Reasons to Believe

Sorry my last post was such a downer! In talking to several friends since then, I've realized life is pretty good. Sure, I'm stressed out and tired and things could be better, but things could also be a lot worse. I just shouldn't write when I'm going on 24 hours with no sleep. Fortunately, I have slept since then and things are looking up.

Ross still hasn't heard from grad school. We call weekly now, and the admissions guy is getting frustrated with the Interaction Design department as well. However, I get paid tomorrow for the first time in a month! I only took one day off between my old job and my new job, but my new hospital's paycheck system is very post-dated.

Possibly the best news, though, is that Ross got a job! Two, actually. Old Navy hired him as a seasonal employee and a valet company hired him to work in the Plaza. He's so excited to be a working man again, but I have to admit I'm really going to miss hanging out with him on my days off. We have spent A LOT of time together lately. We don't have a social life in KC and with me working nights and him being home, we're pleasantly surprised we haven't gotten sick of each other, despite our individual personalities needing "alone time" to recharge.

Sunshine has helped my attitude as well. I love sunshine! Our first week here was gloomy and rainy and cold but since then, it's been sunny and in the 70s! I'm sure if we had TV channels, we'd hear every KC weatherman parroting the phrase, "unseasonably warm." Even Omaha was gorgeous, warm, and bright when we visited last week. Reminds me of Ft. Worth. I'll enjoy it while I can because I'm sure Midwest Winter will attack eventually.

In addition to all of this good news, Ross and I have started running. There are several beautiful parks around and I very much needed to start working out again. With all of these factors combined, I feel that instead of singing "a long December," there's actually "reason to believe, maybe this year will be better than the last." (Counting Crows song. Good stuff.)

I was reading a novel recently (Ross and I have already joined the local library) and these words stood out to me:

"There is no point in treating a depressed person
as though she were just feeling sad, saying, 'There now,
hang on, you'll get over it.'Sadness is more or less
like a head cold-- with patience, it passes.
Depression is like cancer." -Barbara Kingsolver in The Bean Trees

I understand depression, I've walked around in it and slept with it and spent entirely too much time with it in the last ten years. But I'm cautiously optimistic at this point. While moving was a great sadness, I will be okay this winter.

There are perks to living in Kansas City. It's only three hours to Omaha, for one. Ross and I had a great visit last week. My entire family ate dinner together on a non-holiday! It's been rare for all 6 of us to be in Omaha at the same time ever since I left for Texas and Tommy (I can't believe I have a brother turning 23 years old tomorrow!) chose a school in California. But now it looks like we're making our way back home. Home being where our family is. It's no coincidence that since Tommy and I were most affected by moving so much when we were little, neither of us felt too tied to Omaha after high school. It was much easier to go to schools in other states. It's good to be back though (she sighed, reluctantly).

I'm also excited to spend more time with my grandparents. I just learned how to make my Grandma's famous homemade bread. I need to try it on my own and see how it turns out! As for Ross, he has never lived near grandparents and mine have just taken him right in. It's fun to listen to him talk to them and learn all sorts of things about the past that I just took for granted.

Speaking of the past, my mom has been into old pictures lately. My Grandma Ginny (my dad's mom) is a great historian and has given us several nice old pictures over the years. My mom wanted some from her side of the family, so her parents brought over boxes and CDs when we invited them to dinner. The oldest pictures haven't been scanned it yet, but I got some good shots of my grandparents when they were my age as well as some hilarious photos of my mom and her two older siblings growing up! Next time I'm home, I'll post some with Aunt Kate and Aunt Susie (my mom's younger siblings) and pictures from my dad's side as well. For now, hope you enjoy these as much as I do!

*If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun* -Katharine Hepburn

*I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center.* -Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

*To design is much more than simply to assemble, to order, or even to edit; it is to add value and meaning, to illuminate, to simplify, to clarify, to modify, to dignify, to dramatize, to persuade, and perhaps even to amuse.* -Paul Rand

*A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.* -Sir Winston Churchill

Uncle Ted, Aunt Theresa, and my mom

*Getting an inch of snow is like winning 10 cents in the lottery.* -Bill Watterson (Calvin & Hobbes)

*It's interesting how it's hard to be depressed around a three-year-old, if you're paying attention. After a while, whatever you're mooning about begins to seem like some elaborate adult invention* -Barbara Kingsolver