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 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 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 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.

Sept. 30: Favorite photo

Blogging challenge for today: Show a favorite photo. Why do you love it?

I have a lot of "favorite" pictures, but this one is probably the *most* favorite. Today, anyway. It's Seth's birthday eve, and I'm waxing a bit nostalgic for the little lad of yesteryear. Only sort of, though, as he's such a wonderful very-soon-to-be 17-year-old...

The picture above means so much as it depicts the two people I love most on earth, and to me tells a little story of their relationship, and the love between them. It makes a mom's heart happy.

Jen and I (and now my mom and Lisa too!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.

Sept. 29: Celebrity Sher!

Today's blogging challenge: If you were ever to become famous, what would it be for?

Well, it's rather an oxymoron but here it is: If I were ever to become famous, I would want it to be for writing. Writing poetry, to be specific.

And how many famous poets do you know? (You can stop laughing now.) I suppose, in their own circles, there are levels of celebrity, but in a more global way, it's pretty much not what makes someone famous.

But if there were a way to somehow become famous for writing poetry, I'd take it. There's only one caveat--even I'm laughing now--and that's the fact that I am not fond of the idea of doing readings. I would like people to read my poems to themselves and be happy, or moved, or whatever. But, maybe I could hire a professional reader to go out and read for me...? Yeah, that's not happening.

So, I guess that's pretty much the final nail in the never-going-to-be-famous coffin. Sigh. And here I was already packing for the Today show. Ha.

What would you like to be famous for?

Jen and I are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. We're almost done. Are you excited for us?! I think we are!

Sept. 28: Friendship

For today's blogging challenge: Tell us the things you appreciate about your closest friends.

What I appreciate about my friends is the ability to be real and true to myself and know that I am loved, period.

That sentence pretty much covers it.

Sure, there are lunches and coffees, walks and shopping jaunts. We laugh a lot, and on occasion there have been tears.

I have friends that I'm quite different from, in lifestyle and personality. And I have friends that are very similar to me, as well. I have friends who have known me since I was a youngster, and friends who only know me as the Mrs. I am now.

But the acceptance and affection is universal. And without it my life would be so much less.

Thank you, friends, for your love. You know who you are. ;)

What do you appreciate about your closest friends? 

Jen and I (and now my mom and Lisa too!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.

Sept. 27: Life-changing moment of gratitude

Today's blogging challenge: Describe a distinct moment when your life took a turn.

There are quite a few of these I could write about, but when I sat down and and thought about it, picking THE ONE to share is pretty easy. (Take a look at Jen's. Mine is similar, minus the screaming and slamming of phones.)

Approaching the holidays, 2003... It had been a rough year. If you know me at all, you know why. I was catering up a storm with holiday parties and personal cheffing, and really, finally, starting to hit my stride with being a single parent and running a business. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the catering kitchen, was looking forward to a little chill time at the holidays--with Seth on Christmas Eve, and then spending the following day with friends.

It was Dec. 18--the day my niece Lucy was born--and I remember the day quite vividly. I had a lunch to cater at my previous place of employment. They were a good client and I often cooked for their management group, in addition to the lunches and personal chef dinners I dropped off.

I went in and was setting up and one of the managers came and was chatting with me. Then husband (obviously not husband then!) came in and we started talking too. This is someone I had worked with for 11 years and knew fairly well. But something that day was different. I don't know what or why, but it was very palpable. To me, at least. I left thinking, "Huh. Well. Huh," and pondered it for some time, into the middle of the night.

Fast forward to the next week, and Christmas Eve. I was running around the kitchen like a crazy lady, putting together lunches and dinners for final deliveries before the holiday. I looked up, and there he was, at the door. He brought back a ramekin I'd left at the building from lunch the week previous. I walked outside with him and we chatted for a couple of minutes. He said he'd heard I didn't have Seth for Christmas and he wanted to make sure I was okay. My heart melted. Seriously. Even writing it now, my heart swells up with how kind and considerate he was and is. I assured him that I had Seth that night for our Christmas, and would be okay. And then we hugged goodbye. What? Huh? I know, right?! It just happened. A first for us, definitely.

I went back into the kitchen and the girl who was working for me at the time said, "You know, he likes you." (It felt very high school.) I said, "You think? I don't know." But I knew. :)

And from there it began. Ever so slowly. So very slowly. As only a bachelor and a recently-divorced girl can progress. And here we are, almost 10 years later, with our own happy ending.

When I think back on that week, I am so grateful for a moment when I noticed something was different. I'm grateful that what I felt in that room was obviously felt by him too, and that he took the risk to come find me.

What's your distinct moment, when your life took a turn?

Jen and I (and now my mom and Lisa too!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.

Sept. 26: I would die without...

Blogging challenge for today: What items to you just simply never leave home without?

This is a pretty simple challenge.

Though, if you were to ask Seth, he'd say it seems rather complicated--if you count the number of times I have gotten part way down the driveway or road near our home, and turned around to go back for the following:
*Phone.
*Wedding ring/watch.
*Security fob for the office.

Those are the things that I most often leave the house without, absent-mindedly, only to turn back. But if I were to ever be minus:
*Clothing (it's never happened, but it seems like something to be mentioned anyway...).
*My purse/wallet.
That would be a bad thing. :)

And then there are the things I just really like to have on my person:
*Lipstick/balm/gloss.
*iPad.
*Extra hair thingys--rubber bands or clips or such. Just in case there's a hair catastrophe, don't you know.

I probably won't turn the car around for the last couple... well, OK, I have. Just depends on how late I am zooming into town.

What do you absolutely have to have with you when you leave the house?

Jen and I (and now my mom and Lisa too (sort of)!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.

Sept. 25: Fall soups!

Yesterday I had my first cup of butternut squash soup (with coconut milk!) of the season. It was delightful. The night before, I made potato-white bean soup, with red potatoes from our garden, which is also quite lovely. The weather has turned so quickly, and the darkness at both ends of the day is creeping in without regard for my love of light and sunshine. But, it is fall, and my love for autumn weather is well noted, so I'll just zip it (my mouth!) and keep making soups.

Here are a couple more that I am looking to make very soon:

chili

minestrone

Don't those soups just shout out, "Fall!"? I think so.

Besides soups, I am also looking forward to roasting vegetables more--the root ones and brussels sprouts especially--and enjoying pomegranates and various citrus fruits too. (Trying to look on the bright side, as I am already mourning the fresh fruit, berries and waning tomato crop... sigh.)

What autumn food are you looking forward to making? Do soups make your list?

Jen and I (and now my mom and Lisa too!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.