It felt good to vent out my frustrations, but now, I will take Ron's advice and list the things I do love about California and remind myself why life is beautiful. I think I'm having a mid-life crisis, stressed out with school and work, not getting enough sleep. It's bound to make ya crazy at some point, and perhaps now is just my breaking point.
Once we moved in, we had a friend stay for the week helping us out with house duties, family came the next week, and then I started staying later at work with mid-terms to study for at the same time. It was three weeks of building priorities and I was not getting good sleep at all. Ron has helped me recognize that this has been an unusual semester for me with buying a house and all the visitors we have had in this short period of time. He's right. Time to re-group and look at all the positive things.
It's okay to miss the east coast, but that doesn't mean I can't learn to love a different way of life either. I just have to make my list of things I love here, and remind myself what I'm grateful for so I don't lose site of those things.
Here's my list:
1. I love the weather. Duh.
2. The palm trees make me feel like I am in a tropical place, my ideal vacation destination.
3. We just bought a house. It may not be in the country with my nightly crickets croaking, but it is a quiet house too. There are no kids running and screaming around like I grew up with. I have privacy. It is a lovely home that is finally coming together the way we want it.
4. I have an orange tree and a lemon tree. We just planted a banana plant, and are making plans for the avocado tree, tomato plant, basil and parsley pots. I'm going to have a garden! Amazing.
5. I like having picnics on the beach.
6. Ron just bought us boogie boards so I can continue understanding the ocean and the way it moves before I begin the real deal... surfing.
7. The beach is twenty minutes away. Just twenty.
8. I have two cute little pets that I love so much. They bring so much joy and entertainment in my life.
9. I am in school working towards a degree, something I never ever thought I would be able to do in my lifetime.
10. There are an abundance of restaurants out here to eat at, and I sure do love my food.
11. I have a wonderful husband. He really understands me, and helps me get past all my temporary mood swings. I probably don't deserve him, but I am lucky enough to have a great man in my life. Patti Sanger said, "Everyone wants love, but not everyone can find it."
That's the beginning of my list for now, which is a great start. Ron was right. Reading over these 11 things makes me smile and remember I have so many wonderful things to be happy about. My schedule right now is a crazy one and it is certainly responsible for my irritability and grumpiness. But after eight weeks, this semester is over and I can move on from this tough time. This is just a hard part of the climb in my hike to a degree.
Perseverance. Strength. Keep going.
You can do it!!!
ReplyDelete