Playoff Hockey

The Pens won last night. And it's playoff season. I'm excited, and I hope we make a good run this year. That's all.

A Summary

I don't know if I learned this from this little project or not, but I am quite aware of how truly fortunate I am. It's so easy to take things for granted, but there are so many people out there who can't afford their own place, who don't have a job or an education or a car, and who have to rely on other people. I'm really fortunate to have the job I do, and to have been able to obtain a really high quality education. I now have career prospects. True, it may take me some time to make my way into a stable position with a school district. But I have the credentials I need to do so. When that door eventually, inevitably opens, I'm prepared to walk through it. Unless another, better door opens up first. I have so much freedom with the job I have now, yet I still have the earning potential I need to pay my bills. What more can I really ask for. My life situation is pretty dang good, even just from a material standpoint. That's to say nothing of the wonderful people in my life, who deserve their own post. So, yeah, I have an attitude of thankfulness--whether I can credit this little project for it or not, I'm not sure, but I feel proud to be able to see my own fortune. A lot of people can't, and they're less happy for it.

History

So I posted not that long ago about how thankful I am not to be 18 anymore. My point was that I have a lot of experience now that I didn't have back then. But I neglected to mention my thankfulness for everything I went through when I was 18. And 14. And 6. And 21. Really my long resume of crazy life experiences. 

There have been a lot of people in my life who have impacted me profoundly, and although I'm on less-than-friendly terms with many of them, I still have to say that I'm thankful for the role they played in my life. I mean, without our exes, for example, how would we learn how to have a healthy relationship? And without bad friends, how would we ever learn where to place our trust and when to be cautious?

I've been through a lot of tough crap in my life. Not enough to stand out as remarkable or anything; I think anyone thinking back on their own life could honestly say the same thing. I learned to live on my own at a much younger age than normal. I've moved away and back a couple of times and lost and regained friends. I've felt so very low and depressed, so full of self-loathing, that I didn't see the point in getting out of bed in the morning, other than out of sheer routine. But I've passed through all of that, and now I'm a much stronger person than I used to be. And if things had gone another way, I might freak out at the tremendous burdens of uncertainty that now stand before and all around me. But I've weathered enough storms to know that I'll make it through this one, too. In fact, this one's not even so bad, by comparison. Of course, a lot of those from my early life weren't nearly as bad as I thought they were at the time, either. That's another thing I'm thankful for; the perspective that life experience has given me. I have the ability to look at a problem I'm having and say, "wow, that's actually pretty trivial." I know a lot of people who lack that ability, and I'm happy for them, because that means, I suspect, that the problem they're making such a fuss over is really one of the most major problems in their life.

This post is a little unclear; it's because I have specific people and experiences in mind, but I don't feel it would be considerate of me to share names or specifics. Suffice it to say, there are some people out there now I wouldn't trust to help me move, let alone for advice or as confidants. But I am still grateful to have had them in my life, because they taught me a lot.

Sunshine!

It's 75 degrees outside. The sun is shining, there's not a cloud in the sky, and I got out of work before 4. My paperwork is done and the rest of the weekend is mine to do with as I please. I'm not going to belabor the point. Today is freaking beautiful and I'm glad just to be alive. Blue skies ^_^

TGIF

It's hard to feel motivated to blog about this stuff every day!

I guess today I'll talk about my work day yesterday and after. One thing about my job: something crazy is always happening. It sometimes can be a little disorienting, but it also keeps things from ever getting boring.

Yesterday, I saw a guy grocery shopping with a motorcycle. He had saddle bags, which he somehow fit several bags of groceries and a gallon of milk into. I didn't think it was going to work, but he somehow used superhuman powers to fenangle (sp?) it all in there.

Some guy was backing out of his space and backed right into this guy's car that was parked in the fire lane right in front of me. There was no swerve or anything, he just backed directly into it. Cracked the bumper. He got out of the car, told the guy he was sorry and hadn't been looking where he was going. Somehow, the guy basically said, "Eh, it happens. Don't worry about it."

I also had these 2 guys from Pittsburgh campaigning for a democratic candidate for governor. I tried (unsuccessfully) to sell them a newspaper. Then they tried to recruit me for the campaign trail. Maybe that's my calling--promoting political candidates. Ugh!

Then, I met this guy who looks exactly like an older version of my friend's fiancé. Seriously, I thought they might have been related.

Most of this sounds far less entertaining than it was when it was all happening in front of me. I found the day as a whole to be very amusing. It was also sunny out, and pretty warm, which made me happy. How can a person be unhappy when the sun is shining on her?

Then, after work, Chris and I went to Tastyland in Greensburg for dinner/ice cream and hung out in the open air and watched this lady play with her puppy. It was a really good time.

Now, today's Friday; let's hope it's even better than yesterday!

Cheers!

Daily life...

Whenever I have a bad day at work, it is really a challenge to feel thankful. It's cold and windy. It smells bad and there's dirt from the road flying everywhere. No one seems to want to talk to me unless they have something rude to say. It's really easy to get hung up on how tough things can be sometimes.

Then something terrible happens and my frame of reference changes significantly. The stabbings at Franklin Regional high school today really makes me reevaluate how much good I could ever actually do as a teacher. I have a job that pays well and is way less emotionally charged. And I've never been through anything nearly as traumatizing for a student, a parent, or a teacher. 

So as I sit here shivering trying to sell newspapers to people who inexplicably take a free paper while simultaneously telling me how worthless it is, I'm thank in my lucky stars to be where I am--safe, healthy, prosperous, undamaged. I wish those wounded a speedy recovery and thank goodness for the first responders and doctors involved.

Star Trek

Everyone who knows me pretty much realizes that I'm a huge dork. One manifestation of my nerdiness is my love for Star Trek. I'm rewatching it on netflix right now and remembering how great it is. TNG is my personal favorite, but really they're all good. And it gives me something in common with my dad, who loved to watch Star Trek with us growing up. Man, that show is awesome. And the reboot is pretty groovy, too.

Yep, there's nothing like curling up with my awesome cat and watching Netflix. It's the good life, at least on a Tuesday. 

Growing up

Sometimes, when I'm closing a sale, I'll check a customer's ID, and since it seems weird to ask for ID for a newspaper subscription, I ask for it with a little joke, saying "I just need to check your ID, make sure you're 18." Often, the customer chuckles, and says "I wish I was 18 again."

I don't wish I were 18. Yeah, I was skinnier. And yeah, the future seemed to hold a lot more promise. But I've learned a lot in the past 7 years. And I mean a whole lot! Relationships when you're 24 are so much more difficult than when you're 18, but so much more worth it, too. And I have a lot of experience under my belt. I'm a lot more sure of who I am than I was at that young age. I think a lot of people forget how stupid we all were at that age--at least I was for sure! But, man, did I think I was smart.

So I'm grateful to be 24. Yeah, I wish I had a little more career progress to show for it and maybe a little less student debt. But it seems like a good age. And life's been better to me than it might have been. And I'm grateful for all the crazy life experiences since I was 18, all of which made me way smarter and wiser and stronger, but many of which hurt like hell when I was going through them.

So three cheers for not being 18 anymore! Any time you look back on your teen years with rose colored glasses, just try to remember how completely stupid you were back then. It always works for me!

Good People

The Brownfield family is one of the most wonderful groups of people that I know. I am so fortunate to have such good people in my life. They take care of one another and they help others without even feeling like they've done anything special by doing it. They don't expect gratitude or any favors in return. And they're generally kind people. Knowing that they exist reassures me that there are good people left out there in this world. It's so easy to see the bad that people do and lose faith, but Danielle, Merch, and Melissa, and now Troy all remind me that not everyone is out only for themselves. Some people genuinely care about others and want to do good for its own sake.

I just spent some time with them this weekend because it helped me out with my drive to Vermont, which was basically a success. Every time I see them, I'm reminded how generally great they are and how lucky I am to know them. Seriously, if everyone in the world were like that family, the world would be a much, much better place.

Thanks, guys, for being truly wonderful. Love ya!

Good friends

Today, after work, I head up to Vermont with Chris to look at the apartment I'll be subleasing this Summer. I'm very excited to see it; I'm less excited about making the drive up there. Fortunately, I have some wonderful people easing my burden. Chris is splitting the driving with me, which is wonderful, because the last time I drove to Vermont, it was to see Erin when she went to UVM, and it was a long, long drive. So not making the whole trip, there and back, all in one day will be a huge help.

I also have a wonderful friend, Danielle, who lives in State College and is seriously one of the most wonderful people I know. Since State College is about 2 hours closer to Vermont than Greensburg, I asked her if I could stay with her Friday and Saturday night to decrease the amount of driving we have to do all in one day. As always, she graciously agreed. So not only does it shorten my drive on Saturday, but it comes with the added bonus of seeing her and her wonderful family. I am so, so thankful to have her!

Wish me luck; work today, driving the rest of the weekend. Should be quite the blast.

P.S.--today is my mom's birthday <3

British Comedy and Frozen Yogurt

So yesterday I didn't post because I went strait from work to my boyfriend's house. He's quite lovely, and offered me leftover penne pasta and fruit salad that his very sweet mother made earlier. Then, we watched An Idiot Abroad, a very very funny show written/directed by Ricky Gervais and Steven Merchant.

Then, today I got to hang out with him after work. There's a new frozen yogurt place in my home town, and it happened to be right by the store where I worked today, and also near where he works, so he came by after work and we had a delicious afternoon desert treat. And anyone who knows me knows how much I love me some frozen yogurt. Delicious.

Another good day (well, 2 days, actually) in the life of Hannah.

Cheers!

And look up that show. Seriously. So, so funny!

Pens game

So I got to go to the pens game today. It was a bonus from work and the second game I've been to all season. James, Ryan and Amber were there, and even though we lost--pretty horribly--it was a good time. Here's to good friends and family and living in a great sports city <3