The Things We Do...

Sometimes I create victories for myself. It helps put a spring in my step, and lets me know that I am the master of something, even if it is not a grand thing.

For example, when I go to the grocery store, I race with the checker. You know the little membership cards you get? I try to wrestle mine out of my wallet, and swipe it through the machine before the checker gets a chance to say,

"Do you have your Smith's card today?"

This is not easy, because, as noted in my previous post, my life gets kind of messy, and so does my wallet. I'm working on it. Anyway, sometimes I win, sometimes the checker wins, but it is always fun. Always.

Anytime I am able to make a cursive "c" that doesn't look like a "v," I reward myself with a candy bar. A student actually pointed out that my c's look like v's. I sent him to the office.

When I make my glass beads (I make jewelry, remember?), and they don't all look like potatoes, I give myself potato chips. The down side of this is, if my beads do end up like potatoes, I have to eat a raw potato. They're not great.

If I walk around all day in my new 4 inch wedges without falling off of them and breaking my ankle, I get a doughnut. If I do fall off of them...well, I probably have a broken ankle, and that is punishment enough.

If I write a post on my jewelry blog that actually has something to do with my jewelry, I get a whole cake! Clearly, that hasn't happened in awhile. I promise the next post will be about my progress toward the Spearfish Show, with pictures of my latest projects and all. Really.

If I write a post in which I address my readers as if I actually had readers...I don't actually get anything except the realization that I am being delusional. Please follow my blog (click the "join this site" button on the right!). I would be so happy if you did, and the reward I give myself for getting more readers would be absolutely bananas!

On a serious note (in case you couldn't tell that this post is absolutely and totally silly), it is very important to celebrate our accomplishments, big and small, real and imagined. We already have plenty of ways to break ourselves down, and it can be so easy to ignore our victories. Yes, a lot of them are small (i.e. successfully avoiding the aggressively friendly stranger at the grocery store--more scary than cuddly), but they are victories nonetheless. I want to hear about yours! Leave them in the comments section!

P.S. I do not recommend that you indulge in chocolate and/or processed sugar every time you write your cursive letters correctly. Neither do I actually condone eating a doughnut every time you walk without falling down. Just to be clear. However, if your lampwork beads don't look like potatoes, by all means, have a chip.