Everything Is Awesome

Hello to all 26 of my official blog followers! (Note: that’s up 3 since my last post! Awesome!) And hello to the rest of you who just can’t avoid me because this shows up in your Facebook feed. I love you all, you’re all awesome.

I just took a look back at my last post and realized, it was pretty “glass half-empty.” I was in a bad mood, letting a lot of little things get under my skin. That’s really not me. I’m an optimistic person, most of the time. And to prove it, I’m going to spend this entire blog post just talking about all of the positive things that have happened in the past two weeks.

First, I have big news: my family, or at least a fraction of my family, has given me permission to write about them again. The only stipulation is that I have to stick to three topics: 1. How awesome they are. 2. How awesome they always have been, and 3. How awesome they always will be. So let me just say this: My kids are awesome. They always have been, and they always will be. Also, my husband: So awesome. Always has been, always will be. Even the dog is awesome. Always has been. Always will be.

I should probably just leave it at that, because really — that says it all, doesn’t it? Don’t want to risk saying too much and possibly getting banned again. After all, I know how easy it is to offend via the written word. I once got hate mail in response to a newspaper column I wrote because I used the word “unique” to describe an event. I swear I am not making this up. The writer of the hate mail— we’ll call him “Word Usage Nazi” — took offense at the fact that perhaps this rare event COULD happen again in the future, therefore it technically was not “unique.” Well, it’s 3 years later, and the event has not happened again, so I’m going with: I was right, and Word Usage Nazi was wrong. And it’s always awesome to be right.

But I digress…

The second good thing that happened, which is probably the highlight of the past 2 weeks, maybe even the highlight of the past 2 years: Patricia Heaton (the real, blue-check verified, Patricia Heaton), liked my last 3 Instagram posts!!!! Patricia Heaton! The mom on two of the best sitcoms in television history, Everybody Loves Raymond and The Middle! She likes me!! She really likes me!!! I don’t need approval from Word Usage Nazis or anyone else when I’ve got approval from Frankie Heck!

Another good thing that happened: I barely left the house all weekend! My husband went away for the weekend, and my son was out of town for 2 days for a golf tournament, so I took advantage of it and enjoyed the peace and quiet and the solitude. I know it is a hard thing for my extroverted friends to grasp, but it was heaven. I am what introversion researcher Susan Cain* would call an outgoing introvert.  I like to socialize, love being with my friends, love going out and having fun and meeting new people — but I also find that it takes a lot of energy, and in large doses it becomes emotionally and physically draining for me. It’s been a busy Fall, and to have a couple days of quiet really helped me recharge. I also got a lot of things accomplished that have been nagging at me, and I started the week feeling more balanced and refreshed than I have in months. It was AWESOME.

*If you are not familiar with Susan Cain, and if you are an introvert or if you love an introvert, I would highly recommend her book: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. It really changed the way I look at the world and at myself.

Other good things:

• Penn State football. 4-0, #4 in the country, so fun to watch!
• Indian Summer. Love that it’s 80 degrees and sunny at the end of September!!
• Work. Getting some really fun, interesting writing assignments and I am really enjoying it.
• Health. Despite my inability to control myself when faced with a bag of Fritos or an entire rotisserie chicken, I stepped on the scale for the first time in 3 weeks and found myself 3 pounds lighter. Woot.

Oh, one more good thing. We are on the brink of a war with North Korea again. Here is what is awesome about that: I predicted it. Without naming any names, back in November of last year, I predicted that a Tweet was going to start World War III, and it’s looking like I might be right about that. I sure hope I am not, but, like I said before — it’s always awesome to be right. Right? And don’t worry, that’s all I have to say about that.

Yep. Everything is awesome!