs, and realized how big of a trend nail art is nowadays. Some days I wait for the weekend, just so I can go to Sally's and buy some beautiful colours. Nail polish blogs are also how I came to discover China Glaze, which is probably my favourite brand of nail polish.

So, here's to nail polish and nail polish blogs, another favourite being Frazzle and Aniploish.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

41. Fridays

I have been enjoying my Fridays immensely lately. In fact, I look forward to it with a passion and anticipation that I can't quite recollect ever having had for a day of the week. Probably because nowadays, Fridays signal the start of the weekend (or the end of the week), and some quality time as a family with my other half. It means we get to share the task of entertaining my little boy, and perhaps get some cleaning and organizing done. It means I might have some time to do some cooking, and go for a walk, or just watch TV, or stay up a bit late (although that doesn't pay off too well with a baby that wakes up at 7 am like clockwork, but still, it means I can nap any time during the day, and know that Eric will be safe with his dad, and Eric's dad can do the same).

So yes, even though I don't count the days till Friday, when Friday comes around, it feels like I'm on vacation, or close to that. Thank you, glorious Fridays!

40. Sudoku

Tonight I am nurturing my gratitude for sudoku. I first heard about sudoku, and saw those little 3x3 boxes about seven years ago. A couple of my co-workers were really into it, and even though it looked pretty mathematical to me, they assured me it was more akin to a puzzle than to math. It wasn't until the following year that I started paying attention to the sudoku booklets at grocery store check-outs. I told my roommate at the time about sudoku, and we both decided to give it a try. We got hooked!

Not only is sudoku a fun puzzle to do, but it requires almost full concentration in order to be accurate, that is, to line up your numbers without repeating them. In that sense, I find it very meditative, because although I'll start off with my thoughts everywhere, as I continue figuring out the numbers, I find my thoughts refocussing to solve the puzzle. And the reward is a perfect 3x3 square, with the numbers 1 to 9 occurring only once per line and per square.

Here I am, seven years later, still loving sudoku. I don't get the chance to do it as often as I like to, but it's still one of the things that bring a smile to my face. And needless to say, it's one of those little "tools" that help me weather the storm I am going through. Thank you sudoku!

Friday, September 14, 2012

39. "Rainbow in the clouds"

Tonight, I am nurturing my gratitude for the "rainbow in the clouds." I am a big fan of Oprah Winfrey's "Master Class," and had the great opportunity to re-watch Maya Angelou's take on life. Two things struck me when I saw the episode again: how much I had forgotten (possibly due to my 'mommy brain'), and what an eloquent and inspirational speaker this lady is. She talked about how she had many struggles in life, but along with those struggles there were many rainbows too, and encouraged viewers to always look for the rainbows in the clouds. Of course, not always does one see rainbows through the clouds, but once in a while, those rainbows do come about, and when we happen upon them, it is truly magical, despite the physics behind rainbows. Sometimes, we are so focused on how overcast and crappy the weather is that we tend to miss those brief moments of beauty...

This year continues to be one of my happiest and most challenging years to date, and since last night, while I've been trying to gather some peace in my mind and soul, I've been thinking about Maya's rainbows, to give me some strength, some insight, something great to hold on to. Tonight, as I put my son to bed, I thought "Eric is my rainbow, he's my constant rainbow" - he manages to make me smile and forget about all my worries even in my darkest moments, by doing simple things that only a baby can do, like rolling off during a diaper change and getting on all fours, practicing his pre-crawl stance. I laughed and laughed and laughed, and I thought perhaps I was overreacting as a doting mom, when I saw my other fellow mom-friends laughing too. He is my beacon of light, my inspiration, my strength, my courage, my rainbow in the clouds.