Erin Miller

Putting every piece of silverware, cup, plate, food item, dog food, dog treat, or anything that may ever come into direct contact with human skin into plastic bags is about as much fun as it sounds like it would be. And it is what I spent a significant amount of my time doing this weekend (between lectures.) We had our apartment “bug bombed” and an extraordinary amount of chemicals sprayed about, all in our extermination efforts. We have ended up washing all of the plates, silverware, and cups before we use them anyway because cockroaches can survive a nuclear blast and yet this stuff seems to kill them. We figure we should try to keep it out of our digestive tracks. We had to mop the floor too, to keep it out of the dogs’ digestive tracks. We had to wash every single article of clothing and bedding, including, of course, winter jackets, mittens, hats and gloves, and do all our dry cleaning. I spent 150 dollars on laundry. Turns out dry cleaning (even for the whole of 6 dry-cleanable items I own) is really expensive. Anyway, between all of this, I thought that I might be losing sight of what’s important in life and how lucky I really am. So I sat down and started making a list of things I was thankful for. They came slowly and arduously at first, but then started to flow. This list is by no means exhaustive, but I thought it might be nice to share.
I am thankful for:
-my family who loves me
-my wonderful boyfriend
-that I am my grandparents’ granddaughter and that means I can do anything
-my very cool roommates
-mobility in all of its meanings
-getting to look forward to my boyfriend’s visit, going to Hawaii over Thanksgiving, and going home for Christmas
-the experiences I had in Honduras
-the amazing host family I lived with in Honduras
-that my projects in Honduras have continued
-not having to worry if there will be running water when I get home
-warm water
-my old friends
-making new friends
-warm cookies
-my awesome dog
-being able to communicate in Spanish
-travel
-being able to drop off my laundry and pay someone else to wash it
-the lights on the George Washington Bridge
-the sunset over New Jersey
-Riverside Park and Trail
-the view from the Empire State building at night
-food carts
-shoes
-waterproof shoes
-warm clothes
-a dry place to sleep
-being in a very interesting academic program
-learning to manage a staff of 25
-the experience of getting to live in New York City even if it means that in a year I will complain about it endlessly, frown on the subway, and love it like only a New Yorker can.
And now, its time to get ready for midterms.