Gratitude Expressed

I awoke this morning with a sore stomach. Now, you may be thinking to yourself that this is an absurd comment to make, but allow me to elaborate as to why my stomach muscles decided to make their tender presence known. Yesterday I had the wonderful opportunity to laugh more in a few hours than I think I have in the last 3 years combined. And that is not an understatement. Sadly, I can't remember the last time I laughed that much. Which brings us to the resulting sore stomach muscles.

Lmizzle, Steve-O and Rad Steveness saved me from what would have otherwise been another mind-numbing, ass-expanding adventure in post-secondary. For this rescue I have to thank them immensely. What that is to be or look like I haven't the faintest notion, but like all good ideas, it will come to me eventually. Who knew that there were genuinely wonderful people in my midst, wandering around under my very nose and I nearly missed them because of mental and physical exhaustion? Whew ~ talk about dodging a bullet there. In a few short hours I probably relaxed more than I have in months, and laughed to the point where any attempt to consume a bubble tea went poorly. (To be fair, this particular bubble tea was horrendously disgusting, and I likely wouldn’t have been able to drink it on a good stomach). I owe you three a lot for reminding me what it was like to be in good company again ~ Thank-you.

As I re-adjust to my tender tummy muscles, I got to thinking about the past four months, and the people I have had the opportunity to interact with. I get the opportunity to see Messiah on a near daily basis, and I credit him a great deal with keeping me both sane and caffeinated. My esteemed thanks to you my friend ~ I am immensely lucky to call you that.

My initial reluctance to embark within the blogging world was quickly diminished with the discovery of some brilliant and delightfully sarcastic minds. Xrayeagle has made me laugh out loud and contemplate some beautifully poignant questions. Mike, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to engage in some wonderful conversation outside the realm of these four walls of academia. I look forward to buying you a cup of coffee, and I promise not to "abooze" the drunk guy. Doug's comments have resulted in me laughing to the point of tears to nearly shuddering at the mental images they convey. Doug, I thank-you for always being polite and sarcastic, and for never letting one get in the way of the other. Except of course for the naked llamas...that one is going to haunt you for a while. Ultra Toast Mosha God deserves to have his full title in print here, as his writing style is as artistic in his blog entries as they are in his submissions to the Write Club. Seeing as how his moniker is a delightful puzzle, I can get as far as a potential first name, and it quickly falters from there. Regardless, his writing style remains worthy of high praise, and I look forward reading about the future adventures of he and Monkey. Now if there was only some way to protect you both from all the crazy Bristol incidents...and to hear you sing...

Which brings us to the Master of New York; Joe. How exactly to you begin to thank someone who has been so remarkably complimentary of the things that I have done, so as to reach a point of almagamating my blog name? Joe, your blog comments are the weekly highlights for so many of us, and the dedication that you show everyone who comments on your blog is a testament to the remarkable and admirable character you possess as a person. (How's that? Are you embarrassed yet?) We all know that you are going to find bigger and better things in life, and I wish you, as do we all, the best of luck in your job search.

And another big thank-you to Blondie, Grant, Leesa, Lavinia, Jazz and Bluebolt for all of your wonderful additions to this blog, and I look forward to more adventuresome stories from all of you.

So as I approach month five of my blogging escapade, my thanks to all of you for making this all worth it.