Friday night grateful moment

Long week, but a quick one. Does that make sense? A little of the "not enough time in the day" with a pinch of "too much to do" and some "lack of focus" (some days) thrown in, and voila! You have a long, quick week!

But still so much to be grateful for:

*Thankful for girlfriends who come to lunch and leave two, maybe three hours later. Good conversation, good understanding, good support. Ahhh. And picking cherries off the tree for dessert? That's either lazy on the hostess' part (me!) or just life on the farm...



*Grateful for the cherry trees and the seemingly never-ending gifts at the moment. Had a "must" moment for cherry cobbler this afternoon, couldn't immediately place my cherry pitter and searched a couple local "marts" for one... no luck. Came home in sadness, one last look through the endless utensil/gadget drawer and there it was. Cobber currently in the oven... oh, it's out now! Ready for a little ice cream...




*So grateful for a husband who brings me flowers when I get a ticket. Shouldn't I be the one getting him flowers? Just the doltiest moment speeding through town... I have been SO GOOD lately, it was just perfect justice to get caught. Would have been just about par for the week if I'd been on the phone with Corinne, my usual in-car-chat pal... thankfully I was not!

*Thankful for an independent young man who did great at his first sleep-over basketball camp, despite some less than ideal circumstances. We're all looking forward to his return home next week... then off for some fun family vacation time!

*Thankful that the weather has been so beautiful to work in the yard. Not heavy and hot, just warm and lovely... until this morning when the rain helped me decide that, in balance, the house needed me more than the yard. Too true. I've always said it's either one or the other, and a rare day that both feel under control. With my grubby shoes wandering through from the yard, it was about time to take a layer off the wood floors! Everything feels happily scrubbed for the weekend now!

*Both husband and I are worn and ready for rest. I'm so thankful to be at Friday night, with a day of rest ahead. Peace. Shalom.

*Thankful that my muscles haven't gotten too out of whack with all the crazy lifting and rototilling and digging I've been doing. Maybe in my old age I'm actually getting wiser about what I bite off? Hmmm, not so sure about that. Maybe just a touch more careful...

*Grateful for inspiration, wherever it comes from... bloggers I follow, food or otherwise, creative and innovative ideas and people. Things to think about, cogitate, ponder... In searching for some old files in husband's home office this week I came across a couple of quotes I'd calligraphied a couple of years back and completely forgotten about. One of them was: Do not pray for easy lives, pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers, pray for powers equal to your tasks. --Philip Brooks. Seemed somehow appropriate for this time in the world.

*Grateful for optimism. I heard a report last week that Americans are more optimistic than Europeans about finding a way out of this global economic situation... I thought, well, that's about right. Optimism is a good thing, in moderation. Optimism has a lot to do with what has made America a great place, and it can help get us out of this mess as well (even if a little cockeyed version of it seems to have helped get us here to start with). A little saying about boot straps, right? I need to find mine, I think I have them packed away here somewhere...

*Thankful for the puppies and all their cheer. It's never a bad day in dog land. They come, they sniff, they love. Some try to chew, of course. I talk to them while striding around the yard--they hear quite a few opinions from me, some days! But they are wonderful companions, even the chewy one. If you ever need to feel like someone's listening, go talk to a dog. They really know how to listen. My appreciation for them has grown considerably over the years.

Happy weekend!