The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Usually when I’m on walks, I use the time to count my blessings because it’s finally a moment away from the media, entertaining Eva, or doing work. It feels good to get unplugged from the world every once in a while. And goodness knows I need that. It won’t come as a shock to you to hear that I love social media.

Well, today as I was pushing Eva, I was thinking of things that I’m thankful for here in Jersey (skyline above) and started looking around for ideas. Upon leaving the parking lot of Target, I saw a dead, smashed rat that I almost walked on last week (thank goodness Hannah warned me in time). And don’t confuse this gross rat with the dead mouse TJ ran over with the stroller last night. Two separate creatures, two horrifying sites. Anyway, the smashed rat kind of halted my blessings list and made me start thinking about the bad things out here. But then I came up with a little game in my head. For every bad thing, I tried to think of the bright side. The silver lining. Horray… the title of my blog is finally applicable!

No car. More exercise, lose weight, save money.

Our bed in the living room. Get to watch TV in bed… every kid’s dream.

Living in a city instead of suburb. H&M is within 100 steps of my door, and thousands of other incredible places to see are close-by.

Take the subway everywhere. See lots of interesting people, very humbling.

Very humid. Don’t have to do my hair, because the humidity would ruin it anyway.

Always smells like curry in our building. Maybe one day one of my Indian neighbors will teach me how to make authentic curry.

Roaches under sink. At least they’re not mice.

$3.25 to do a load of laundry. Not doing as much laundry anymore.

Rent costs a fortune and I want to cry each month as the money vanishes into thin air. At least it’s going to a mortgage… WAIT… no, it’s not. There’s no bright side to this one.

I haven’t been able to think of a silver lining to seeing a dead mouse and a dead rat either.  Let me know if you can.