*Thursday, Oct. 13th, 2011: Today I am grateful for the blood pressure check I scheduled for my seniors to do today. In the spirit of solidarity, I decided to get my blood pressure checked when they all did it too...the seniors kind of pressured (no pun intended) me into doing it; saying things like: "you haven't had it taken in two years...you need to. You need to take care of yourself, baby girl." So I did...I got my blood pressure taken and I am 100/78...which is low, which is good. All of the seniors looked at me and said, "well, goodness we haven't seen numbers that low for pressure since 1950." We all laughed and then it dawned on me...today I am grateful for good health. These seniors are teaching me to take advantage of your youth while you have it, because one day your blood pressure will be too high or your knees will be too sore to go anywhere. Getting up to simply get a pencil to do word puzzles is too hard for some of my seniors so I feel today is a good day and a good reminder that I should be thankful for my health...because one day, I might not have it.
*Friday, Oct. 14th, 2011: I am thankful for spontaneous runs to get fatty food. Brittney, Colleen and I walked to Five Guys on Friday night. So now I have tasted Five Guys drunkenly AND soberly. Brittney treated us to a fatty cheeseburger (Colleen had a grilled cheese) and fries (which we all regretted later during the walk home) and had a good time just laughing and talking. I love those outings because it wasn't planned, it wasn't forced and we just enjoyed each other's company. We were laughing about the fact that we pased by ladies in short skirts and "going out clothes" while all three of us were in our sweats, sweatshirts and tossled "hot mess" hair styles for our Friday night outing...so classy we all are...and what party animals too!
*Saturday, Oct. 15th, 2011: Colleen's sister visiting for two reasons: 1) Colleen, Brittney and I got to steal her car to drive out to the thrift store to buy our Halloween costumes. I got a lot of what I needed for my "Woody" costume. Colleen is going to be Buzz and I'm going to be Woody. So I got cowboy boots, a flannel shirt, a vest, a cowboy hat, bandana and even a holster for my toy gun...it's going to be good. I need to do a lot of sewing for the vest though. 2) On Saturday night, Colleen, her sister and I went out to Georgetown to visit with Colleen's friends and everything and it was a blast. It was really good for me to get out of the house for sure. So today I am thankful for Colleen's sister for visiting because she was good company, for the reasons stated above but also because it got me out of the house...a much needed experience I didn't realize until I was literally out of the house.
*Sunday, Oct. 16th, 2011: Today is a wonderful day of gratitude. So a few friends of mine from all over caught wind of the MLK Jr. Memorial Dedication Ceremony that was happening on Sunday and they asked me a million times if I was going and I was on the fence because it's so early in the morning, but my friends guilted me into going so I dragged my butt outta bed at 7am and made the hour-long trek to the monument. It was so worth it...thanks for guilting me, guys! So the MLK Jr. Memorial Dedication Ceremony began at 9am and I got there at 8:30am. I sat down next to an elderly woman, dressed in her Sunday best (while I was in my jeans and JVC T-shirt) and she had the biggest smile on her face. "I'm so excited," she whispered to me; "I can't believe I am here for this. Dr. King is such an inspiration; I marched with him, ya know?" and I looked at her and said, "no you didn't, really?" She smiled from ear to ear and said, "oh yes, a lot of us did. He was just the leader we were waiting for and I would've followed him anywhere." We kept chatting until the ceremony began. There were tons of big name people there but I think the best speaker was his sister, only first to his daughter. Those two women stole the show for me...they were phenomenal. One of the speakers said something that stood out to me, he said, "I like to think of my friend, Martin, as a prophet and although he didn't get to see the fruits of his labor, we must remember that even Moses didn't make it to the Promised Land. He was sent to lead; to lead the people to the Promised Land. As Moses and Martin did, we must remember that as well...sometimes we are just called to lead people and we may not reach the final destination." Such a good thought to consider, especially as a JV. The bus ride home just continued the good thoughts because my bus driver let me on for FREE and then we were the only two riding for a while so we chatted about the ceremony and JVC and what not. he was so pleasant and kept calling me baby girl...which I now love the title after living in an urban setting for 14 months. But anywho, it was just a great morning/early afternoon of random interactions with kind-hearted and loving people. I am grateful for the ceremony because it carried with it a wonderful set of memories and interactions I wouldn't have had otherwise.
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