Gratitude Anyway

Wednesday was moving day (again) for me. It was supposed to be a glorious start at a new place for just Finn and me. After three ill-chosen housing arrangements, I was so excited to begin unpacking in my new place.

And then...

• There were french fries and food particles in the bottom drawer of the oven.

• My air fryer and microwave won’t heat up not matter which outlet I try.

• The walls and paint were clearly not redone.

• The carpet has stains on it.

• The shelf I chose to put some pantry items on collapsed as I put a can of beans on it.

• The door to the skinny shower only opens half way until it hits the sink and then stops.

• The shower head had a significant leak and sprayed all over said tiny bathroom, and I could not get the knobs to turn off.

• The spare closet has no bar for hanging clothes.

I put it a maintenance request on Wednesday night as water spewed on the mirror, on the ceiling, on the walls from my shower head. When I finally got it to stop, I canceled the request. The reply from the leasing office was not an apology for the trouble on my first evening there after a long, sweaty day of moving and unpacking. No, the reply was: “Hi Angie, since you cancelled the last work order you submitted, please submit another work order for our maintenance to check the knobs.”

I was in disbelief...although, I’m not really sure why, given my past experience with landlords and property management companies. Despite my struggles to get a much needed shower, to eat my cold sandwich which I had hoped to heat up, to put my food in a cabinet that didn’t collapse, on Thursday I kept going. I kept unpacking, kept finding places to put my belongings, kept looking for the silver lining.

And here it was:

The love of my life and my skinny little tree.

Yes, I decorated despite not having organized my bookshelves, my office space, my closets, nor my shoes.

These are the things that turned my frown upside.

And so, I chose gratitude anyway. Gratitude over continuing to gripe...gratitude over grimey floors and walls...gratitude over greasy hair.

Getting to a place of gratitude was no small task on Thursday, but I got there with the help of my best boy and some cozy holiday decor. Despite this being my first Thanksgiving ever without at least one other human at the table, I made Finn and myself an untraditional meal of salmon, boiled potatoes, and peas. He was in heaven, and that was all I needed.

Thanks for being here and reading along. I am also grateful for you.

Graciously,

Angie