Appreciatin' the Little Things

[Guest]

How 'bout you folk?

Oh....this isn't such a "simple" question to answer, in some respects...he he. Along with most of what has already been noted:

family
friends
ROAD TRIPS
music
hobbies
...and oh so many more .



Cort | 35swm | "Mr Monte Carlo"."Mr Road Trip" | pig valve.pacemaker ...RT 66 = Sept 5-16, '09
WRMNshowcase.legos.HO.models.MCs.RTs.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"Everybody's looking for something" ... Eurythmics ... 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)'

 

[BigOwl]

Road trips! Now there's an idea; have to get one in gear for the future. Didn't have the energy before. We won't have time this summer, but maybe around the winter holidays or next summer. Great thought--worth looking forward to!

 

[MissMelis]

All these posts combined to give me a warm fuzzy.

Reading the paper outside on a Saturday morning, with the Rockies in view to the West...with a nice sharp pencil to do the crossword!

 

[Dale]

I just came across this thread now and have appreciated reading through it so much because it is reminding me to SLOW DOWN. I have just started back to work and it's a stressful atmosphere and I've started rushing and my blood pressure is up.......

Think I will go out and sit in the backyard and watch the birds,

 

[jax]

i know that since i have been off work i enjoy nothing more than to sit outside on a beautiful day listening the birds or sitting with my dog on the front step. I jump on my riding lawn mower on those days too as that is a relaxing activity for me where i don't have to exert myself. I can't say that i miss work at all. I miss the people that i work with but it so very nice not to have all that stress that comes along with it. I hope that i do not forget all of this when i return to work after surgery and recovery.

 

[hensylee]

This is kind of an Earth Day question. I spent some time this morning/afternoon out in my garden, snoozing away with my dogs under a tree. I realized that this is the first Earth Day of the rest of my life, or something corny like that--and I was rather seized with the wonder of it all.

Even though I'm not a believer in anything specific, I do appreciate the world and what it has to offer, even more so now than ever because I've dodged yet another bullet. That made me wonder how y'all feel about appreciating things both great and small as a result of your valve problems (whether solved yet or not).

My list: sleeping through the night (twice in two weeks!), the taste of a good cup of coffee (can't taste much of anything else yet), bird noises (especially owl sex outside my window in the wee hours of the morning; the male barred owls are vying for territory), and the gradual waning of chest discomfort, steadily, day by day.

How 'bout you folk (and happy Earth Day 2009)?

I think it was Robthatsme that brought up this very thought many years ago in vr. seems nearly all of us have a new appreciation of every aspect of our lives after the awesome adventure we were forced to go through. You are right on target.

 

[COLLEEN S]

Wow, nice post to the OP. I appreciate being able to go up to my mom's and help her recuperate from a new diagnosis of COPD and a new diagnosis of aortic aneurysm. I appreciate coming back home after her crisis was averted and playing with my cats, a hug from my husband, him coming home from work early and cooking; being able to go to work; a double rainbow we had here recently; seeing my daughter become a caring young woman; every good thing is just magnified 10 times over.

 

[Guest]

Road trips! Now there's an idea; have to get one in gear for the future. Didn't have the energy before. We won't have time this summer, but maybe around the winter holidays or next summer. Great thought--worth looking forward to!

*grins*

AMEN! I LOVE my road trips ... wouldn't have life any other way.

Here is my 2009 road trip:
http://www.valvereplacement.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27988


And, if you're interested, pics and notes from my previous road trips....

Oct 04...as part of the VR Reunion in Golden CO that year:
http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/0410/0410.html

Aug 05:
http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/0508/0508.html

Oct 06:
http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/1106/1106.html

Nov 07:
http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/200711/200711.html

Aug 08:
http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/200808/2008rt.html



Cort | 35swm | "Mr Monte Carlo"."Mr Road Trip" | pig valve.pacemaker ...RT 66 = Sept 5-16, '09
WRMNshowcase.legos.HO.models.MCs.RTs.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"Every song, another scene" ... Dierks Bently ... 'Every Mile A Memory'

 

[Bryan B]

I enjoy being able to enjoy things again.

Especially this:

 

[BigOwl]

I'm just checking back in after being hard at work for the last three weeks (once I got back, re-energized and raring to go, I had more to do than I've had in years) and not having had time to visit the forum. But I've discovered that the sheer wonder of all this energy, not quite three months post-op, is just plain amazing.

When people remark about how great I look, it makes me smile--and makes me realize that we don't know how sick we've been until we're better. I hope that's some comfort to those who are struggling through the first few weeks. I still have my ups and downs, but it's really gratifying to be able to do most of the stuff I wasn't able to do for the last three years or so.

Thanks for the pix, Knightfan--truly inspirational. Now where's my map of Route 66 . . . ?

 

[terodac]

Whenever I feel like having a little pitty party I meet or see someone else who puts it into perspective also and my problems seem so tiny! I just enjoy the little things I took for granted for so many years of my life, looking back at all my surgery and how it happened, I really understand how God knows and sees the big picture of my life and why I did not get my way on alot of things I thought I needed! It all worked out for the best~he is in charge and I have to trust in him to lead me in my life. It is over when God says it is over! Everybody wants to go to heaven but not right now is a new country song I heard the other day! I had to laugh!

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the pix, Knightfan--truly inspirational.

*nods*

You are welcome!

Now where's my map of Route 66 . . . ?

Hmmm...try this one:
http://www.historic66.com/





Cort | 35swm | "Mr Monte Carlo"."Mr Road Trip" | pig valve.pacemaker ...Chitown #2 = 07/25/09
WRMNshowcase.legos.HO.models.MCs.RTs.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"He's off on a midwest run" ... Alabama ... 'Roll On'

 

[BigOwl]

My favorite part of the trip is from Ash Fork Arizona to Barstow, where I turn north to get to 395. I made that trip by myself just before my bypass surgery--much to the astonishment and chagrin of my husband and family--and damn near didn't make it. Still, it was the road trip of a lifetime, and I'm glad I made it back.

Thanks for the link, Knightfan. I plan to make use of it.

 

[Guest]

You're welcome.

You know ... you are WELCOME to join us along Route 66 in September ... I'll be posting the UPDATED schedule here shortly:
http://www.valvereplacement.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27988



Cort | 35swm | "Mr Monte Carlo"."Mr Road Trip" | pig valve.pacemaker ...RT 66 = Sept 5-16, '09
WRMNshowcase.legos.HO.models.MCs.RTs.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"The sun is blindin'" ... Pink ... 'Sober'

 

[TeresaCW]

I don't live in a beautiful part of the world, so the wonders of nature are squeezed into the concrete around me and don't stir me very often. But not a day goes by that I don't consciously give thanks for being alive, mobile and sane, with a lovely husband, lovely children and a few dear close friends. I'm so, so, so appreciative of my life because I saw my sister and mum suffer for years with diseases that disabled them, disfigured them, robbed them of their dignity and freedom and ultimately killed them slowly and painfully. Much as I understand that I'm alive because of this little valve clicking away, it's mainly remembering Mum and Maria's daily struggle that makes me appreciate lots of tiny insignificant things every day.

 

[john79t]

I understand and agree. We have the unusual situation of having all my chrildrem, grandchildren and our first great grand child living on the same 90 acres.. I want to watch my grandchildren grow up. Both my father and father in law died within months of retirement in their 5os. We love to travel and now feel that we have a chance of liviving life to the fullest.