Grateful Challenge: Kelly Dietrich and Jack BauerBy Gini Dietrich

Last week, Jennifer Devitt emailed me and issued a challenge.

She reminded me that, last year, I did the 82 Things I Love challenge. The idea is to list as many things that you love in just 10 minutes, with the hopes that you can get to 99 (I suppose you also have to be able to type really fast).

It was during Thanksgiving week and Jen thought we should do it again, with a twist.

She said:

What do you say we make this a yearly tradition and see how they have changed or what new things pop up? It’s fabulous to count our blessings each year!

So here we go. I got to 82 last year (didn’t meet the 99 threshold). Let’s see if I can beat it.

The Grateful Challenge

  1. Kelly Dietrich, the Most Patient Man on Earth (as Ken Jacobs has deemed him).
  2. Jack Bauer—even though he continues to get into the freezer, padlock and all.
  3. A big huge change in our personal lives this year that has taught me patience and given me complete joy.
  4. My momma, who is my best friend and confidante.
  5. The renewed relationship with my dad.
  6. My mother-in-law, who shares a love of wine, books, and fashion with me.
  7. My father-in-law, who thinks I walk on water.
  8. Fifteen little faces who call me Aunt Gini.
  9. Three sisters-in-law… who may as well be blood.
  10. Mattie Dietrich’s dumb Laffy Taffy jokes.
  11. Grandma Dietrich (Kelly’s gramma), who is so special to me, she received the inscription in Spin Sucks.
  12. Kelly’s best friend from high school, who is like a fifth brother to me.
  13. Five siblings who call me the older (but not bigger!) sister.
  14. My sister, who makes me laugh nearly every day.
  15. Lindsay Bell-Wheeler, who always keeps things in perspective for me and who always sends me goofy pictures of her and her husband, which always makes me laugh.
  16. Laura Petrolino, who allows me to keep my competitive spirit alive.
  17. Eleanor Pierce, who can call me mouthy and totally get away with it.
  18. Jess Ostroff, who cracks me up daily.
  19. Sneaking away for a rare, but fun lunch with Jeannie Walters.
  20. Abbie Fink, who teaches me about thoughtfulness and generosity consistently.
  21. Ken Jacobs, who leaves me ridiculous (but hilarious) voice messages…that I save so I can listen from time-to-time.
  22. Riding the El to meetings, which allows me to read (I mean, it allows me time to work…yeah, that’s what I meant).
  23. Andy Crestodina’s brain (okay, I like the rest of him, too).
  24. Dallas Kincaid who texts me non-stop like this: Gini. Hi. GINI. HI. DIETRICH. WHERE ARE YOU? ANSWER ME NOW! (All within five minutes of one another.) But he would do almost anything for me and is a great person to bounce business ideas off of and, for that, I am grateful.
  25. My friend, Mike Koehler, whom I have known way longer than I care to admit (since high school).
  26. My status with American Airlines, that means I get through airports without much hassle.
  27. My new Wolf oven.
  28. My bicycle that has thousands of miles on it.
  29. FaceTime and Skype and Google Hangouts.
  30. Cupcakes (but I’d be more grateful if they didn’t have any calories).
  31. Making lasagna from scratch and watching friends and family practically lick their plates when they’re finished.
  32. In fact, I’m grateful anytime a friend or family member asks me to make something special for them.
  33. SNOW!
  34. Pinterest!
  35. Even though my kitchen is much too small (hint, hint, Kelly!), I am grateful that I love to cook so it’s not a burden every day.
  36. The ability to taste something in a restaurant and then recreate it in my kitchen.
  37. Tulips because they make me so happy (especially when Whole Foods has them this time of year).
  38. A really good book (I’m nearly finished with The Goldfinch, which may have caused me to stay up way past my bedtime several nights in a row).
  39. Doing the Flat Stanley project for Joe Hackman’s son.
  40. Hosting everyone for Thanksgiving.
  41. My cooking journal because it allows me to go back and see how I’ve progressed throughout the years.
  42. The bicycle desk I made on my stationary bike so I can ride during work meetings.
  43. Working from home.
  44. Not having to drive a car.
  45. No commute.
  46. A publisher who believed in me not once, but twice.
  47. Getting paid to speak.
  48. Running pants and jackets from Lululemon (super comfy AND flattering).
  49. Jack Bauer snuggled up in my lap, as if he weighs only 20 pounds instead of 110.
  50. Nieces piling in bed with me when they visit, and falling asleep to a movie.
  51. Winter clothes: Hats, scarves, boots, sweaters, and mittens.
  52. Skiing (both downhill and cross country).
  53. The weather app on my phone (I LOVE the weather).
  54. Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens (it popped into my head!).
  55. Not having a large pile of dirt in our front yard any longer.
  56. A financial guru, who not only helps me with that side of the business, but has become my best advisor.
  57. An attorney, who is a SOB (which I love because he always sticks up for my company).
  58. Being in charge of my own destiny.
  59. A job that allows me the ability to write every day.
  60. My friends who put up with me at least weekly—Chel Wolverton, Justin Brackett, Kate Nolan, Jason Konopinski, Howie Goldfarb, Kevin Vandever, Ces Guerra, Andy Donovan, Patrick Reyes, Bryan Willmert, Pascale Bishop, Lisa Diomede, Danny Brown, Helen Levinson, John Corrigan, Blair Minton, DJ Waldow, Liz Reusswig, Marcy Mechanic, Neicole Crepeau, and Carlos Cruz. (I’m certain I just shot myself in the foot by listing people because there are many I’ve missed.)
  61. The crazy friends I’ve made out there in the digital world—those I run into at conferences and those I just see on The Facebook or The Twitters.
  62. In fact, I am grateful for The Facebook so I can keep up with so many of you so easily.
  63. Our clients, who allow us to take risk, make them some money, and pay their bills on time.
  64. Those of you who take the time to either write blog posts about this blog or send me private messages about how much it helps you. THAT always makes my day and makes all this hard work worth it.
  65. Everyone who has subjected themselves to the Spin Sucks Inquisition this year.
  66. Every, single guest blogger, who spends time not only creating content for this blog, but engaging with our community.
  67. The Spin Sucks community—every one of you who reads, shares, comments, emails or private messages me…and even those of you who catch my typos and privately point them out.

Nope. Totally didn’t beat it. It’s a little bit harder when you’re not writing one word answers for the things you love. Rather, you’re listing the things you’re grateful for, in honor of Thanksgiving.

Challenge to You

If you blog—or even if you want to post to Google+ or Facebook—Jen and I challenge you to see how many things you are grateful for this year.

Set the timer for 10 minutes and have a go.

No cheating! Ten minutes is all you get.

The idea, of course, is that you have so many things you are grateful for, it’s an easy list to write.

If you’re so inclined, leave the link to your list in the comments here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

photo credit: This is one of my favorite pictures of Mr. D and Jack Bauer. Notice the first generation iPhone and an iPad. Cracks me up!

P.S. Just a reminder there won’t be blog posts on Thursday or Friday this week.

Gini Dietrich

Gini Dietrich is the founder, CEO, and author of Spin Sucks, host of the Spin Sucks podcast, and author of Spin Sucks (the book). She is the creator of the PESO Model© and has crafted a certification for it in collaboration with USC Annenberg. She has run and grown an agency for the past 19 years. She is co-author of Marketing in the Round, co-host of Inside PR, and co-host of The Agency Leadership podcast.

View all posts by Gini Dietrich

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