Appreciating the Little Things . . .

Well, I guess it's the midlfie thing kicking in, but I've been trying to find some real peace in my life, without worrying about it being perfect, or I'll be happy when; blah blah blah. I've posted about this before. I seem to have this endless need for all the ducks to be in a row before I can "relax" and just enjoy my life. When the kids are grown, when our bills are paid off, when the stars line up in the sky; whatever. There's always an underlying sense of anxiety. I know; I overthink things terribly.

There is a really great saying: "Yesterday is history; Tomorrow is a mystery; Today is a gift; That's why it's called the 'present'. So live each day like it's your last. Good advice, that.

So today I tried to notice and enjoy the little things. For instance, when we moved into this apartment, it had new carpet. Granted, it is cheapo rental carpet, but it's still nice and new. Today I enjoyed the newness of it while I was walking on it.

We have a really nice car. It's hard for me to enjoy it, because our payments are too high and we really can't afford it, but we're so upside down in the loan that we're just totally stuck. So since we have to keep it, might as well enjoy it, right? So today I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the look of it from a distance. I enjoyed the luxurious feel of the seats and the comfortable ride. I enjoyed the sunglasses holder in the console in the ceiling. I enjoyed the fantastic sound system. I tried not to feel guilty or worried as we drove in it to make the car payment! LOL

Bill and I took today off work. I enjoyed being leisurely while everyone else was slaving away. We went out to breakfast and I enjoyed the treat. Then we went to the matinee and saw the new Indiana Jones movie. I had a blast! Bill, not so much. He's not much into movies and he didn't particularly care for this one. But I loved it. Most of it. Part of it was a little weird and "out there" (if you haven't seen it I won't spoil it). But I LOVE going to the movies; and I can hardly ever drag Bill there, so I enjoyed it. I love the smells of the popcorn, the sound system the big screen -- nice!!

Then we drove downtown and paid the (gasp) car payment. It is graduation weekend for CSU Chico, so everywhere you go is REALLY crowded. But we enjoyed walking around downtown and looking around and people watching. Then we had lunch at Smokin' Mo's BBQ (YUM) and then went to Schubert's for some ice cream. (They took second place in the contest, darn it!!).

Then we came home, and our upstairs neighbors had their music BLASTING. It was so loud, we could hear the words to the music!! Plus there's all this STOMPING going on!! I didn't know what that's all about, but Scott says they probably have the Guitar Hero video game, and besides the guitar, there is also a drum set that you can play with that and it has a thing you have to stomp on. Grrrrrrrr!! I went upstairs and banged on their door, but it was so loud they didn't hear me! For the past three months, Bill and I have tried to just "suck it up" and put up with the once a week loud music, stomping, screaming parties that they have just about once a week. But today, despite my attempt to "stop and smell the flowers" attitude, I just couldn't handle it any more. I called the office and complained. I mean, when they move in, they KNOW that noise is a no-no here!! This is NOT your typical college apartments.

Thankfully, about 10 minutes after I called, the music/thumping/yelling stopped, and it was blissfully quiet. Of course, there are at least three people living up there, and they STOMP when they walk, and we still have that. Oh, and they yell at each other (jokingly) a lot in the bathrooms, and you can really hear it. There isn't nearly as much soundproofing in these older units as there were in our 2-bedroom, which is newer than these. These were built first; the other apt. was built last I think. I love this place; I love the fact that it faces east and doesn't get the broiling afternoon sun, but I cannot stand the noise!! Those guys up there have GOT to go. I miss our quiet 2 bedroom.

So anyway I was really irritated by the noise upstairs and it really pissed me off. I was up for jumping in the car and taking off for the coast for a couple of days, but my husband is less than spontaneous so . . . here we still are. Oh well. I really, really need an ocean fix. I haven't been in at least a couple of years. I miss it so much. Although Bill doesn't like to do what I like to do on the coast -- poke around in some shops, and sit on the beach and read. Oh well.

Bill and I finally made our reservations to go to Chicago. We kept waiting for the pricies to go down but . . . with the increased cost of fuel, they just keep going up and up and up. Yikes. We are looking forward to going and seeing everyone. Less than a month, now!!

So it's Friday night but it feels like Saturday. And how glorious to realize we have not one, not two, but THREE whole days off still!! Yippeee!!