It is a matter of perspective

Ok, I know I have been MIA for a while with my blogs. Part of it is because I haven't been able to find time to write. The other part is that my weekdays lately have been too hectic and less active, and so by the weekend I cannot wait to be out and about rather than being indoors. Anyway, hopefully my first blog back from the 8-month absence won't be the last.

Sometimes when multiple things or changes happen at the same time, even if some of those things are minor or out of your control, they tend to accumulate and end up making you feeling like "when it rains it pours". This is how I have been feeling for the last 2 weeks. I have been reading a book ("Feeling Good" by David Burns) that explains how your feelings are not always the reality because you might have thought distortions that create those unnecessary pessimistic feelings and anxieties. So I know that I need to put things in perspective rather than letting my pessimistic thoughts roam wild :-).

Below are the people in my life and things I enjoy that at the end of the day help to provide me with a more balanced perspective that my life is very good after all and that I have a lot to be thankful for:

1) My Friends: I have an introverted side to me that tends to keep my circle of friends small and that enjoys 1-1 company. So my close female friends and their support are important to me. These past 2 weeks, it has been helpful for me to just chat with my friends from Indy and Salt Lake City. Most of my friends have a great sense of humor, and so even random funny chit chats have been very diverting. The serious chats also help a lot and it makes me very thankful to have friends who are kind and empathetic.

2) My Family: I am also thankful for my husband and my dog. To cheer me up, my husband has been taking me out more often on the weekend to go hiking, the movies, and just to be out-and-about. I think it was cute that he brought take-home food one day and said that he had specifically picked out certain food to surprise me - ribs and chicken. I am also very thankful for my dog whose affection and neediness make you feel very loved. I have always wanted a big dog and a golden retriever is the best cuddling kind.

3) Brookstone Snuggies: I did get the idea of the Snuggies from the informercial but the one that I got is from Brookstone (which is not called a snuggie). Even though the Brookstone one is more than twice the Snuggies cost-wise, it is worth every penny because they are made of more quality materials than the fleece materials that Snuggies are from. This is probably our most favorite recent purchase because it warms you up instantly and you can use it anywhere (on the couch, at night as a blanket, etc). We love our snuggies so much that it seems to be a defining moment for us. My husband jokingly said that our life can be defined as pre-Snuggie and post-Snuggie.

4) Good movies: I am a huge movie buff and good movies always do the trick of providing just the right diversion. The movies I watched recently that I really like are: Changeling, Easy Virtue, A Serious Man, and Lost in Austen (the BBC short series) . A Serious Man is not my favorite movie from the Cohen brothers but it was an engaging movie and I did like how they were able to capture the realism of daily life. Last year the Cohen brothers won an Oscar for No Country for Old Men, which was an interesting movie, but my most favorite movies of theirs (in order of preference) are O Brother Where Art Thou, Burn After Reading, and possibly Fargo (I can't remember the movie very well).

5) Buying or receiving new and cool stuff: I love buying new things. However, the thrifty side of me does help to keep my shopping in check and also gives me an appreciation every time I get something new. My husband needed some more winter clothes recently and I really liked having an excuse to get him new clothes :-) I love getting our quarterly wine club shipments because I never know which type of wine I will get and it saves me time from having to go wine shopping at the store. I am really looking forward to the new iFrogz luxe iphone cases we just ordered to replace my husband's worn-out case because we will get 3 cases for the price of the same one that we paid for at the Apple store. This also means that I will get one of the cases in a combo bright green/black color, which I can't wait to use. Of course, I love the fact that our snuggies have worked out so well. Finally, I love that Christmas is coming so that I have an excuse to get my husband, our parents and relatives, and myself gifts.