Posts Tagged ‘holidays’

Gratitude — I try to recognize it each day as it happens.

Things I’ve been thankful for recently:

• The woman above me chooses to leave on her heat  — which heats 2/3 of my apartment — while we are both gone.
• Last week’s winter storm disintegrating before reaching Casper, so I could drive to Colorado and fly home for Thanksgiving.
• Parents who drive to the airport late at night (midnight) and early in the morning (3 a.m.).
• A strong, healthy  body to run 3 miles through the woods and mud.
• Laughter, especially about things that don’t matter.
• Enough weekend to share with family, friends and  several hometown restaurants.
• Friends who offer to babysit me while I test Four Loko.
• My sister drove from Illinois to Colorado so she could be my Trader Joes mule and haul back almond butter and wine I couldn’t take on the plane.
• A cozy bed in Fort Collins to nap for a few hours before heading back to Wyoming.
• A Saturday shift so I didn’t have to go to work on Monday with only a couple hours of sleep.
• Two business days this week to get my bills/life in order.

Cleaning the carcass with my uncle in my mom’s kitchen, home of many thankful moments.

Tomorrow it’s back to work — another thing for which I’m constantly grateful.

In the last week, I’ve driven to Fort Collins, New Mexico, Denver, Casper, Lander, Dubois, Casper and Denver and tomorrow Kansas City. Five states, seven beds, one suitcase packed and repacked.

We had enough dough for two houses.

My first Christmas away from home was low key and relaxing. I missed family and tradition, but I like stepping out of that box every once in a while. We baked and decorated gingerbread houses, ate good comfort food and went skiing — my first time in 10 years. A few minutes down the first run and I got my ski legs back.

I reported two outdoors stories for features on Monday and Tuesday — ice skating and snowshoeing — that took me to Lander and Dubois. Josh came with and took photos. Ice skating took a little longer to adjust to (it had also been 10 years since the last time I’d gone.) The packed snow wasn’t ideal for snowshoeing, but it was still a blast and made me think about buying a pair.

Snowshoeing in the Shoshone National Forest

Writing about something besides schools was refreshing. I’m lucky to work where outdoors stories are valued, where I can ask to go snowshoeing in northwest Wyoming and they say yes.

Wednesday was an office day. I thought I was going to get the shakes sitting in a chair for more than an hour at a time. After work, we headed south again. This time the destination is Kansas City for New Year’s Eve.