Gratituesday

I'm not inclined to write huge prose about my gratitude this week. There's not necessarily an overarching theme or common thread to pull it all together other than I happen to be grateful about a bunch of random things (ok, about mostly everything ...), so I will save you the forced narrative and we'll do a snippet version today.

(Ooooooh, and I have to number things. It's one part former policy debater and one part current minor OCD-er)

1. My baby brother got himself a job this week. That's no small feat in this state these days with our double digit unemployment rates. It's pretty good paying for his experience, and I don't think he hates it, a bonus.

2. We had a full house over the weekend, which I love. We got to hang out, relax, be crafty, cook yummy food, and laugh hysterically (remember the late night cake run excursion?).

3. The weather was actually pretty ok ... warming up a little during the day, letting the sun peek out from behind the massive gray grossness that has been smothering us for months. Sunny weather always makes me inherently more grateful. It's not that I'm not grateful on overcast days, simply that the conscious act is culled to the front of my brain by warm sunny weather.

4. There was cake. And pie. And ice cream. And pita. All reasons to be praiseful regardless of the rest of your life.

5. The adorable Be was exceptionally adorable this week. I like it when he takes the time to remind me why I like him in the first place. Haha. Those of you in the 'we have been together 100 (ok, 8 ...) years' club can relate, no?

6. The house is cleaner than it was on Friday. This is always a good thing.

7. I got to spend some absolutely blissful time alone in my house this afternoon. Seriously, I have not had the house all to myself in ages ... months at least. I enjoy even a few hours of time to clean, deal with clutter, prepare food, tidy the office (read: write blogs and waste time on the internet), and just relish the super quiet of our home. It's one of those 'Aaaahhhhhh' moments.

8. I found a number of great reads online this week. A couple helped me with some crafty things I've been trying to figure out. Another, a blog about conversion stories, spoke to my heart. How great is the internet? I. Love. It.

9. We have an abundance of produce in our house this week. This doesn't happen in the winter months here ... um, ever. I will enjoy the bounty of broccoli and bell peppers more because of that.

...

Of course, before I could get to 10, I came to the realization that my house has grown quiet again. This means only one thing ... everyone scampered off to bed (because I'm really writing on what most people consider Monday night). This brings another thought ... I bet the 2 that ate dinner at 1130 left it out for me to put away. Ugh. Moments of inconsideration make it difficult for me to be perfectly grateful. Now, to close my eyes for a moment and let the warm fuzzy feelings of living and loving that which we are most grateful for erase the beginning to bubble irritation about what I'm likely to find in the kitchen only moments from now ...

...

...

... still trying ...

...

... come on, guy, be still my heart.



Simply,

Em.