A to Z Reflections

I survived! It’s a bittersweet end. It was a lot of fun, but wow, posting every day is hard! My goal was to have a post and a drawing for each day. I started off with lots of ideas for my mental health theme but started running out of steam towards the end. X, Y and Z were brutal, but I came up with something and linked it to mental health…sort of, lol. 🙂 I think I’m going to miss having the prompts in the end. What am I going to post now? lol.

It was a last minute decision to join the challenge, but I am so glad I did. Overall, it was a great experience. The best part? Meeting new people and discovering new blogs to follow. I think I’ve met a few kindred spirits and look forward to having some real friendships develop. Thank you to everyone organizing this event, brilliant idea! I also want to thank everyone who stopped by to read any of my posts and especially those that commented! I really enjoy getting to know you through your comments.

Here’s a recap of A to Z in case there was one you missed. Looking forward to next year!

A is for Antidepressants
B is for Blog for Mental Health 2014 Pledge
C is for Cognitive
D is for Depressed of Dehydrated?
E is for Emotional Regulation
F is for The F word (Feelings, in case you were wondering, lol.)
G is for Giving
H is for Horrid Headaches
I is for Insomnia
J is for Juggling
K is for Kata
L is for Love
M is for The Monster in my Head
N is for Natural Remedies for Depression
O is for Overwhelmed
P is for Plasticity
Q is for Quotes
R is for Recent Research
S is for Self
T is for Talk Therapy
U is for Underrated Awesomeness
V is for Visceral Voices
W is for Worth
X is for Xenoestrogens
Y is for Yonderly
Z is for Zentangles

Underrated Awesomeness

Sometimes you need to take the time to appreciate the little things that make you smile. These are mine.

1. Sharpened Pencil Crayons. I have just realized that the terminology “pencil crayon” is a Canadianism. In the States, they are called “coloured pencils” and in the UK they are called “colouring pencils”. Interesting. Anyway, I love the sharp ones. They are good for colouring, drawing, shading, blending and writing. You can’t do all of that with the dull ones. I write my research notes using sharp coloured pencils. It makes them more interesting to read and they are so much cheaper than those fancy gel pens.
2. Mini Cupcakes. They are just so happy and cute. Why are they better than the real thing? Because you get to eat the whole thing without feeling guilty! Calories don’t count if it’s one bite right? With a mini cupcake, that’s it, one, it’s gone.
3. Unicorns. Unicorns are lame…said nobody EVER! Am I right or am I right?
4. The Cold Side of the Pillow. Sometimes when you can’t sleep or you are uncomfortable, turning the plow over to the cool side is all it takes. I wish it were always that easy to get back to sleep.
5. Jeans that FIT. Ever put on a pair of jeans and they fit like they were made for you? This happens so rarely for me, that I feel like a total rock star when it does happen. I have a small waist and a rather large behind, this makes finding jeans that fit difficult. If I get the ones that fit my waist, I can’t get them over my hips. If I get them to fit my hips they are gaping at the waist.
6. Geeks. I view a geek as someone who has excessive enthusiasm for and knowledge about a certain subject. I admire people who can get that excited about something. It’s something I have never been able to do. I can show interest, but the level of enthusiasm seems to elude me. My husband is a total geek about Batman, Tigers and Aerosmith. I love it!
7. Haircuts. Usually when an artist draws a caricature of you, they exaggerate a certain feature that makes the cartoon identifiable as you. My unique feature is my hair. It’s long and is not blond or brown, but not a full blown red either. It’s hard to describe. Because of this, I feel great after a haircut. Plus, I’m not talented with hair, I can never get it to look as good by myself as the hair dresser does.
8. Libraries. They have books with personality.
9. Jabberwocky. Jabberwocky is a a creature from Lewis Carroll’s Alice Through the Looking Glass. There is a poem about the creature. I have it memorized, as do most of the women in my family. Don’t ask why, I don’t know. The poem is a lot of nonsense. The first line is”T’was brillig”. Sometimes I say this for some reason or another and a perfect stranger will reply “and the slithy toves…” the next line of the poem. This has happened several times and I can’t help but smile when I think of it.
10. Wild Socks. They break the mold. I have a colleague who always dresses well, usually a shirt and tie. When he sits down and crosses his legs, you can see a bit of crazy-patterned sock sticking out of his pant leg.
11. Daylight savings – Fall Back. Having that extra hour makes such a difference. I feel like I get so much more done…or at
    

    So much fluff!

    least more sleep!

12. Kitty fluff. Or more specifically, Ewok’s fluff. She’s a persian so she shed in cotton balls rather than individual hairs. Yes, cat hair is annoying, it gets everywhere! But sometimes, I’m away on a conference or have has a really long day and I’ll find a little bit of fluff on my clothes and it’ll make me think of her. I can’t help but smile as I dispose of the fluff ball.
13. The Spice Girls. Who cares if they were so 90s! Platforms, catchy tunes and girl power?! How is that not awesome?! Azigazigah!!
14. Left over Birthday Cake Straight out of the Fridge. Just because.
15. Flannel Sheets. These are especially awesome in the winter. They are cozy and warm, almost fuzzy.
16. Cereal. It’s quick and easy, comes in all sorts of flavours and it works at any time of day. What’s not to appreciate about that?
17. Finding your Birthday is on a Saturday this year. Who wants to go to work on their birthday anyway?
18. A Real Fire. Except for that super loud “pop” sound that happens every once in a while, the crackling sound of a fire is soothing. Depending on what type of wood you are burning, it smells really nice too!
19. Bean bag Chairs. For once you’re not the one that has to adapt. They mold to fit you.
20. Laura Secord Ice Cream Cones. They smell fantastic! It took me a while to figure out where the yummy smell in the mall was coming from, but I figured it out eventually. It was odd to have a baked-goods type smell in the mall. Who would have thought a cone would smell so good. They must make them there.
21. Pearls. How something so beautiful and so perfect can be made from something as weird looking as an oyster still amazes me.