500

500 500 500 500 500 500

 

 

This is my 500th blog post!  Yes, I have rambled on in the last 6 years to the tune of 500 posts.

 

I am excited to have lasted this long on my blog, and to reach 500 is worthy of a post saying, "YAY, Tempest!"

 

 

 

500 of anything must be good.

 

In Roman numerals that would just be

 

 

Maybe not a grade anyone of us would want, but when you put that with another d it is a millennium and an impressive cup size.

 

500 pennies is  .

 

500 denotes the measure of a race in NASCAR.

 

 

And the Proclaimers, proclaimed they would walk 500 miles to be the man walking next to you.  And to end my special 500th blog post, I give you the Proclaimers' biggest fan's singing to the tune of 500 Miles. 

 

 

(If the video isn't loading, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2c6qENWh2jQ)

 

Thanks for keeping up with me for 500 posts!

 

 

 



Day 27: Afterwords

Reviewing the last 26 days of my blog I have re-discovered the women Natalie and I were in our youth.  There have been some surprises in the reminiscing.  I was not surprised by how much we drank.  Trust me I remember way too many hangovers.  I am surprised we did not become statistics every time one of us drove after drinking.  I do remember smoking pot, but I struggled to be honest and confess it to my friends on my blog.  I would like to have glossed over that indiscretion of my misspent youth.   I would also have liked to lied about being a pin wearing sorority girl.  Another sin of my youth.

Some behavior I cannot forgive myself regardless of my age.  I am by nature a selfish person.  Knowing Natalie has taught me to be a better person, change is not without difficulty.  Even now I sometimes make missteps.  Randy who has stayed a friend throughout my life was hurt by some of things I wrote.  In my selfish quest to be honest I did not respect that part of my story is his story as well.  I can only apologize and hope to one day make-up for not being a better friend.

My gratitude also goes out to everyone for all of the positive feedback I have received while telling our tale.  Your kindness and support helped me to continue on a few nights when I wanted to just knit instead of blog.  Natalie's sister, Rachal, was especially encouraging as she read every post almost as soon as it went up. 

This project has ran the gamut of emotions for me, from comedy to semi-tragedy.  But one thing has stood out among all the other feelings, my love for Natalie.  She manages to bring out those qualities which are the best parts of me.  Everyday as I thought about what I was going to write, I thought about her, the things I wanted to share about this amazing woman, and in the process I fell in love with her all over again.  Of course I have found with Natalie I fall in love with her again every time she looks at me and gives me that pirate smile.



Natalie and I Circa 1990

Day Thirty: Gratitude

I have come to the end of my project. I committed myself to not fill the days on my blog with things like, I am grateful for electricity, running water, not getting a speeding ticket on my way to work today, that kind of thing. I wanted to be grateful for things that mattered to me. Things tangible and intangible which I I sometimes forget to put in the plus column of my life. I hope I was genuine in my daily gratitudes and to be fair I did find many things and people that I need to appreciate.

I can't thank everyone enough for all the comments here, on facebook, and in person. Your support meant so much to me and it helped me to stay true to my intention. Even though I am at the end of my project, I will be working everyday to find the big and little gratitudes that make my life worth continuing.

Today on day thirty, I am grateful for you. All of you who enrich my life and help me to make it through another day of my frenetic life. Those of you who have no choice to love me because you are related to me. All of you who have held my hand and listened to me cry. Anyone who has rolled their eyes at the end of one of my corny jokes. All the people I love and like and want to get to know better. Anyone who has helped me learned to knit or that I taught to knit. Those who make me smile and certainly anyone who has ever fed me. If you have commented on my blog, friended me on facebook, favorited one of my knitting projects, or follow me on twitter.

I would be so lost without you all. You make so much of the other stuff in my life bearable and give meaning to why I get up everyday and do it all over again. You make me try harder to be the person you think I am. To be the friend, daughter, sister, aunt, cousin, girlfriend who brings a smile to your face when I walk through the door and a last moment hug on my way out.

You are of my tribe and I will always be grateful that you are in my life. Thank you for allowing me in and thank you for keeping me there. For you I will always be grateful. Much Love!