Katie Krueger’s Snippets of Gratitude

Aren’t they beautiful?

31.

Damn.

I once would’ve thought that was so old.

Things to be grateful for:

• Looking towards a brand new year and all the wisdom that comes with experience
• Making mistakes, picking myself up, and trying again
• Running my own business
• Working toward my MBA
• Trip back to Senegal.  The limitless family of Yayeme, Senegal.
• Diene’s love, patience, encouragement, laughter, and company
• Great neighbors on Miller Ave.
• Sharing hobbies (photography and dreaming big) with my dad
• My best friend who lived down the street from me again for a while this year
• Having the means to be a vegetarian
• A full social calendar.  Make new friends, but keep the old.  One is silver and the other gold.
• Being surrounded by smart people every day
• All the eye candy on campus
• A mom who loves to shop for other people
• The Jack LaLanne Juicer
• Running around the track at the SERF
• Ideas.  Business ideas.
• Regina Spektor. iTunes.  Pandora.  WORT.  WPR. KCRW.
• Strategies & Systems & Frameworks
• Laughter, everyday.

I took the day off to go to the Wisconsin River in Prairie du Sac with the hopes of seeing some bald eagles.  We saw many - I’m grateful and taking it as a sign of good things to come this year.

While I was standing at the bus stop this morning, a neighbor who I’ve waved to and smiled at for years (but never officially met) shouted down the block, “Going to campus?”  and signaled to get into her car.  Not only did I get to school early, but also got a chance to meet a friendly neighbor.   Its a good start to the day.  Other things to be grateful for lately:

• fresh juice every morning since investing in the juicer
• skinny jeans that fit well and tuck into my boots
•  coffee, always
• the gym:  close and free
• Mad Men on tvshack.net
• more bouquets of fresh flowers than we have vases for
• photography in the family
• a full social calendar
• seeing Rent on opening night in Madison (for free!) with great company

I have a pretty small closet, but apparently it can hold and hide a tremendous amount of forgotten treasures.  Last fall, when I did the seasonal wardrobe change, I found tons of fun things.  After coming back from Senegal and unpacking, I did a thorough cleaning of the closet and was again rewarded.  This time with a brand new bottle of hand cream that I bought, tossed in the closet, and apparently forgot about for months.  It’s just in time for the chapped hands of winter and I am grateful for that.

Our trip to Senegal was three weeks of remembering:  remembering where we met, where we fell in love, the love of Diene’s family, the warm sunshine of Senegal, the reason we wanted to come back to visit them at nearly any cost.  It was also three weeks of photography - over 800 photos between to two of us.

Yet, I can’t seem to bring myself to look at the photos, let alone organize them in iPhoto and post them on flickr and facebook.  Looking at Diene’s family in photos reminds me too much of the distance between us and the heaviness of a homesick heart. It reminds me that we don’t know when we’ll see them again.  It reminds me that while time freezes for the camera, it still moves behind the scenes.

I can’t bring myself to organize the photos yet.  With one exception - photos of Diene’s new nephew,  Idressa, or Ido.  Looking at photos of him do nothing but make me so happy.  How could they not? I am grateful for that.

I am a lucky woman.  Today I came home to find a handmade lei-a necklace of fresh carnations strung together.  Last week, I came home to find three rose corsages with babies’ breath.  In front of me, as I type, is a vase of white daisies, red carnations, green chrysthanthemums, and white cannas.  All of these floral delights hand-crafted by Diene.  I am thankful for one his classes this semester — Floral Design 2 — and all the take-home projects.