February 9, 2010

Today, I am grateful for….

1. Jessica giving me a ride to work in the snow
2. The unexpected Simmons post mortem podcast
3. How consistently great interviews with old pro wrestlers are
4. A post Super Bowl Disney commercial giving me the chills for the first time in a while
5. Bacaro’s new bar menu – can’t wait
6. The law of averages catching up with rookie head coach Jim Caldwell
7. Discovering the Greg Fitzsimmons podcast
8. Sirius Satellite Radio helping me get through the work day faster
9. All these podcasts that pick up the slack when I get tired of Sirius
10. How silly and amusing Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay was
11. Louis CK
12. How good the leftover pork sauce was over linguine
13. The snow not ruining my work day
14. 12 grain bread
15. Not worrying about running out of firewood
16. How fun it is keeping a fire going
17. His to do list at work being half as long at the end of the day
18. Not having to file FSA claims anymore
19. Roger Ebert for his Martin Scorsese book
20. Bob McGinn’s Super Bowl book
21. How cute Jessica looks in her purple winter jacket
22. Bill Murray’s transformation
23. His stereo amplifier finally being fixed
24. Seeing Saints DC Gregg Williams evolve even at his age
25. Hampton Inn commercials
26. MS Office 2008 not pissing me off yet
27. How photogenic Chicago is at night
28. Hollywood week
29. Noscript.net
30. The ability to read the New York Times on my phone
31. Clever reinterpretations of pop songs
32. DVR
33. How overrated anger is
34. My renewed love for chips and salsa
35. The guitarist on Idol using scordatura tuning
36. The sheer number of good beer available here
37. Job security
38. A great part time job that gives me constant contact with creativity of the highest order
39. My new Macbook - I now believe the hype
40. Some semblance of financial security after some scary and lean years
41. Jessica - everyday I am surprised at how much we love each other
42. Not worrying about where my next meal is coming from
43. Facebook being an easy means to keep in touch with friends all over the world
44. How exciting this year is shaping out to being
45. How Jessica and I can’t seem to stay mad at each other for very long
46. Adam Carolla podcast
47. How much Jessica and I make each other laugh
48. Reconnecting with old friends
49. Breathing
50. Any form of nuanced thinking
51. Clean sweats to lounge around in
52. Keeping my cynicism in check
53. Still not completely believing in the concept of being comfortable
54. The ability to have some fucked up and entertaining dreams
55. Having a washer and dryer in our apartment
56. Mike Ross, the director of Krannert Center
57. Foreign languages
58. Life forcing me to multitask
59. Anthony Bourdain
60. The rush of positive thoughts and feelings I have every time I see Jessica
61. Tiki
62. My smart and talented friends old and new
63. My increasingly reliable intuition
64. My Brita filter especially on those days when Illinois Water decides to put WAY too much chlorine in it
65. The music playing in my head – still the Who Dat chant
66. Competent and dedicated coworkers at both of my jobs
67. How great I feel after riding my bike to work
68. This computer stand from Ikea
69. Old Time Meat and Deli
70. Jessica's cute faces
71. How Jessica can pick me up when all seems lost
72. How good of a listener Jessica can be
73. Google Wave
74. Clothes that fit me even though I’ve gained too much weight
75. Bill Simmons
76. No longer worrying if today will be the day our car will completely fall apart
77. My new Ted Baker glasses
78. The moktak that my mom sent me
79. The copy of the Korean Zen Buddhist prayer CD that my mom made me
80. How good cracking various joints feel
81. My new earmuffs that don’t mess up my hair
82. Jackson 5 version of "Who's Loving You"
83. The fact that my seasonal eczema is finally subsiding
84. Everything I have yet to learn
85. My passion for music slowly returning
86. Our Simmons Beautyrest
87. My cautious optimism
88. The bizarre yet surprisingly effective baby talk that Jessica and I have developed for communicating
89. Jessica's hourglass figure
90. Memories, good and bad
91. The pavlovian response Jessica induces in me when I hear her keys just before she opens the door when coming home from work
92. My desire to seek out the positive in my life
93. Sensodyne
94. Free floss from the dentist
95. My orthotics
96. Not having to worry too much about what to wear for work
97. Having hope
98. My Brandeis BPA free Nalgene bottle
99. A new day
100. Completing my seventh post

Object of my metta practice - myself

Reflection of the Day – I have moved the recurring items to the bottom in order to make it easier to read. I now realize that the metta affirmations are not created equally. Eariler, I had placed the same expectation on each of them. If some of these wishes aren’t granted immediately, I should be patient. Not quite ready to move to a new object of my metta meditation.