Friday Fussings, Thanks and Musings

Yep.  I have a mixed bag of feelings today, and I feel compelled to write.  Live with it.  Or just don't read it.  Nobody's forcing you.  (Insert smiley face here.)

A friend posted this graphic to Face Book a while back.  It is funny, but not.  It's all too tragically true for too many of our returning vets.  I hope they get more recognition for their service than Matt did after the Gulf War.  (Considered just his regular job since he was in airlift and active duty at the time.)  My rant would be "My husband spent seven months in Desert Shield/Storm, and all I got was a lousy certificate.  He got the t-shirt, but it was olive drab." 
That said, I am very grateful he was only away seven months, even if I was alone in a foreign country for that time.  Also glad that he came home in one piece, even if he did injure his shoulder again.
 These folks today are dealing with far longer deployments and far less real support when they get back.  It's a disgrace.  

My next fuss is about the photo of bathing beauties from a book cover:

I am sure this is a wonderful book, I was just struck by the proportions of the ladies in those bathing suits.  It occurs to me that my figure is upside down by all normal standards.  Most women have at least SOME hips and behind.  They usually don't have as much proportionally on top as I do.  I have NO hips and no behind to speak of.  Boobs I got.  Too much.  Even as I lose weight, I lose what little hips I had, and nothing much off the bust yet.  There is some difference, but not much.  Not really complaining, just wondering what whacky genetics came to me to cause this oddball shape for a female.  Nobody that takes after the Clark side of my family has much of a behind, though. May be one reason the family is so fidgety.  We can't sit still too long because we have no padding to sit on!  

Now, the thanks:

  

I am thankful for coffee.  On a chilly morning, it makes so many things easier to do.  Like open my eyes.   

I am also thankful for Muscinex, Tylenol Tension Headache Formula, and Chlortrimeton. Also decongestant.  Those and the coffee are what have made my ability to function possible this morning.  

I am thankful for my coworker Sally and her marvelous giggle.  She has a lovely sunny smile, and the best giggle ever.  She is generous with her laughter.  Her attitude makes a long shift at work easier to bear, so I am very thankful to get to work with her.  

My husband Matthew's evil grin is a special source of delight to me.  I sometimes think I know exactly what he's thinking when that grin appears, and no, it doesn't always involve innuendo.  Not always.  I am very grateful for his love, his patience, his sense of humor, and that evil little grin.  

Also his particularly evil laugh.  It can be scary if you don't know him, but if you do, you know he is truly amused when he laughs that way.

Very thankful for Fiona's sense of humor.  Brings back my sense of balance some days.  So very grateful for her friendship, and thanks to Mr. Perlman, because he's the reason I met Fiona.  (Also, Mary, Kelly, Paulette, Maria, Marie, Anna, Patti, Amy, Brooklyn, well, I probably forgot somebody, but these are the friends I tweet with most often)

Thankful for the wide open, clear, heartbreakingly , breathtakingly blue Oklahoma sky this morning.  So very beautiful and expansive.

Thankful for my health and the ability to keep it.  

Thankful for my family, even if we seldom see each other.  We are all strong personalities, and it may well be that distance helps us get along better!  

Always thankful for music and for the ability to sing.  Such a transcendent joy, and such hard work!  Worth every bit of the effort, though.  Can't believe that others enjoy my singing, can't imagine that I am actually any good, but I love to sing.  I feel like I am soaring along with the music, lost in the melody and the sound, and sometimes in the emotion of the song.

Thankful for my church and all the people in it.  They are family, and we have all been through a LOT together over the years.  Being at St. Paul's never fails to lift my spirit, always makes me feel God's presence and the comfort that brings.  I know that I am loved.  Well and truly.

Musing on what I need to do vs what I want to do today.  Think I can successfully accommodate both if I get myself moving.  Need to get some errands run, do some cleaning, some laundry, and some Nerdy stuff.  Also want to read, to veg out for once, and possibly commit poetry again.  

Wish I didn't always feel like such a social klutz.  Am usually sure I have alienated someone unintentionally.  Just always lived too much inside my own head, and tend toward saying things totally out of the blue that confuse people.  (Except Matt.  He always seems to know just where I've been, and where I'm going.)  

Hoping for a good day, and wishing the best for all my friends and family, and you, Dear Reader, who are probably in one of those categories.  If not, I truly appreciate your time and attention.  Good day to you as well. 

Just me.  (No makeup, no glasses, therefore no armor against the world.)