45 Things That Don't Make Me Gnash My Teeth

Yesterday I suggested you take a look at Havi's list of 77 Things That Don't Completely Suck. Today I'm doing my own version, because while it's hard to be actually thankful without pumpkin pie, I can admit there are a few things in life that aren't causing much gnashing of teeth.

Havi poured some lentils into a bowl and they added up to 77. I poured out my bottle of Aleve, and there were 45 pills. So welcome to my list of 45 Things That Don't Make Me Gnash My Teeth.

1. I'm drinking a soy peppermint mocha.
2. I think I'm recovering from the week-long Festival of Food... my belly is no longer faking a pregnancy.
3. The Nutella cream pie I made yesterday went over well.
4. The turkey I helped my friend Laura cook turned out really well. Minor miracle, since neither of us really had any idea what we were doing. We wore gloves and disinfected with Clorox wipes all day.
5. I watched TV yesterday for the first time in forever... oh my gosh I love commercials and Myth Busters.
6. When I tell people I'm moving, they're all sad and teary and asking when I'm coming back to visit (unless they're west coast friends... those ones cheer and demand we start scheduling the next six months of fun-ness).
7. The idea of moving has made me start appreciating some aspects of this town I took for granted.
8. Like traffic that doesn't suck all the time.
9. Like warm weather in November (high 70s? yes, please).
10. Like being able to drive no more than 15 minutes if I want to see friends.
11. Like getting coffee with former professors so I can retain some of my academic brain cells.
12. I have fantastic glasses.
13. My hair is really amazing, too. Because I'm being honest here.
14. People like Laura make me happy because when I went over to her house to help her cook a turkey, she met me at the door with a horrified look on her face and told me that turkeys were gross and I'd be the one handling the corpse and taking out the innards but she had gloves for me to wear. And she took pictures.
15. She also gave me toothpicks so I could stab the neck flaps of the turkey together. That was nice.
16. Laura is also the kind of person you can call when you're sad. She will tell you nice things or feed you.
17. Amy is another good friend, and she will tell you nice things but not always in the gushiest and nicest way... so you know you can trust what she says.
18. I also got a great text message last night wishing me a happy Thanksgiving while simultaneously calling me a hooker. That made me smile.
19. Trevor promises to wear a light-up Christmas sweater in public. Do I have to explain why that is wonderful?
20. Ashley promised me that I will always have a job as a carnie if I need one. She also is teaching me the proper vocabulary for that profession.
21. I still have a lot of cookies in my kitchen.
22. There are people who understand my sense of humor (that is far from being everyone).
23. I've just been informed that understanding my sense of humor takes some practice... so that means that for the people who do get me, they're willing to put in the effort. That's kind of awesome. It's probably because of my hair.
24. I have small ears. I'm really glad about that.
25. I won the first round of Pit the other night. I hate that game, I didn't want to play that game, so victory was twice as sweet.
    
26. There is a sequel to "The Hunger Games" that I didn't know about until recently. I'm going to read it on the flight to Washington.
27. Tonight is Milkshake Night.
28. I assign homework. While grading isn't fun, it's more fun to be the teacher who evilly gives out projects before the holidays than the students who have to do them. Bwahaha.
29. It's nice that I haven't had to birth a child. Teleporting them out of womb: that is the way of the future.
30. I am wearing "nice clothes" from the waist up, and pajamas from the waist down. This is kind of my uniform unless I'm in a classroom.
31. Puppy play-time yesterday was fun.
32. On Sunday, I discovered I'd lost some weight... making me the lightest I've been in about a year, and thinner than is a good idea. This doesn't make me gnash my teeth because it happened right before the Thanksgiving Stuff-a-thon, so now it's like I'm normal even though I ate enough for a small country.
33. The Book of Revelation fell out of my Bible. I've never really understood or liked it, so now I don't have to worry about it anymore.
34. I have a dishwasher.
35. Oooh, project that I'm completely excited about! Wish it had been my idea, but thrilled that someone thought I'd be a good addition to the Top Secret Team of Awesomeness.
    
36. The heat came on just now, which is utterly fantastic because I was thinking about how I was probably going to curl up and fall asleep and die of hypothermia. That is what made more sense than me putting on more clothes or turning up the thermostat.
37. Shoes.
38. The painting I have of my Grandpa Jack dancing with my two-year-old self at a wedding.
39. Hearing from readers, friends, or stalkers (or all of the above) that something rotten was going on, and out of the angry soul bubbled up the words, "I am too pretty for this!" Good to know I helped out.
    
40. Blackened chicken pasta. Yum.
41. Equally good in an entirely different way: weird dream-inducing kosher dogs at The Weenie Stand.
42. Blog comments (especially ones like what Sara wrote on yesterday's post). If you write, you know what I mean.
    
43. Sleeping in on Black Friday. I don't need anything that much.
44. No "work" this week. Again, a benefit of teaching.
45. I have a smartphone that is smarter than me (one day, when it starts mocking me, I will be sorry I ever bought it).

Are there other things that might qualify as gnashing-less? Sure. I'll probably think of them later, and I'll probably wonder why in the world I included my ears on this list. But that's okay, because it isn't definitive, this isn't Thanksgiving, and it's all true right now.

What about you? Anything that doesn't completely suck or definitely doesn't make you gnash your teeth?