Friday Night Grateful Moment

rriving home on a Friday night is wonderful in that it caps off a lovely week--to have the joy of sleeping in my own bed, next to dear husband, warm and safe and loved. That's pretty much the good life, right there. Along the way this week, though, there have been oodles (yes, oodles) of things to be thankful for. You've seen pictures of many of them, but I can't help but reiterate a few...

I'm grateful that Corinne and I had the opportunity to travel to NYC together and see sights that we both enjoy and appreciate. We understand each other rather well, I'd say, having the long view from many years back to the present... Heirloom friend adventures are lovely.

Yes, that's us, circa 1992 or so... crazy to realize how long we've been friends.

I'm grateful we stayed safe, and that when we heard of the foiled terror plot on Wednesday morning, we looked at each other, raised an eyebrow (or two) and kept moving.

I'm grateful that Seth and husband had a good week at home together, taking care of each other. I'm also grateful that communicating and keeping in touch when traveling is easier than it used to be; makes it a lot easier to keep on top of homework and chores and all those other lovely motherly reminders! And I loved getting texts from husband at various times of the day, too.

I'm grateful that places of quiet and calm exist in the midst of the city chaos. (Grand Central Station, for some reason, is always very calming to me, even when it's crowded. And Central Park is pretty fine in that regard as well.)

I'm grateful to recognize my blessings.

I'm grateful for technology--from my bluetooth keyboard for my iPad, to the charging gadget I got at the Apple store, to the Belkin multi-charger husband lent me for the trip. We were never far from our devices, but the gadgets helped us immensely, too.

The technology didn't do all that we expected, in some regards. This made me very grateful for laminated subway maps; sometimes there's just no substitute for pulling out an actual map (and not an app on your phone!) and figuring it out. I need all the help I can get, when navigating from underground!!

I'm grateful for every bite we plotted and planned in the city. We didn't get to every little stop we were dreaming about, but we came darn close. From the pierogis to Per Se (and L'ecole and the CIA in between), it was dreamy. Now to go home and crack the treadmill (not literally. I mean it in a book-cracking kind of way. I hope.)

I'm grateful for the introspection that being away from those dearest brings.

Nothing is better than an urban setting to remind me of the many different kinds of humans that inhabit our country. I'm grateful for the common ties that all humans share, but also for the many things that make us unique from each other.

I'm grateful it's the weekend, and for naps. I anticipate a little sleep catch-up in the next couple of days.

What are you grateful for this weekend? I hope your list is long!

Peace.