Thursday, December 12, 2013

My Favorite & Unfavorite Things for December 11, 2013


In grand Christmas tradition, the song My Favorite Things rings out from many speakers. The lyrics evoke a love/hate list* similar to the ones our old friends made in college, but not at all similar to the consumer huggermugger that is Oprah’s Favorite Things. Here is my current love/hate list, in no particular order.

Love list

      1.  Fall
      2.  Spring
      3.  Chad
      4.  That Chad lives in Austin most of the time now, versus living in NYC, San Francisco, and the not-so-friendly skies of business commuter flights
      5.  Netflix
      6. Kenji – She is willful and fiercely cuddly.
      7.  Sonic – He is such a sweet, funny, giant, chirpy man-cat
      8.  Marigold – She is a funny old lady who loves a good toe rub and being carried around like a baby.
      9.  Janie – She does her best to sleep a lot like the kitties, but also loves a good walk.
      10.  Making the store pretty and organized, especially creating the window displays
      11.  Making our home pretty and organized 
      12.  Reading
      13.  Wrapping gifts
      14.  Baking sweet things
      15.  Free time
      16.  That our new neighbors (back and side) each took the initiative to get our shared fences repaired / rebuilt
      17.  My ancient, super-soft, thick cashmere sweater (Of course, I hope the cashmere came from ethically raised goats who didn’t need those belly hairs for their own warmth.)
      18.  The rush of endorphins from a good trip to the gym coupled with that well-stretched muscles feeling
      19.  The breakfast (or in my case brunch) hot bar at the big Whole Foods across the street from my workplace - One of the good things about having to be at work at 5:00 AM some days is getting my 10:00 AM brunch break. French toast, home fries and migas!
      20.  Taco Shack breakfast tacos
      21.  Taco Deli lunch tacos
      22.  Lip balms / chapsticks, especially Bonne Bell, Burt’s Bees and Lucky Tiger brands
      23.  Feeling like I belong (particularly at work right now, and always with my pack of pets and Chad)
      24.  American style iced tea – Luzianne is my low-brow favorite.
      25.  Gilt.com for shopping


Hate List

1.     Winter-type weather - It isn’t officially winter yet, but I’ve had enough of this cold, drippy weather. Enough, I say!
2.     Feeling like I don’t belong – especially among old friends
3.     Not having enough time to do little things I enjoy, like read
4.     My inability to sleep on airplanes
5.     Some of Sonic’s behaviors – Yes, it’s a love-hate deal with this burly boy. He bullies the other pets and pees on things other than cat litter. (He’s been to the vet multiple times for this issue, and he is neutered. It is not a health issue, but a purely territorial behavior.)
6.     Raisins – They ruin everything.
7.     Small enclosed spaces
8.     Chaos
9.     Crowds
10.  Facebook


*Our college friends, Lori B. and Melinda L., who were cousins, made a list of 25 things they loved and 10 things they hated. Then they sealed the envelope, writing the day’s date on the outside. They squirreled away the envelopes for later reading and evaluation. It was back before blogs were popular. I prefer a blog post to a hidden envelope.