Friday, October 25, 2013

Friday night grateful list

I think this sums up all that I would or could say tonight. It's been a long week, with lots of interesting challenges and elusive solutions. This weekend will be a mix of family and friends, a little rest and a little frivolity and a little work--should be just what is needed to rejuvenate and do it all over again next week!

My heart is full, as always, with the love that I am shown daily by my boys and by the grace that is extended to me by my Creator. The beauty of this life, to me, lies in the last line above: ...and love.

May your weekend include love.

Peace.


Friday, October 18, 2013

Friday night grateful moment

I am such a fan of the early sundowns that autumn brings. (On Friday nights, at least.) There is not much I enjoy more than the three of us cozied up for the evening, post-haystacks, chatting and reading. We didn't get on the ball enough to have a fire tonight, but the days when that is a must are just around the corner. Bliss.

I'm so thankful for this season. It's no secret that autumn is my favorite. This year I've been slow to fall (heh heh) in love with it, though; the dark has seemed especially encroaching (how's that for two paragraphs disagreeing with each other?!), and I haven't felt the time or space to really embrace the crisp, the colors, the joy of the season.


I am so grateful for laughter. 

I'm grateful for connections. People, making the effort to reach out to each other in this crazy, self-involved world. Bless you, friends.

Words that come out of the everyday online comings and goings. This week I was reminded:
“As human beings, not only do we seek resolution, but we also feel that we deserve resolution. However, not only do we not deserve resolution, we suffer from resolution. We don’t deserve resolution; we deserve something better than that. We deserve our birthright, which is the middle way, an open state of mind that can relax with paradox and ambiguity.” -Pema Chödrön 
Those last two sentences are ones, for me, to read over and over and over. Very worthwhile to ponder and mull.

The flavors of the season are in full swing. I'm grateful to be able to enjoy salads, still, through the ever-present kale, with pomegranate, pears, endive and of course, nuts and cheese.

And pumpkin. I'm grateful for pumpkin... spice lattes, bread, muffins, the whole bit. Yum. (Yeah for Jen and the fabulous pumpkin delights she gifted me with. Awesome stuff.)

I found this fun video today and had to share it. I'm grateful for creativity and people with energy to put their ideas out there for consumption.

 

I hope you have a great weekend, full of all the things you need to take on another week!

Peace.

Friday, October 11, 2013

Friday night grateful moment

It never fails that when I feel used up and tired and not ready to think about gratitude, that's when it hits me how much I have to be grateful for.

I approached tonight with a bit of a drudgery in spirit. Long week. Good week, but it felt a bit like double the days, jammed into one week.


Then, I opened up Blogger, saw a blank page and knew it couldn't *just* be filled with images and other people's words tonight, that I needed to speak to my gratitude for everything I am blessed to be a part of on this planet.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to parent. I am nearing doneness (or rather, I suppose, Seth is) but there are still windows of conversation in which to influence and correct and be the wise old mom. (Ha.) I have loved being a parent every stage and step along the way, and I expect I will continue to enjoy it through the coming phases too. (Knock on wood, throw salt over your shoulder, whatever brings good luck!)

I got to spend some time in the city with friends Jen and Lisa, and it was lovely. There was food, walking, talking, shopping and more food. I am grateful for friends, near and far, and the ability to catch up on everything from the important and deep to the truly mundane, and share our triumphs and challenges too.

This week I was reminded--well, really, I'm reminded of this every week--that I'm married to a man of character. That makes me glad.

Beauty seems to just seep into everything, this time of year. The colors are so rich and dark, I am tempted to pull out my iPhone and snap photos along the side of the road across pastures and fields, pretty much every day. I took this pic one morning this week:


And I was greeted by very similar skies on the way home too. Bookended by beauty, that day. Grateful.

In spite of--or maybe because of?--my desire to find my own words for the gratitude I feel, words appear around me, all the time, that remind of to stop, pause, be thankful. Just tonight, saw this posted on Facebook: "#BeTheOne who gives without remembering and receives without forgetting." What a great reminder. I think I need that tattooed somewhere.

There seems to be a lot of loss and sadness this time of year; not just this year, but every fall. Maybe it just goes with the territory--everything is decaying in nature, and this season of endings and the one approaching (holidays) bring out the emotion in people. And not just the good forgive-y and loving emotions, either. It reminds to be be a bit more patient with those around me. As well, it prompts me toward gratitude for the health and safety of my immediate family, while praying for health and healing for my extended family too.

 And so. This is my prayer, every day. (Even this bit of art has an autumnal feel, don't you think?)


I hope wherever you are, the weekend holds good things for you.

Peace.


Friday, October 4, 2013

Friday night grateful moment

So much to be grateful for tonight.

It's Friday night. And as I say, quite often, I haven't looked forward to a Friday this much since last Friday! I'm positively giddy with the prospect of sleeping in tomorrow morning.

This week was Seth's birthday, the young man turned 17 and we had a lovely time together. He woke up very happy at the prospect of this milestone. Somehow 17 seemed to him a much bigger deal than 16. I think the car and the job have something to do with it, and he's really stepped up in his overall responsibility level. We're quite proud of him.

Seth and his cousins last Thanksgiving. They've each grown about a foot since then!

I'm grateful for the sunshine, which appeared today and seems to be on tap for the whole weekend. That delights me so very much, as there are some vast swaths of yard that need a bit of tidying before the fall weather tips into winter weather. I can sense the audiobooks being queued up for hours of listening/weeding pleasure!

The garden is winding down. I went out this afternoon and pulled up some pepper plants and harvested a few of the more mature butternut squashes. There's a rumor of frost tonight so I wanted to be a bit prepared. While I miss the burgeoning harvests of August, I am grateful to still have ample kale and a variety of squashes. Sure wish a few more tomatoes would ripen though... that's a bit of a pipe dream, I'm sure.


Anticipating the month of October makes me grateful. For family (visits!) and friends (visits! birthday celebrations!) and the boy (his birthday party too!). I'm looking forward to it all. And after October there's November, with Thanksgiving and our anniversary, and then there's Christmas... you get my drift. Lots of celebrations coming our way, and I will be grateful for each one.

And there's the season itself. Autumn. I have been the usual amount of grumpy (just a little) about the darkness, but in general I am happy happy about the change in the air quality (crisp and sharp, great to breathe in in big gulps as I head out in the morning to work), the change in the light as it filters through the trees, the cloud formations as they move so quickly through, one storm after another ... Autumn is lovely.

I'm also grateful that September is over. I enjoyed the blogging challenge, and am glad that both Jen and I had the stamina to eek it out every day. There were a couple of days when I thought, "Really? Really? Not feeling it. Let's take a break." But in the end, it all worked out, more or less and neither of us had to eat crow, or whatever it was that we agreed the not-blogger would have to suffer if 100% posting wasn't achieved.

I'm grateful for friends who walk their talk. I was shown a beautiful example this week of grace in the face of loss and disappointment, and I was inspired.

And rather than posting the NSFW Pooh quotes that Jen sends me sometimes--they are hilarious, but entirely inappropriate for the blog--I will leave you with this lovely thought:


Wishing you love, joy and tenderness! Yes, sing it.

Peace.


 
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