Friday night grateful list

This has been a most excellent week with my guys. Very peaceful. Very quiet. Daily walks (I missed one especially rainy day, but that's only because I got caught up in my calligraphy and didn't notice it getting dark. I was still planning to go out, however briefly.). Good food. Naps. Netflix. Wii bowling. What's not to love?

The weather was generally quite lovely. Below are my panoramas, from about the same spot in the beach, each day. We also tended to walk all together around sunset, which is a lovely time on the beach--and the tide was out!

This could be one of my favorite places on earth. Top 5, for sure. And to get to chill with the guys, have good talks--I think we solved at least one of the main challenges of the world this week--and dial up another episode of Stranger Things... pretty blissful.

This week I also found myself grateful for:

Great home help while we're away. The house, the dogs, the chickens--they are all in excellent hands. We couldn't do it without that extra set of hands!

Technology. As much as I didn't dial in to work very much--both Alan and I consciously made an effort to disconnect as much as possible--it was good to be able to check on things as needed. 

Graham crackers and milk. All these years later, graham crackers and milk is still THE quintessential snack.

Pens and paper. In spite of all the technology, I still loooooove pens and paper. And making lists. In a moment of silliness, I talked myself into two online challenges: #rockyourhandwriting and #planwithme, both part of the Bullet Journal community. Not sure why I thought doing both would work, but the handwriting one should sort of write itself, right? And the planner one, well, I've been working on making my daily planner really work for me for quite a while, and I thought this would kick it up a notch. Time will tell. Check me out on Instagram if you're curious about the posts, but of course, they'll pop into the top right column every time I post, too.

Bonus people. I have friends who are friends because of we forged a one-to-one relationship--we went to school together, or worked together, or we met sometime in the past. But then there are people I met because of those primary relationships, who have become important in my life--friends of friends who became friends. Those are bonus people. Bonus people are awesome. I had a lengthy online conversation with two such lovely ladies this week that reminded me of all the things we have in common, in spite of very different circumstances. I love (and am grateful for) commonalities.

Seth. What can I say about that young man that I haven't said a thousand times before? He's delightful and so good to both Alan and I, and his relatives from his many families, too. We get to see him a few times this fall, so I'm feeling great about that. And his independence grows with each new experience he tackles, and I'm feeling good about that too. So grateful for this summer, for our time together, and his joyful presence around the house.

Reminders. I love to put myself in the path of good reminders, and part of my #planwithme challenge is going to be even more intentional with reminders that put me in the right space for good work, and a good life. These few reminders have been especially poignant for me lately:

(Stumbling is not falling, in case that's hard to read!)

Wishing you a peaceful and picking-daisies kind of weekend.