Gratitude Day #19, #20, #21 and #22 2012

Today, on this day of feasting and indulgence, it is not lost on me the number good, actually great things in my life. My absolutely purposeful gush today is not intended to boast or bore but is simply an avenue for grateful expression. If I had my way I’d invite you all to my Thanksgiving table and I’d invite you to share what you are most grateful for. I’m clearly aware of the perceived corniness connected to daily gratitude posts and I’m totally okay with it because at this point my second hand shabby chic table only sits about six at a time…so until the universe provides a way for all of us to sit down together and share, I’m left with good old Facebook to help make a few valuable connections. So. On this, the ultimate day of gratitude, here is what lies inside my cornucopia of blessings.

Last year, at this time our life was very different. Burke had just lost the job that inspired a move to Texas. My job was nothing short of maddening. We were living in a strange place surrounded by frustration and disappointment desperately missing our Salt Lake City lives….the family and friends that comfortably reside in the foothill of the Wasatch Front and all that had lovingly shaped us into the people we had become. Thanks to the generosity of the Rich family we had a chance to spend Thanksgiving at Jacob Lake surrounded by those we love the most. A trip home at a critical time in our life helped us reboot, remember, re-energize, and re-engage with our newly established life in Dallas. I will forever be grateful for the generosity and kindness of those who enabled a much-needed trip home at a critical time of our life. I’ve said it before and I know I will say it again…. I love being a Rich. Marrying Burke Rich was the best decision of my life. Not only did I get a terrific guy, I was gifted a terrific family. Thank you again for accepting me and love us. Thank you for last year and for this year and for all of the years to come. I love being a Rich.

This year, I am so happy to report that after a 365-day orbit around the sun all things in life have significantly improved. Thanks to the kindness of a dear friend Burke has an incredible job that he loves! Work for me not only turned a major corner…but the professional opportunities I have been gifted with have blown my mind. We not only feel more comfortable living in Dallas we have carved out a home, a community, a wonderful group of friends and a collection of surrogate parents, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews. Today, Burke and I prepared a Thanksgiving feast in our new kitchen for my Mom, brother and all of our dearest Dallas friends. The food was so delicious. The conversation was rich and full of laughter. The feeling was…home….our home…we served turkey and all the fixin’ prepared in our kitchen, served on our dishes, at our table to those who have helped our hearts heal and grow and expand in a once foreign place called Dallas, Texas.

As much as I love being a Rich…I equally love being a Robinson. Burke and I spent the last few days unpacking the last few boxes and hanging photos and art in our new place. Cherished memories from my grand parents remind me who I really am and that I’m loved. Photos of my brothers sit on my shelves reminding me of the strength and power and depth found in four of the best men I know. Black and white images from my parents wedding remind me that family ties reach far past the bounds of this life. This week marks twenty years since my father died. Twenty years. I am humbled and reminded and inspired and encouraged and determined and driven and better because of my parents. I am blessed by their example and strength. I’m lucky enough to have my Mom spend a few days with me in Dallas this week and I could not be more grateful for all she has brought into my life.

Today, I am grateful that life offers up both the messy and the divine. I am grateful that I know who I am…and most days, I really like her. I’m grateful for second…and third…and fourth chances to get it right, ask for forgiveness, re-think the plan and try again. I am grateful for the honesty and kindness of friends both new and old. I am grateful for Birdbath. And music. And Dr. Pepper And Nissan Altimas. And crayons. And Clorox. I am grateful for strong women and faithful men who get out of bed each day and fight the good fight….and on…and on….and on….I could and maybe I will continue to record my daily grateful thoughts but I think I find a different forum. In short (ha ha ha), I’m just really grateful for the chance to be me…it’s a pretty good gig and I’m grateful you are part of it.

Gratitude Day #18 2012

Green Tabasco Sauce dribbled on pretty much anything. Rootbeer with pebble ice. Raspberry jam smeared over warm homemade bread. Ice-cold water. Turkey sandwiches with lots of black pepper. Potatoes, pretty much in any form. Homegrown tomatoes, particularly from my favorite gardener Ben Rich. Pineapple. Peaches…I love peaches. And I don't we can ever underestimate the power of a chocolate chip cookie.

Gratitude Day #17 2012

Today, I am grateful for my brilliant and talented nieces and nephews. One of my greatest treasures is to be called “Aunt Lizzy” by fourteen almost fifteen Robinson and six Rich kiddos. Some of them are married grown-up with college experiences, budding careers and babies of their own. Some are living abroad teaching, testifying and testing all that they know to be true. Some a

re wrestling the teenage years with vigor and recognized achievement and success. Some still enjoy fruit snacks, play dates and bedtime stories. These sweet children are forever in my heart and often float through my mind and memory. Love them. Love them all. They are strong. They are very smart. They are kind. They are endlessly talented. And they are mine forever…and I really love that.

Gratitude Day #16 2012

I am grateful for the opportunity to work. My ability to work in a field I love, in a capacity that stretches me daily and with people that inspire me to think differently about kids and creativity and learning is a true blessing in my life. This week, I had the chance to attend the National Guild for Community Arts Education conference held right here in Dallas, Texas. This conference is dedicated to bringing like-minded people together for three days of thinking and sharing and celebrating all things children, community and art. I was inspired, challenged and reminded but not surprised that I have found my tribe.

It is not lost on me that my opportunity at Big Thought is a gift and a blessing. When I moved to Dallas almost two years ago, I thought I would teach the third grade. Little did I know then how different and yet how connected my daily contribution to the world of education would become. This job is stretching me to think in new ways, it is opening my eyes and it is nurturing my soul in ways I did not know I needed. What more could a nerd like me ask for than a wide open (sadly mountain free) space to test out a few ideas about how weaving art and literature and education can improve a students ability to be successful.

Fundamentally, I believe in the importance of building communities where both children and adults feel safe, valued and needed. I believe that access to art and education FOR ALL is right and not a luxury. I believe that the only way to improve our world is through dedicated hard work and creativity. This week and several times throughout the last year, I have somehow found myself sitting at the table with national experts on arts integration, educational policy and community building. I keep wondering how I ended up sitting at the big kids table with my intellectual feet dangling off the chair. I’m not exactly sure how its all happened or even how long this education gig is going to last but I do know that for now it’s really working and I could not be happier.

Gratitude Day #15 2012

Growing up I was a scrambled egg kind of girl. Never really fond of the omelet (due to some painful childhood memories) and hardboiled eggs continue to produce mixed results. Recently, I have discovered that I am most grateful for the powerful protein punch provided by two medium eggs over toast. Simple, classic and sold for a reasonable price in most breakfast joints across this nation. Many happy mornings being with Burke making eggs and toast and I could not be more grateful. I not only love that he makes breakfast but that he know just how I like my eggs…medium…just enough runny egg goo give the toast something to do but not too much runny egg goo to freak a girl out. Today, I’m grateful for eggs and toast.

Gratitude Day #14 2012

Tonight I’m grateful for 14 teenage girls who remind me of what is really important in life and help me keep it real. These bright shining stars are good to the core and they are making me a better version of me.

Gratitude Day #13 2012

Burke. I know he already made it on the list this year but I just can’t help it. He’s just pretty much my favorite person in the whole wide world. 

Gratitude Day #12 2012

Today, I thankful for C.S. Lewis and Zombies. I appreciate and value them equally but for completely different reasons. I am currently listening to C.S. Lewis’ classic The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and I’ve almost finished World War Z written by Zombie scholar Max Burton. I find both authors profound and prolific and these two books are providing a much needed break from 

the daily grind.

Both texts provide the prefect avenue for mental escapism. Both inspire additional thoughts and speculations. Both detail heroic journeys experienced by ordinary people. Both stories capture an almost unquenchable sense of hunger…one for Turkish Delight (BLECH!) and another Brains (BLECH?). Both books are masterfully coming to life via my IPod (three cheers for audio books) and provide entertainment and companionship in a variety of times and places.

Today, I'm grateful for the power of books and their ability to transport, transform, inspire, remind, provoke, relate, and reward.

Gratitude Day #10 2012

Plain and simple...I am thankful for Saturday. For some time now I have been convinced that we as a society need to reestablish our understanding of a week and change it to include eight days. Five days of respectable labor. One day for grocery shopping, cleaning, and all other life maintenance. One day for pure leisure and rejuvination. And one day for religious worship. Of cou

rse you would be able to shuffle and or eliminate or add other tasks as needed but let's be honest...all would benifit by a consistent threes day weekend. Just think how much more productive you could be if you had the ability to complete all of you intended or desired tasks. Consider this post the begining of my official petition and I invite all who agree with this suggest to leave a comment and I will see what I can do about filing an official claim with the universe to help this motion be put into action.

In the mean time...I will continue to cherrish the sanctity of Saturday and consider it one of my treasured blessings.

Gratitude Day #9 2012

In 1995, after completing my first year of college, I started working at Franklin Covey in Salt Lake City, Utah. This was my first real job as an adult and I worked in an inbound Catalog Sales call center. For my younger friends, far before you could purchase anything you could think of online you had received a catalog in the mail (via the postman) which contained a wide varie

ty of desirable products. If you wanted to purchase such items you had to pick up a wall-mounted telephone, dial a 1-800 number and place your order. Working at Franklin Covey was the perfect college job and the golden handcuffs of the call center world not only offered a nice salary but it provided a strong foundation for my future career in a variety of ways.

So, beyond those pesky 7 habits that regardless of how hard I try I just can’t shake from the inner dialog, today I am grateful for my first real job and for email. I thought about my Franklin Covey days this afternoon while scanning my outlook sent box. In 1995, if I wanted to correspond with someone within my office or somewhere in the country I had to open Word Perfect, type a letter, print the document and then either fax it or send it via snail mail…and then wait days to weeks for a response. There was an entire room full of fax machines and file drawers and an entire full time staff dedicated to sending and receiving documents. HOURS upon HOURS and REAMS upon REAMS of paper were required to exchange simple information. After a few year of “Thank you for calling Franklin Covey, this is Elizabeth, how may I help you?” I moved from the call center to an analyst position requiring me to communicate with our workforce on a consistent basis. Today, as I sifted through my email messages, I remembered with perfect clarity drafting actual memos, printing 200+ copies and then spending about an hour filing the memos into everyone’s respective file folders. Communicating simple information was a chore and a task that consumed so much of my time.

My goal today was to clean out my email inbox and resolve a series of issues in preparation for next week. This afternoon, while searching for an email I sent to a colleague in NYC earlier in the week, I scrolled through my sent box and was instantly transported back to the fax room at Franklin Covey. There are days that I really hate email and feel completely overwhelmed by the number of messages in outlook. But today….I am grateful and pretty much amazed at how email has changed the workplace. The number of email conversations sent and received by a few simple clicks of the mouse on any given day is actually pretty amazing. If while reading this post you are convinced that I need to get out of my office and get a real life, you are probably correct…and don’t worry I’m almost done…but today, after a week full of information exchanged in record time to people in our office, working in our community and through the country I’m really pretty thankful for the ability to send and receive messages almost in real time. Email is both a blessing and a curse…but when I really think about it, email falls into the blessing category far more often than not.