For This, I Am Sew Grateful...

I have now been unemployed for over a year (two years if you want to count the year abroad in India. I don't.). It's incredibly frightening; I've had a job ever since I was old enough to legally work. Sometimes I've had two or three jobs at once. And when I wasn't old enough to legally work, my grandfather "hired" me to stack wood on the back of his truck for firewood delivery. I worked all through high school, college, and during graduate school. I'm very proud of my work ethic. It's really... disorienting to not have a job. Disorienting and boring. You would think that having endless free hours at home would be a God send. Time to write! Time to sew! Time to sleep in! It doesn't really work that way. What you do have is a lot of time to worry. Worry about the bills. Worry about student loan status. Worry about how to plan meals on a really tight budget. Worry about getting a job. Worry about the lack of responses from the (literally) hundred of applications. Worry, worry, worry. It's overwhelming, really.

But this isn't about me singing "woe is me." Rather, this post is about what I am grateful for despite unemployment and the associated stress and worry.

I am "sew grateful" for....

• My health. I never get sick. And if I do, it's minor and passes quickly.  I have never needed major surgery (I don't count the three sets of tubes inserted into my ears as a kid--there were no scalpels involved) and I have never broken a bone. 
• My mind. It's pretty sharp and creative. I can think on my feet and outside of the box. It's pretty unique, too, and really good at problem solving. It's "level headed," and doesn't freak out too much. It never stops learning. 
• My cats. I know it's silly, but I learn from my cats every day. Tai Tai teaches me to be chill. Seriously, he is the most chill cat. You can do just about anything to him--I frequently flip him on his back and tickle his armpits--and all he will do is blink his baby blues at you and purr. Pretty Kitty teaches me to trust, even when I don't want to. She's a rescue with trust issues; I didn't--couldn't--touch her for the first two years I had her. For the first six months, she lived in my studio apartment's very small closet (it was about as deep as a shoe box, and as long as three shoe boxes lined up end-to-end). She only came out at night. Now, she sleeps on the bed, asks for chin skritchins' and chats away. She still darts off if I move suddenly, but usually comes back right away. Both teach me a sense of humor is a beautiful thing, and that comedic timing is EVERYTHING.  
• My friends and family. Without them, I am nothing. They shaped (and continue) to shape the very core of my being. They believe in me. They call shenanigans on me when I get too big for my britches, holding me accountable for boneheaded decisions and comments. They challenge me to do, to BE, better. The support me.  

For all of this, and much more, I am "sew grateful."

(And just to lighten the mood, I give you some gratuitous kitteh pictures. They're a bit Tai Tai heavy as Pretty is a bit camera shy.)

There be sleepy cats here..

I iz cold cat... (Tai Tai frequently puts himself under the blankie)

Sometimes, he sits like a normal kitteh... 

... but most the time he doesn't.

He sleeps funny too. 

And sings with Mr. Retro! 

Tai hides in boxes. We, in fact, have two dedicated "safety boxes" in which he frequently sits.

Tai Tai wants to be a college ed-u-ma-cated cat. Here, he's helping Mr. Retro with  dissertation writing. 

And here he's doing some homework.

And last, but not least, the Pretty Girl. She really is extraordinary...