I Hate It When...

I just need to get a few things off my chest. Here goes:

I hate it when I go into a home improvement store with a project in mind thinking I either know what I need or I'll know it when I see it, only to become so confused and indecisive that I leave with nothing I originally came for.

I hate it when I choose to leave my rain coat in the car even though there's a thunderstorm warning in effect and it starts to pour down rain while I'm inside said home improvement store.

I hate it when paint looks really good on the little card; but the minute the man mixes it, I know it's not the color I need.

I hate it when BigJoel is in another country, another hemisphere even, and I can't call him at every whim--like to ask his opinion on the bad paint color or just to hear his voice and tell him I love him.

I hate it when they have forty varieties of feta cheese at the grocery store, but the only reduced fat version is in block form--not crumbles.

Ok, I think I may have gone a little too far with that last one, and I especially hate it when people complain all. the. time.  So here are some things I love:

I love it when my lesson plan takes a detour because I'm having an interesting, intelligent discussion with my students and I'm reminded of why I enjoy teaching.

I love it when I have a standing lunch date with a good friend every Tuesday.  She always makes my day.

I love it when I go into a store looking for one thing and find an unexpected bargain.

These darling lamp shades were just $.71 each! I don't even really need new lamp shades; but at $4.61 for six of them, I couldn't pass it up.

I love it when I find a new favorite snack that is virtually guilt-free, but so yummy.

A Claussen pickle spear with a few tiny crumbles of goat cheese wrapped in two thin slices of deli roast beef--wowsers!

I love it when I have just a few minutes to sit in my quiet house and listen to the rain outside.

I love it when a necklace and a shirt go together perfectly even though I bought them at different times.

And, even though I'm jealous, I love it that BigJoel is getting to see a wonderful place that I've always wanted to go...
because I also love it when he tells me stories about the places he's gone, the people he's met and the things he's seen.

Most of all, I love it that my blessings (even small ones) far outweigh the things I complain about.  Always.