10 Good Things

My 'exhale the negativity and inhale the hopeful brightness!' technique is not working. I am now equally cross but light-headed from all the deep breathing. So I'll try something other therapists sometimes recommend - listing several happy items to improve one's mood.

1. I'm no longer in therapy. Though it did make for good blog posts and I do think it helped me, I'm very pleased I no longer make time for Dr. Counselor in my weekly routine.
   
2. It's a pretty day. Sprout has stationed himself at the open window in the living room (poor cat misses being allowed outside - that's not very happy) and I can feel the slightly cool breeze and smell the fresh air and hear the chirping birds.
3. My new books might be in. I put a reminder on my iGoogle page to check with the bookstore to see if the texts I ordered (and that the department will purchase for me) have arrived. I hope they have.
   
4. The textbook in which I wrote a chapter is at pre-press! So I'm hoping I get my two free copies sometime this month or next. Then I can look at it all the time and pretend I'm super-cool.
   
5. (Crap. I'm already stuck. It's Monday. I have to go to work. My head still hurts and ear still aches. I dreamed about bad things that make me feel scared or guilty or angry. I should email Director about that job and finally hear the potential rejection. I still haven't heard about the interview for the pseudo-academic job and it's been 3 weeks - I think - since they asked me to visit and nobody's set anything up despite my gentle reminders. That's 6 bad things, but nothing good. Um...) My house is clean.
6. (This game is really hard.) My dog and cat are wrestling - that rarely fails to amuse me. Chienne will sniff and lick at Sprout's little face, then he'll meow to warn her and spring to wrap his stripey arms around her neck. Then they turn and flip and nip at each other. The disparity in sizes indicate that Sprout would rarely emerge victorious, but he tends to do just fine.
   
7. If I do as instructed and wake Friend at 8:30, we'll likely leave before 10, allowing me to stop at Sonic for a $1 Cherry Diet Coke with the little bit of lemon. I like Sonic and their ability to put flavors into sodas.
8. Chienne slept with Friend last night so I was able to sleep comfortably on both sides, arranging pillows as I wanted them instead of curling around a sleeping canine.
   
9. (Two more good things? For crying out loud.) After drowning them in Pro@ctive, the blemishes - one on my cheek and one on my chin - have sullenly acquiesced to my shrieking demands that they go away. I'm twenty-nine - the time for those indignities has passed. "Don't make me pick at you," I warned them as I glared into the mirror a couple of days ago while pressing soaked cotton balls to the affected areas. "I don't want to do that, but trust me when I say that I will."
   
10. Oh, and my hair is pretty this morning.
    

Well, I can say that was stunningly ineffective too. Still annoyed, head still hurts, ear still aches. I don't want to go to work, nor do I want to stay home. I have to walk the dog, and she will likely yank me around the neighborhood investigating smells and searching for stray dogs to befriend. I still don't know how to do my analysis exactly properly and it's making me feel dumb. I have to drive all the way to work and I probably won't even get a good parking spot. Marlie gets cold so my office might be 78 degrees again this morning and I'm pretty sure it's not even that warm in the offices located in Hell. The pleasant chirping from earlier has been replaced by an awful cawing sound, likely from some large bird who would peck out my eyes at the slightest opportunity (luckily I wear sunglasses on my morning walks). My roof is on, but it's gray instead of brown and though I know it's not a big deal, it bugs me.

Life in general bugs me, I think. Dammit.