Counting My Blessings: Thanksgiving 2014 Edition

I was looking through my old blog post drafts when I found this list of things I was grateful for that I wrote on Thanksgiving 2014.

1. My gorgeous sloth hat, which an awesome friend of mine crocheted for me. It made for an excellent first-day-of-school surprise! I'm grateful that I have such amazing friends, and that it is finally sloth hat weather!

2. My awesome new shirts! (The other one is the exaxt same, just a size larger.) I'm grateful that my family is just affluent enough to afford $14 shirts, but just poor enough that I can appreciate them.

3. This lovely scarf, as modeled by the bunny bank that has served me well since I was 6 (Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!). My grandmother, Grambee, crocheted this scarf for me so I would remember her. After her death, I treasured the card that came with it even more greatly:

The card reads:

Dear Lydia,

   I made this scarf for you. It can be for your age now - and even when you have grown up.

   I want you to know and remember when you wear this scarf that your Grambee loves you and is proud of you!

Love,

Grambee

4. All my Anne of Green Gables books, from the most well-loved to the brand new. I'm grateful for my dad for exposing me to such great books.

5. My cat. If dog is a man's best friend, cat is a woman's best friend. She makes a great cuddle buddy, and she has a certain amount of disdain for humanity, which I appreciate.

6. What I lovingly refer to as "my little Kindle-1". It does what it was made to do exceptionally well: allow me to read books. I am grateful for my mom, the steward of the Amazon account, for choosing it for me. (Although I'm sure my dad had something to do with it as well...)

7. Tea!!! I recently discovered how amazing tea is, and now I have to resist the temptation to drink it all the time. Here is the jellyfish version of one of my friends, who also appreciates tea (much more than I do, actually) and whom I am very grateful for:

...and the draft ends abruptly. To be honest, I haven't changed all that much in the past three years. I hope that you are doing well, and that you have lots to be grateful for. 

Best wishes,

Lydia

A Few Poems by 15-Year-Old Lydia

I am debating about whether to post some bunch of emotionally intense poetry I wrote recently. In the meantime, here are a bunch of rondelets I wrote in tenth grade, exactly as I emailed them to my poetry teacher. 

Felicia

My cat is soft.

She wakes me up hoping for food.

My cat is soft.

I have yarn balls she loves to loft.

Although she is often quite rude

(For she is always in the nude),

My cat is soft.

Izzy*

Izzy is dead.

I listened to her for too long.

Izzy is dead.

I made her play too many songs,

Yet I feel I've done nothing wrong.

Izzy is dead.

*V. Important Note: Izzy is my iPod. I don't kill people by making them sing to me.

 Failure

Why can't I write

Poems that sing of truth and life?

Why can't I write?

Finding words is a constant fight.

I can't describe a writer's strife

Or a man's search for a good wife.

Why can't I write?

Please Explain

I saw your eyes

Glancing my way from time to time. 

I saw your eyes, 

But let pursed lips be my disguise. 

Even though I know it's not a crime,

And though the party was sublime,

I saw your eyes.

(This is why Lydia avoids writing poems about other people. Also, obviously the person I'm referring to in 2nd person isn't you.)

Laziness

I am lazy,

After a day full of deep thoughts.

I am lazy

After my life has gotten too crazy. 

In my life I have always sought

For somewhere I could sleep a lot.

I am lazy.

The Lord's Name in Vain (A Controversial Poem)

God, I'm sorry

For the words I said; I didn't think.

God, I'm sorry,

For you my eyes don't grow starry.

I meant to say my sister stinks,

But I said you without a blink.

God, I'm sorry.