8/13

i'm thankful to have gone with d to get her blood drawn (routine—i'm thankful when she told me she had to get her blood drawn, she said "routine" immediately so i wouldn't worry) this morning. i'm thankful for how quickly the nurse drew the blood and am thankful that we went to mcdonald's after for d's post-fasting breakfast. i'm thankful that the two drive-through lines were both very long, since that was more time for us to spend together before i left (i'm thankful for how much more valuable time is with a person you love when you're about to leave for a trip). i'm thankful for our amazement at the gall of a person who nudged the nose of his car incredibly close to the bumper of the car in front of him and am thankful that we were able to catch sight of his face when we were pulling out of the parking lot and see that he was a sleepy teenage boy. i'm thankful that d had cash so that i have money to tip the shuttle driver and didn't have to stop at the ATM.

i'm thankful that i did the memory flash cards thing we have for work because there are 175 people at our company and we only see each other in person at these retreats twice a year and there are like 40 new people since the last one in february and i'm thankful that though there are lots of people i don't know or who i do know but will fumble to address (i'm thankful to cringe at myself thinking of d's company retreat a couple of months ago, where i introduced myself to the same person twice in the span of like a half an hour and made that person (whose name i now remember and will probably never forget! very annoyed), i do actually know a lot of people already. i'm thankful for how many people i not only know but am excited to get to spend time with in the flesh, and i'm thankful for how many people i know are excited to see me.

i'm thankful that the shuttle bus that i take from bloomington to the airport in indianapolis weaves through campus to pick people up from various dorms before hitting the highway. i'm thankful to think back to three years ago, when i was working for the university, or three years before that, when i was in grad school, and how the campus was the place of every day of my life, whereas i haven't been there in i don't even know how long. i'm thankful that it is move-in week and to remember how happy that week was for me in college, how full of connection and reunion and possibility. i'm thankful that we did not have to move this year, since moving as an adult is much less fun than moving when you are young. i'm thankful to remember how beautiful the campus is and to write it down so that i remember that d and i should make a point of taking a walk through when the leaves start to turn, which will not be too long.

i'm thankful that it's not fall yet, though, and that i have no desire to make time move any faster than it already does