Friday night grateful moment

 How quickly the week has flown... I wish I could say that blogging (or the lack thereof) has been weighing on my mind, but alas, right now, it has not. I have thoughts and ideas about blogging, and on the weekend I actually cook (shocking!), but thankfully don't feel guilty about the lack of time to get it all down onto "paper." That time will come again... but I will not abandon Friday night!

I'm grateful this week that my family is safe--from my aunt who is in flooded Calgary, Alberta, but able to stay in her home without evacuating (so far); to my parents on their gallivant around Europe; to my brother and family in sunny California; to my beloved in-laws across the pasture. All safe and accounted for. This is not to be taken for granted, indeed.

Seth's home.

My husband bought me a flower. In spite of my dismal track record with orchids, I came home to a beautiful specimen this afternoon, and his thoughtfulness touched me.

Last weekend I spent a little too long in the sun/yard. Not in an overt, holy-cow-she's-sunburned kind of way, but just in a worn out, bedraggled fashion... I got really into it, and as much as it makes me smile when I think of my childhood yard-avoidance issues, I really love getting things ticked off the list. And, once you're hot and dirty, you might as well stay hot and dirty, right?! I am grateful for a fairy quick recovery during the week, and no lingering sun effects.

The rain came in and took over after the sunshine of the weekend. Odd to have rain to this extent in June... but rain it did, and plenty of it. The poor wheat has those trampled marks like a big giant has been stomping around in the field. I hope with some sun and less rain, it will stand upright again, but who knows. We went to bed in the rain, woke up in the rain, and looked out windows at rain during the day. It was weird, but refreshing.

I'm thankful for music. I had some fun in iTunes last weekend, getting ready for my big yard day. Music, podcasts and audiobooks always make my hours outside fly by. Straight No Chaser has a new album and I really enjoyed listening to most of it (got a little acapella fatigued by the last few songs...) as I bopped around the yard on the mower.

I'm especially thankful tonight for laughter. For the ability to see the humor, even in sometimes less-funny situations. It's a sign of my adoration for Jimmy Fallon that I find this video so very amusing, even though it has Brad Pitt (who I am somehow less fond of) in it. Who thinks this stuff up?!



I'm also thankful for tears. Tears are so, so good, sometimes. Like a mental clearing away of cobwebs. I'm not one of those chronic criers, by any means (a la Holly Hunter in Broadcast News), but every once in awhile... even an ad can set me off.

So this:



Can turn me into this:

I'm grateful that it's summer, and that these long days of light will go on for awhile longer. Since we are just solstice-ing now, it will start to tip back toward shorter days, sadly. But at least it takes awhile, and we can have beautiful sunsets and early sunrises and evenings by the firepit between now and the 4 p.m. darkness of winter. Love this time of year!

And I am grateful for all the usuals: the colors of summer, the flavors of summer, the sounds of summer. The birds are having a heyday in the twilight outside our open slider windows, and I love hearing them!

I'm ever-so-grateful it's the weekend. Sleep. Bliss.

My friends make me grateful; for their laughter and love and sharing, I am glad.

Wishing you a peaceful weekend.