Gratitude Day 18

Little Thing: Little woodland creatures outside my office window.

They’re probably more urban than woodland, but in the week I’ve spent at my new job a little black bird has hopped repeatedly at the window trying to get in, a pair of ducks on a date have stopped on the grass in front of my desk, and a squirrel has run by in fun happy squirrel loops. Animals, they make me happy.

I also saw a super adorable squirrel eating whatever it was someone had left for it at the foot of a tree on my way out yesterday. I almost stopped to take a picture.

Medium Thing: My new commute.

I rode my bicycle to work today. It’s been years since I’ve had the opportunity to do that. It was fantastic. I am thrilled with my new commute options.

Speaking of which, after 14 miles on the Langster I hopped on the Enduro when I got home. Wow, what a difference. Those bikes are like night and day. Fully rigid vs. 6.3″ of travel, super steep vs. super slack head angle, 16″ vs 29″ bars, skinny road vs. fat knobby downhill tires… It took me a minute to get readjusted. I love both those bikes.

That last sentence makes me feel grateful about a lot of different things for a lot of different reasons.

Gratitude Day 17

Little Thing: My giant work monitor.

This is probably the littlest Little Thing yet… except in this case it’s not actually little. Huh?

Medium Thing: Contact lenses.

Having to wear glasses would put such a crimp in my lifestyle. Whoever dreamed up crafting little lenses to put in our eyes, nice job!

Other Medium Thing: Helmets.

Not having helmets would also put a crimp in my lifestyle. Hockey without helmets? I’d have cracked my skull several times over by now. Downhill mountain biking without helmets? No way. Hooray for head safety!

Gratitude Day 16

Big Thing: Access to good food.

Perhaps you’re wondering whether I mean healthy food or tasty food. I mean both. I am grateful for easy access to really really good for me foods, really really bad for me but super yummy foods, and good for me foods that also happen to taste great. I live in a food oasis.

Gratitude Day 15

Big Thing: My job.

I don’t want this to come off as “I’m glad I have a job.” While I *am* happy to be employed, I am referring to the fact that I enjoy what I do, I tend to have interesting projects, I get paid to learn and solve puzzles all day, and I’ve been lucky enough to work with some really great people since I entered the workforce full time. So while a job in itself isn’t a Big Thing, all the things I’ve listed are. I am blessed, lucky, grateful.

Gratitude Day 14

Medium Thing: Technology.

As I sit here pulling my hair out trying to sync my new work calendar with my personal calendars, I have to remind myself that this is not a bad problem to have. It wasn’t so long ago that people had to write down all their appointments.

That said, if anyone has any experience making an Exchange calendar on OS X Lion + Outlook 2011 sync with their Google calendars, please please please please please let me know how you did it. And I don’t mean on your phone. I want to be able to open Google Calendar and see my work calendar as one of the selectable, displayable calendars. I also want to be able to open Outlook and see my personal calendars as selectable, displayable calendars. I was previously able to do this on a Windows machine using Google Calendar Sync in one direction and iCal URLs in the other direction. Neither of those look to be options for me anymore.

Boston 2012

On Tuesday of last week I packed up my stuff, said goodbye to my coworkers, and left my job. The next morning, I boarded a plane for Boston. The plan: to sit on my parents’ couch for a week.

It ended up being Get Mom Out Of The House Every Day, but I got what I wanted, which was to spend time with my family. I didn’t tell any of my friends I was home. I’ll have to make a longer trip back home for that.

Mom recently bought a couple goldfish. When I asked her what their names were, she said, “One is named Goldilocks.”

“What’s the other one’s name?”

She paused, “It’s really long.”

“That’s okay, we can give it a shorter nickname. So what’s it’s name?”

“Little Red Riding Hood. It has a red spot on the top of its head.”

Cute!

As I watched her feed the fish and water the plants every morning I realized why things grow so well in the house. She treats every living thing with love. It’s a joy to see.

Speaking of living things in the house, Bobo is still around. I wasn’t sure I’d get to see her again when I left last May. I’m less sure I’ll get to see her again leaving this May. She sleeps a lot, has lost a ton of weight, has a dry nose, is going bald, has cataracts and cysts, and smells like stinky dog. Despite that, she turns into persistent little puppy whenever someone has food. I guess as long as she does that, things are okay.

Mom declared the day I got there that since Bobo was so old she should get to eat whatever she wants, and that she would feed her hamburger and eggs until she dies. She then boiled a dozen eggs just for Bobo. Bobo must have thought she was in doggie heaven when she got that first egg.

Speaking of Mom and food, I’ve discovered that Mom is a snacking machine. Where does she put it all? I guess that’s where I get my itty bitty frame.

Also speaking of food, when Grandma heard I was coming home she did a bunch of prep so we could make joong. That, despite her various aches and pains. Thanks Grandma!

Oh, but Grandma’s aches and pains did not prevent her from coming over for mahjong and winning all my play money. Shark!!

Those aches and pains also didn’t prevent her from telling Mom to stay home because bad people would hypnotize her and make her give them all her money if she went out. I’m not sure what more to say about that. It’s par for Mom’s side of the family.

Really, it is. Take Mom’s idea of hiking, for example. We drove to Blue Hills, parked by the pond, and Mom proceeded to walk toward the largest group of people she could find. When I suggested we hike the trail around the pond, she said there weren’t enough people there and it wasn’t safe. Instead we hiked through the parking lot.

And this is why I never went camping as a kid. That, and the dirt. Oh, and the bugs. And the snakes.

Dad’s dad called while I was there. Dad put me on the phone with him and hilarity ensued. Dada doesn’t speak Cantonese and I don’t speak Shanghainese.

Afterward, Dad tried to teach me and sis some Shanghainese. It’s so different from anything we’ve ever heard. I swear, it sounds more like Russian than Chinese.

Toishanese, however, is no problem for me. I grew up listening to Mom and Grandma speak it, and when I hear it now I don’t have to do any sort of translation in my head. I can’t speak it, though, because I’ve never tried to. Interesting how that works.

Stories

Everyone had a story to share. Well, except for sis, but she’s the youngest so she gets a pass.

Grandma talked about her experience as a seamstresses in the early 80′s. They got paid for each item they sewed: a few cents for a hem, another few cents for a zipper, etc. At first we were amazed at the low cost of labor. Then we realized that kind of labor doesn’t even exist in Boston anymore.

Mom talked about how I used to hop and skip down the street as a kid. As a kid? I sometimes do that even now.

Dad talked about how his dad walked for two months from Shanghai to Macau so he could sneak into Hong Kong in search of a better life for his family. I would not exist if it weren’t for that walk.

I talked about how I found Dad’s coin collection and spent a bunch of his silver dimes at the local Christy’s convenience store. I was in 2nd or 3rd grade, and back then I got into pretty much everything in the house. The first time I did it, the checker told his coworker about the special dimes. The second time, “Hey look! More of those dimes!” The third time, he gave me free candy. That’s when I realized something was wrong and stopped.

Dad brought out his coin collection and I searched for the remaining silver dimes. Thank goodness I didn’t spend them all!

$2 Dimes

Gratitude Day 13

Little Thing: Sunblock.

I have funny tan lines on my arms and light sunburn on my shoulders, but I can’t even imagine how crispy I would be if sunblock didn’t exist.

Big Thing: Having hobbies I’m passionate about that challenge me.

What would I do without hockey and mountain biking? I’m sure I’d find something else to throw myself into learning, but regardless of what it is, I am grateful to have come across things I enjoy spending time on. I am also grateful that those things also happen to keep me happy and healthy (minus injuries).

Really, what would I do? What do people who don’t have hobbies do? Shop? Eat? Watch TV?

Gratitude Day 12

Medium Thing: Getting to say thank you.

Kind of meta, huh? I’m volunteering at Dirt Series this weekend, which means I have a chance to see some of the coaches who have taught me some key skills at the camp over the last two years. I took this opportunity to thank individual coaches for specific things I’ve learned from them. It’s cool to see how happy they are to hear how they’ve helped someone.

I guess that’s why I like coaching too. It feels just as good to help someone improve as it does to improve at something yourself.

Don’t Stop Believin’

I’ve had that song stuck in my head ever since Aaron read this post and IM-sang it to me. But that was the theme of today’s ride at Joaquin Miller. I approached that steepish loose-ish climb from Moon Gate to Skyline with the one root that’s made me stall or spin out every time with this in mind. “This climb is totally doable,” I told myself, “Just balance and crank.” Take that, root! This climb is now done.

I tried to do something similar with Two Dollar Hill, but even though I tried it three times I still couldn’t do it. The first time I spun out on the gravel. The second time I took too steep a line. The third time I simply didn’t believe. It’s doable and I will do it someday; I just need to get my head in the right place.

If you have that song stuck in your head now you can thank Aaron.

Gratitude Day 11

Little Thing: Grass.

I’m talking about the kind you walk on, in case that’s not the grass that came to mind. In particular, I’m talking about walking on a big beautiful sheet of it. That said, if I ever have enough land for a big beautiful sheet of grass, I will use that land to build a pump track instead.

Other Little Thing: Iced Americanos.

It’s warm out. I’ve been enjoying them. Two freshly pulled shots on ice with mmm-milkfat. Every sip, so good.

Medium Thing: Healing.

I have a bruise on my knee from trying to practice something at public skate. It hurts, but it will heal, and I am grateful for the fact that our bodies can do that. Pretty amazing if you think about it.

Big Thing: People and time.

Today is day 9 of not having a job (until Monday). I’ve used that time to visit people I don’t get to see very often. I’m grateful for that time, for those visits, and for each of those people.