\n<\/strong>Last week, I got to go see Pop Tart in her first high school play. She had\na minor role. I was lucky enough to get to see both the dress rehearsal and the\nfirst performance. It was so much fun. I love high school drama to begin with,\nbut I think there is just something special about it in small schools. The entire\nschool Pop Tart is at, Kindergarten-12th<\/sup> grade is smaller, I think,\nthan just my graduating class. This means there is not a wealth of talent to\npick from. There are X number of kids who want to do drama, and only a fifth\n(or fewer) are boys. So the drama teachers have to make do. And the kids in the\nplay are also the kids doing the set design and working backstage. It is\namazing. It is fun. It brings such a different energy. The kids are on the\nstage because this is what they want to do, and it does not matter if they are\nnot great at it. The people in the audience are there because these kids are\ntheir family and friends. The whole thing is just one large, creative, act of\nlove. And I am so grateful I had a chance to go see the play, and applaud these\nstudents and their teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net\/v\/t1.0-9\/40971_1596519079434_3316939_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&_nc_eui2=AeECtYccIR3xYYtTYNzuEWpAOtaHHpUWirrd1rehORPqIUzMTgW48vaCbhtsgqhtRJc8IAy1Xz2luCnzlMVd0zt8lh-JueCl7E5bORIXKmTmPA&_nc_oc=AQnYRBR2erm11ud8fcGlNxdElDz_HVPMI7OV5dSBf_PP3fSDPS7CTaR_3nJjVa10J3LBWu0etmHRlwZiCvk-O0HW&_nc_ht=scontent-sea1-1.xx&oh=cceac1bb1dc9aa41394851c1d4629e9e&oe=5D96544D\")
Gratitude Entry #41 \u2013\nAccidental Scenic Drives Gratitude Entry #42 \u2013\nFlexibility and Ability to Make Last Minute Plans<\/strong> Gratitude Entry #43 \u2013\nMy Knee Brace It has been a crazy two weeks. I had every intention of writing a gratitude post last week, and then the week was just gone. And I kept thinking about it this week, and kept having the intention to write the post, and suddenly, it is Sunday afternoon. I realized I needed to stop what I was doing and write, otherwise, I would not only go two weeks without writing a gratitude post, but I would not get up any content at all this week, and that is most definitely not what I want. Writing is like so many other things, the more you make time for it, the better you are at it, and the more you have time for it. Once you stop making time for it, that time goes elsewhere, and it is really hard to get back in the habit. (Trust me on this one.) So here we are with two weeks\u2019 worth of gratitude, and it really has been two weeks to be grateful for. Gratitude Entry #40 \u2013 Small Town High School Plays Last week, I got to go see Pop Tart in her first high school play. She had a minor role. I was lucky enough to get to see both the dress rehearsal and the first performance. It was so much fun. I love high school drama to begin with, but I think there is just something special about it in small schools. The entire school Pop Tart is at, Kindergarten-12th grade is smaller, I think, than just my graduating class. This means there is not a wealth of talent to pick from. There are X number of kids who want to do drama, and only a fifth (or fewer) are boys. So the drama teachers have to make do. And the kids in the play are also the kids doing the set design and working backstage. It is amazing. It is fun. It brings such a different energy. The kids are on the stage because this is what they want to do, and it does not matter if they are not great at it. The people in the audience are there because these kids are their family and friends. The whole thing is just one large, creative, act of love. And I am so grateful I had a chance to go see the play, and applaud these students and their teacher. Gratitude Entry #41 \u2013 Accidental Scenic Drives The town Pop Tart is living in is small. It does not have a hotel\/motel. When I visit, I stay in the same city the airport is in. This city is about a two hour drive from where Pop Tart lives. Friday night, I found myself driving back from her town to the city I was staying in about sunset. The drive takes me along a river. So there I am, driving next to a river, headed west, at sunset. It was so gorgeous, and peaceful. There were not a whole lot of other cars on the road, and I just got to relax and enjoy the beauty. (I probably should have pulled off at one of the many places I could have and taken a picture, but I did not.) Still, it was a lovely end to a great day, and reminds me how grateful I am for the places where we can still experience that natural beauty. Gratitude Entry #42 \u2013 Flexibility and Ability to Make Last Minute Plans On Thursday, May 23, I was at an award ceremony honoring faculty and staff who had made significant contributions over the last year. While I was there, I got a voicemail. When I had a chance to check the vm, it was my cousin, K, letting me know that she had made the last minute decision to walk in the graduation ceremony for her MS degree. The ceremony was to be Monday, June 3, less than two weeks away. As I am just finishing listening to the vm, I get a text from my mother, asking if I will be able to make K\u2019s graduation, because she cannot. And luckily, I was. I extended my vacation by one day (I was off the Thursday and Friday before to go see Pop Tart\u2019s play), and on Monday morning, I hopped in the car at 6a and drove the three hours to Portland to see K graduate. I adore my cousin. She was born less than 3 weeks before my 16th birthday. She remains the only baby I have held on the day it was born. I have always been very happy to be a part of her life, and I was thrilled to be able to go celebrate this next milestone of hers. But I could not have done that if I did not have the flexibility in my job, or the monetary ability to take a last minute day off, or a car that could drive me from Seattle to Portland and back. I am so grateful that I do have that ability, so that I can take these opportunities to celebrate with my family. Gratitude Entry #43 \u2013 My Knee Brace This one may seem silly after the previous three, on some level, my knee brace is part of what makes the three above things possible. I have a bum knee. The official diagnosis is luxating patella. Basically, my knee cap does not like to stay in place. This is not always painful (though sometimes it is), but the real problem is, when your kneecap is not in the right place, your leg will not hold your weight. It just collapses. I have been having issues with my knee for about 20 years now. (It is a genetic issue.) Air pressure changes, such as happen when flying, can cause the knee cap to migrate. Holding my leg in a single position for long periods of time (such as driving for 3 hours), can cause the knee cap to slip. So, I wear the knee brace when I travel to make sure I can get off the plane and get out of the car, with my knee cap kept where it belongs. I also wear the knee brace when I walk the dogs, especially if we are going to do hills, because it just helps support the knee and reduce pain. At some point, I will need to get knee replacement surgery, but I do not need it just yet. And I am very grateful that a knee brace that is comfortable to wear for hours at a time exists, and that I own one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1007,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gratitude"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/erinshanendoah.com\/alienanthros\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/OpenHouse2019-e1578071435651.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p75MAh-ge","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/erinshanendoah.com\/alienanthros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/erinshanendoah.com\/alienanthros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/erinshanendoah.com\/alienanthros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/erinshanendoah.com\/alienanthros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/erinshanendoah.com\/alienanthros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1006"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/erinshanendoah.com\/alienanthros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1006\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1008,"href":"http:\/\/erinshanendoah.com\/alienanthros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1006\/revisions\/1008"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/erinshanendoah.com\/alienanthros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/erinshanendoah.com\/alienanthros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/erinshanendoah.com\/alienanthros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/erinshanendoah.com\/alienanthros\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/strong>The town Pop Tart is living in is small. It does not have a hotel\/motel. When\nI visit, I stay in the same city the airport is in. This city is about a two\nhour drive from where Pop Tart lives. Friday night, I found myself driving back\nfrom her town to the city I was staying in about sunset. The drive takes me\nalong a river. So there I am, driving next to a river, headed west, at sunset.\nIt was so gorgeous, and peaceful. There were not a whole lot of other cars on\nthe road, and I just got to relax and enjoy the beauty. (I probably should have\npulled off at one of the many places I could have and taken a picture, but I\ndid not.) Still, it was a lovely end to a great day, and reminds me how\ngrateful I am for the places where we can still experience that natural beauty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nOn Thursday, May 23, I was at an award ceremony honoring faculty and staff who\nhad made significant contributions over the last year. While I was there, I got\na voicemail. When I had a chance to check the vm, it was my cousin, K, letting\nme know that she had made the last minute decision to walk in the graduation\nceremony for her MS degree. The ceremony was to be Monday, June 3, less than\ntwo weeks away.
\nAs I am just finishing listening to the vm, I get a text from my mother, asking\nif I will be able to make K\u2019s graduation, because she cannot. And luckily, I\nwas. I extended my vacation by one day (I was off the Thursday and Friday\nbefore to go see Pop Tart\u2019s play), and on Monday morning, I hopped in the car\nat 6a and drove the three hours to Portland to see K graduate.
\nI adore my cousin. She was born less than 3 weeks before my 16th<\/sup>\nbirthday. She remains the only baby I have held on the day it was born. I have\nalways been very happy to be a part of her life, and I was thrilled to be able\nto go celebrate this next milestone of hers.
\nBut I could not have done that if I did not have the flexibility in my job, or\nthe monetary ability to take a last minute day off, or a car that could drive\nme from Seattle to Portland and back. I am so grateful that I do have that\nability, so that I can take these opportunities to celebrate with my family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/erinshanendoah.com\/alienanthros\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/20180922_095033-700x1244.jpg\")
\n<\/strong>This one may seem silly after the previous three, on some level, my knee\nbrace is part of what makes the three above things possible. I have a bum knee.\nThe official diagnosis is luxating patella. Basically, my knee cap does not\nlike to stay in place. This is not always painful (though sometimes it is), but\nthe real problem is, when your kneecap is not in the right place, your leg will\nnot hold your weight. It just collapses. I have been having issues with my knee\nfor about 20 years now. (It is a genetic issue.)
\nAir pressure changes, such as happen when flying, can cause the knee cap to\nmigrate. Holding my leg in a single position for long periods of time (such as\ndriving for 3 hours), can cause the knee cap to slip. So, I wear the knee brace\nwhen I travel to make sure I can get off the plane and get out of the car, with\nmy knee cap kept where it belongs.
\nI also wear the knee brace when I walk the dogs, especially if we are going to\ndo hills, because it just helps support the knee and reduce pain.
\nAt some point, I will need to get knee replacement surgery, but I do not need\nit just yet. And I am very grateful that a knee brace that is comfortable to\nwear for hours at a time exists, and that I own one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"