Gratitude # 33

1. I am grateful for a good batch of turkey soup.
2. I am grateful that I’m clearly producing the best food for my baby as he’s up to 11lbs, 2.7oz.
3. I am grateful that a very good friend will be coming to visit this weekend.
4. I am grateful for cookie season (I need to devise my plan of action and make a list soon).
5. I am grateful that I’ve clearly figured out what means what in baby language.

Share

Gratitude # 32

1. I am grateful for the big pot of turkey soup.
2. I am grateful that the afternoon sky looks so beautiful.
3. I am grateful for the sound of a snoring cat (something about it just amuses me — probably because it’s cuter when a cat snores than when a human snores).
4. I am grateful to have surpassed 500 hits for November (and I really must consult Nicki about her secret to keeping that glorious number).
5. I am grateful to have an outlet for my writing aspirations.

Share

The Possibilities!

In my excitement, I haven’t a clue what to write about. You see, the baby’s napping happily in his swing, the two older kids are quietly playing, and I’ve been itching to write something much more substantial than five or so sentences about what I’m grateful for. We have the Christmas tree up and decorated, we have our fancy stockings put up (they were hand-made and aren’t going to be stuffed by Santa as he’d be too scared to break them), and our Christmas wreathe is now gracing the wall. We will need to get up the stuffing stockings and decorate our front door — we’re going to do the same thing that won us a prize last year.

Today is Tim Tebow’s last home game ever as a Florida Gators quarterback. Sure, he’s going to be a Gator for the rest of his life, but he won’t be playing for us at home anymore. It’s been an interesting four years with him playing on our team, and we’ve returned to the days of glory. He’s been an athelete that I feel sets a good example for children in this age of steroids, dog-fighting, and gun-toting. Seriously, most atheletes these days set a poor example for kids (and don’t even get me started on other types of celebrities). Today, we’re sending him out with one last victory against our rivals, Florida State. I do get quite competitive each year when we face them.

With only five weeks left in 2009 — and the 00s, for that matter — I feel compelled to reflect upon this year. Of course, I will save that for a later date because it’s still November. Hurricane season will be ending, cold fronts will be chilling, and cookies will be baking. I’m looking forward to our first Christmas as a completed family of five.

Share

Gratitude # 31

1. I am grateful that the baby is napping happily in his swing.
2. I am grateful that we’ve had cold weather that permits me to wear my flannel pants to bed and my knee-high socks (they are so comfy!).
3. I am grateful for the turkey carcass that will become soup today.
4. I am grateful to see the Christmas decorations put up.
5. I am grateful to be a Florida Gator — we will send Tim Tebow out with one last victory against FSU!

Share

Gratitude#30: Happy Thanksgiving

Since today is Thanksgiving, I think I’ll list 10 things I’m grateful for today instead of the usual five. We had a fabulous day for our first Thanksgiving as a complete (human) family (because you can’t have a complete family without a dog or guinea pigs or rabbits or… lots of cuddly creatures). Here’s hoping all of you who celebrate Thanksgiving today had a wonderful time!

1. I am grateful for my family.
2. I am grateful that my husband’s first time cooking a turkey resulted in a juicy, delicious meal.
3. I am grateful that Libby’s pumpkin patch in Illinois had trouble this year because I discovered that making pumpkin pie completely from scratch isn’t all that hard.
4. I am grateful that the weather cleared up enough for us to enjoy some sunlight today.
5. I am grateful for all the left-overs we have that will continue to feed us for the next few days.
6. I am grateful that we had such a long stretch of weather that permitted us to keep the a/c off (nearly two weeks it seems).
7. I am grateful that we live in a nice apartment in a convenient location along a bus route.
8. I am grateful for all of my friends. Some are close by, some are far away; some I’ve met, some I only know through this wonderful thing called the Internet. All are special and important.
9. I am grateful that my boss picked me nearly two years ago. I’ve enjoyed working at my job ever since, and it’s so nice to work with family-oriented people. You also can’t beat the free food now and then.
10. I am grateful that I’m alive and well, capable of realizing so many dreams while still being grounded enough to manage the present.

Share

Gratitude # 29

1. I am grateful that these little gratitude posts are easy to do one-handed and get the urge to write handled.
2. I am grateful for pie pumpkins and encouragement from friends — this year, I’m going to bake a pumpkin pie from scratch (even if it’s prompted by a canned pumpkin shortage).
3. I am grateful for the turkey brining in the fridge.
4. I am grateful that we have enough bread in case we don’t have enough bread flour to make egg bread for french toast (I may not be Jewish, but I can definitely appreciate challah).
5. I am grateful that we found the last boxes of Christmas decorations and gift wrapping items. (It was right in front the whole time!)

I plan to share a picture of the baby at some point, but I don’t seem to get quality two-handed time. He likes to monopolize it, and I tend to be too happy to oblige his cute little bobble-head. They say you can’t spoil a baby — although you can get into habits that will indeed spoil a toddler. 😉

Share

Gratitude # 28

1. I am grateful for the discovery that my husband can bake — he made shortbread cookies last night, and they were excellent.
2. I am grateful that soon I will be able to walk off all these extra holiday calories.
3. I am grateful to have extras to donate to good causes (giving feels just as warm and toasty as getting).
4. I am grateful to see that the baby’s infant acne cleared up (poor thing looked like he jumped right into puberty for a bit there).
5. I am grateful for a luscious nature preserve as a “backyard” (it’s not really a backyard when you’re one the second floor of an apartment, but it’s close enough).

Share

Gratitude # 27

1. I am grateful for the rain this morning. There’s something so relaxing about sleeping during the rain.
2. I am grateful that last night’s batch of brownies baked perfectly — even the edge pieces were great (mine usually get burnt).
3. I am grateful that there was just enough vanilla ice cream left for a caffé affogato.
4. I am grateful that this month’s site statistics could possibly break 500.
5. I am grateful that I’ve netted some regular readers (and awesome readers at that).

Share

Time to make a motivation board

I would really like to work on a motivation poster this coming week. It’s something I’ve been meaning to do for a while but just haven’t gotten around to yet. I have a lot of hopes and dreams that I’d like to work towards, and I now have an additional reason to continue forging forward with those hopes and dreams. I really want to enjoy my days picking apples with the kids in fall. I want to build snowmen with them on wintry days. I want to have picnics under our very own cherry blossom trees in the spring. I want to have barbeques and enjoy watermelon in the summer. I want to someday lounge on my patio while writing my next great work. I want to spend as much time as possible watching my kids grow up instead of rushing through my days just to spend a few exhausted hours with them. I want to make these wrinkles and grays worthwhile. I want to have a place that belongs to me — a place where I can grow roots and say sayonara to packing and moving. I will press onward toward these dreams.

Share

Gratitude # 26

1. I am grateful for the personal advice I received from Brenda Della Casa (see my blog roll to read her blog).
2. I am grateful for every precious moment I have with my baby.
3. I am grateful that we haven’t needed to turn on the cool or warm air for several days (take that, GRU!).
4. I am grateful that we will be enjoying a Thanksgiving feast again this coming week.
5. I am grateful that there’s still time to adjust to life and soak it all in.

Share