Friday, February 3, 2012

Friday night grateful moment

Fly, little week, fly!

This week was a quick one, for sure. No sitting around wondering if we're at Thursday and it's only Wednesday... zoom zoom.

And here we are at Friday night. What what what to be grateful for? Hmmm. So much, but where to start?

Maybe it's because of the foggy day, or the time of year, but color is something that I am particularly grateful for right now. I culled a few of my more memorably colorful Pins of late, to share with you. I have interspersed them throughout my grateful list, just for kicks. I know, hang onto your hats, it's a wild night!


what fun to make these crochet balls

I'm grateful for my brain. I thought of this a number of times this week--especially when I completely spaced the name of someone I know well enough, as she was walking toward me. It was right there, right at the tip of my tongue, and I could not recall it. So that might make you think I should not be grateful for the current state of my brain, but the truth is, if that happens to me I know that my brain is full-up with other stuff. Which it currently is. All kinds of stuff like data fields and organizational structures and lists and print outs and schedules. So names of people I see every few months? Not so much. Thankfully I covered, well enough, I hope.

 I'd love this chair anywhere in my house!

Emotional resilience is something I'm thankful to have a helping of. There have been varying opinions on my resilience; I've been told I'm extremely resilient, I've been told I'm somewhat resilient, and I've been told I'm not even remotely resilient. All at different times in my life, by different people. Maybe I was those things, at that time. What I know at this moment is that I am resilient. I bounce back. Depending on the situation, it might take me a minute or two (or three), but I'll get there. I will usually find a way to look on the bright side, and barring any bright side at all, I will pragmatically slog through to a way to deal with whatever is in my path. With an understanding (faith) that allows me to believe in a bigger picture beyond my little circumstances on this particular day.


 salad that makes me dream of summer...

The above leads me to list faith as something I'm grateful for. Seth and I talk about faith quite a bit, usually in the evening, as we are having our winding down conversations before bed. I've shared my path, somewhat in generalities, in other ways quite specifically, and this last week I told him more concretely what my path back to faith looked like. I've thought about writing it here, but as it is intensely personal, I am reluctant and shy. Reading the multi-post story by hollywood housewife last weekend really made me think about it more seriously--at least writing it down for myself, and then shoring up the courage to share. We'll see.

  rainbow pompoms across my ceiling, yes please!

I'm so so grateful for sunny days. Today was not one of those, it was foggy and cold and everything the groundhog foretold. But yesterday, the day of the shadows, the sunshine was fierce. I am not yet back in the habit of having sunglasses with me at all times, so my squinting was a bit intense, but I would not complain, no way. I have great doubts about six more weeks of anything resembling winter, and am hopeful that more sun is on the way!


adorable dotty boots

My men. I am grateful for husband and his appreciation, affection and our laughter together. I will admit that sometimes I say some pretty crazy things, just to get him to laugh. But it's totally worth it! I am also grateful for my teenager, even though there are times lately I think I might be going a little nuts with some of his arguments and reasoning. Thankfully, his sweetness and affection still comes through.

My sourdough starter did what it was supposed to do, and I'm grateful it worked. I suppose I might be stepping out too quickly as I haven't actually used it yet, but it behaved as the recipe said it was supposed to, and now it awaits whatever concoction I choose to create this weekend. I've read that it takes a while to get really sourdoughy, so I'll be patient for those baguettes I adore...

 

I'm grateful to live in a community. I have only lived briefly in an urban environment, and while I imagine that there would be things to enjoy and appreciate in that setting, I am quite happy in a smaller community where--having been here now 25+ years--I can see friends and acquaintances quite readily. I have some friends that do not enjoy that particular aspect of small town life, but for me, it makes the flip side--imagining (or just plain knowing) that everyone knows your business--more palatable.

  let's take rainbow cake to the next level!

Living in a beautiful community is wonderful too. I'm grateful we have hills (with snow!) to look out on, and that the storms that come up the valley or over the mountains are interesting to watch, and also that the horizon off to the west provides us with beautiful sunsets on many evenings. We have had some amazing sunsets this winter!

I'm grateful for sleep, and for the promise of extra sleep over the weekend. I feel like I've been on the short end of the sleep stick for a few weeks now, so looking to fix that with some sweet snoozes.


colorful dress, what joy!

I'm grateful for friends, near and far. The variety of ways we keep in touch, whether it's frequent or infrequent, never fail to make my day better. I had a friend leave me a voice message recently that laughingly said my day job was cutting into her ability to call and have me pick up any old time, which is true! So seeing friends and communicating is a bit different at the moment, but very worth my time and energy.

 talk about a wake-me-up shower: rainbow tile!

makes me want to knit!

I really tried not to make it too rainbow oriented, really, I did. But oh those tones, they do speak to me...

For me, the weekend will involve sleep, reading, quiet time/prayer/meditation, cooking/baking, naps (separate from sleep, of course), eating of the cooking/baking, maybe even a little exercise, some office cleaning/organization, bill paying, more naps, a little football (if it gets interesting), movie night with husband, possibly some craft time (especially if the football doesn't get interesting)... all very precious to me, this time and space of the weekend.

I hope your weekend involves all the things you hope for. Peace.

4 comments:

  1. First of all, where did that dress come from? Pinterest? There is my dress.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love your rainbow photos...so cheerful. This time of the year in particular, the colours warm our hearts.

    You were born resilient. Let me at the one who says you are not and I will tell them stories until they cry 'uncle'!!

    May your weekend be as quiet and peaceful and relaxing as you desire.

    Last night I was very thankful for my body/health/physicality...now you ask, why that? Well, I was very aware of every part of my body because it was crying out for rest! But I did realize that that very strong awareness came only because I was able to use myself up completely yesterday! And hallelujah for that!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a feast of colour! Such cool stuff. Is there a recipe for that salad? Looks like a delicious work of art.

    We are living in a disaster zone this weekend... except for my new office and out new pantry, the rest of the place has been compromised for the office switch over. This too will pass.

    Moving electronics is always risky business for me... and I didn't mark any of the connections, so there was some guesswork to get it all hooked up again. But we did it. We bought a 50-foot coaxial cable and connector for the TV on my desk... and I had to spend some ugly time crawling around under the house to bring the wires in where needed. So it was pure delight to see things actually work again.

    ReplyDelete
  4. That dress! Those little balls! Those slippers! Those pompoms! I want!

    I've been trying to talk to Gracie about faith and spirituality, but my mom got to her first (so to speak), and our aproach to everything spiritual is so different... my mom believes in God as being a white-bearded man floating on a cloud and shooting lightning, and she believes in angels and spirits, etc. She believes in heaven and hell and good and bad and virtue and sin.

    I'm more open about those things, and I believe faith and spirit has to come from a place deep inside, not necessarily from looking "up". I have my own ideas about God and everything else, and I was hoping I could introduce Gracie to the idea of being open to whatever HER OWN ideas of God might be, as well, so she could really *feel* her faith as opposed to finding it based on a path that someone else set for her.

    It's been a little frustrating, a little heartbreaking. I'm hoping I can get her to see it's not all cut and dry as time passes. I don't know. I just want it to come naturally for her- it took me so long to feel "at peace" with my beliefs (and I'm still working on it) and I just want Gracie to know that she *doesn't* have to be Catholic- it's not a sin for her if she doesn't follow a specific belief system.

    Sorry for all this rambling- the bit about you and Seth talking about faith made me happy. And it reminded me to dive back into that conversation with Grace, and keep at it, even though it gets rough at times. Nothing like debating God with a six year old! ;)

    ReplyDelete

 
Blogger Template By Designer Blogs