Day 88: Closeness + Orange Juice Cheers

Today I learned...
...that closeness breeds more closeness.

Today I am thankful for...
...an omelet and biscuits for breakfast, and an orange juice "toast" with Rick. We clinked cups and he said, "Here's lookin' at you, kid." :-)

Day 75: Cry + Lunch

 

Today I learned...

...that a good cry can be just that: good. There is purpose in most things.

Today I am thankful for...

...lunch with my parents. They fed me, they bestowed coffee upon me, and then they sent me back to work.

Day 71: Positive Facts + Rainy Day

Today I learned...

...that positive thinking can improve your life expectancy. This morning someone mentioned that regular negative thinking can take 16 years off your life and cited a local news station as the source. I'm thinking I'll live a very long time. :-)

Today I am thankful for...

...hospice home visits that allow for Starbucks stops, refuge from torrential rain, and long in-transit discussions (including Vampire Diaries chats) with a pleasant social worker. :-)

Day 44: Technology + Parking Spot

 

 Today I learned...

...that my iPhone 5 can do soooooo many things I always imagined phones would be able to do when I was a kid dreaming of futuristic possibilities.

Today I am thankful for...

...a really close parking spot at grad school tonight - because it was snowing when I left the building to drive home!

Day 31: Second-Guessing + a Safe Home

Today I learned...
...not to second-guess myself, even when it comes to very trivial things. At 6:00 this morning, I jolted awake because I thought I heard a bell. I listened intently and didn't hear anything else, so I thought I had imagined it or dreamed it. I went back to sleep and woke up an hour later to scared cats that were hiding and a horrible smell pervading the house. The thermostat on the wall downstairs seemed to be making a bizarre buzzing noise. Rick and I assumed it was our heating system and called the service who works on it. Rick went to a doctor appointment and work while I waited for the repair man to arrive and called in late to hospice. After a while of inhaling the awful fumes, a man came to help me. He went right to the wall with the thermostat and said, "You think the buzzing is coming from here? I don't." I looked puzzled and he pointed to a box a couple of feet above the thermostat, on the same wall. The doorbell transformer box.

And yes, the buzzing was indeed coming from the doorbell box. After he checked every aspect of our heating system to find everything working perfectly, I took the box cover off the transformer for the doorbell that is fastened to the wall. It was super hot and yes, the smell came from it. THAT was what I had heard at 6:00am. The doorbell shorted out and RANG. I just called myself crazy, but maybe if I had looked for the source FIRST, I would have avoided bothering the heating people. 

Long story short, the wires from the doorbell unit extend down into the wall, which was making me nervous about fire, but with the help of my iPhone to take a photo of the transformer box and send it to my dad, he talked me through removing the right wire to stop the electrical current and therefore the buzzing and the burning smell. It was like dismantling a bomb! Thanks, Dad! All is well at the Bair household again.

Today I am thankful for...
...healthy cats, a safe home, and my dad. Why? Because of all of the above!

Day 29: Little Things + Opportunities

Today I learned...
...that the simplest things can be the most meaningful to people. When Channel 69 News came to my home to interview me today, they took footage of me with my delightful cat, Tumbler. They also took footage of specific quotes on my bulletin board ("Each new day is another chance to change your life," "Inspire," etc.) and me making food to eat in my kitchen! ;-)

Today I am thankful for...
...the amazing opportunity of being interviewed by Nancy Werteen of Channel 69 News (WFMZ). Though she warned me that my portion of the segment will be cut to about a minute and a half, she was so respectful and kind. She asked such good questions and talked to me for quite a while. She even told me that editing the footage to the time frame will be difficult. It was a great meeting. And honestly, even if it never aired on TV, I feel like it was a success.