Joyful Gratitude: October 31

I Am Thankful For:

Making a school lunch for the first time in years
Time with my "baby" sister
Looking at the photos everyone took at the wedding
Lunch with my dad
When the rain stops
Visiting with my mom
A sneak peek at a new project my sister is working on
The grand kid making up new holidays
Lunch with my sister and niece
Stories from the Grand kid
Late night talks
Watching "scary" movies with the grand kid
Homemade soup when I'm feeling yucky
Rainy Saturdays
Poached eggs and toast

Joyful Gratitude: October 24

I Am Thankful For:

Happy curls
New undergarments
Early to bed
Waking up before the sun
Spooky TV for October
Morning bird serenade
Treating my curls to a little TLC
An afternoon with the grand kid
Taco Thursday
Shiny toenails
Family arriving safely
Happy tears
Backup plans
A beautiful bride
A beautiful wedding
Crackers and ginger ale
Dinner with family

Joyful Gratitude: October 17

I Am Thankful For:

Cloudy days
Working on orders
Morning phone calls
Rainy afternoons
Veggie spring rolls
The Man of the House home again
Taco Tuesday the Wednesday
Low point lunch
Apologies
Extra foggy morning
When the grandkid says, "Oma, I can't wait to see you again"
New shirts for the Man of the House
Planning dinners
Rainy mornings

Joyful Gratitude: October 10

I Am Thankful For:

24 pounds GONE
Pinterest
An afternoon thunderstorm
A new month
Seeing and feeling changes
Learning new things
Taco salad
Waking up
Mercies that are new each morning
Front door ready to be painted
Package arrived a day early
Hulu
Driving home at sunset
Cancelled plans
Simple dinners
Finding a dress for wedding
Weather finally feels like fall
Early birthday dinner for The Man of the House
A healthy brunch
Panthers win 3rd in a row

Joyful Gratitude: October 3

I Am Thankful For:

Early mornings before sunrise
Fresh cantalope
Marking things off the To Do list
NOT eating the leftover donuts
Crickets
Podcasts
Change of plans
New front door is installed
Planning ahead
Washi tape
Getting my flu shot
Picking out paint colors
Watching college football
Our favorite teams won
White chicken chili

A Spirit of Gratitude: January 3, 2019

I Am Thankful For:
A trip to the home improvement stores
Folding laundry
Leftovers
Holding hands in the car
The quiet sounds of home
Cloud shrouded mountains
The shape of bare trees against a gray sky
Planning for the new year
Being safe and dry during the flooding
A beautiful sunset
Tim Tams
New items for my Etsy shop
Buying new flooring for the laundry room
A fresh coat of paint
A new soup recipe
Playing Uno with the grand kid
Countdown to the new year
Kissing at midnight

A Spirit of Gratitude: December 27

I Am Thankful For:

Last minute orders
Sugar cookies with frosting
A fat little squirrel outside my window
Christmas shopping done
Doing crafts with the grand kid
The last Christmas order completed
Watching Christmas specials
Watching the cat play with his tail
The Male Offspring's new car
The beginning of Christmas break
Ordering new living room furniture
Afternoon naps
The Man of the House wrapping presents
Family Christmas celebration
Yummy Christmas treats
"A Christmas Story"
Lazy Christmas day

A Spirit of Gratitude: December 20

I Am Thankful For:
Just a little more snow
An extended weekend thanks to the weather
Saving a sparrow
Taco Tuesday
The neighbor's snowman
Listing to melting snow drip off the roof
The cat's extra enthusiastic purring when he gets brushed
Getting out for the first time after the storm
Ordering a medium coffee and they give you a large
Foggy days
Finding an awesome deal
Christmas shopping with the Man of the House
The Male Offspring made dinner
An exciting conclusion to the football game
Watching the Sound of Music

A Spirit of Gratitude: December 13

I Am Thankful For:
Orders - new and shipped
Tea and cookies
Making the Man of the House laugh
Good books
Donuts and coffee
Snow flurries
Getting to drive the Man of the House to the dentist
A wedding date has been set
A good cry
Getting out of the house for a while before the storm
Watching snow fall
Staying up way past my bedtime
The power didn't go out
Light-hearted football trash talk
Hot cocoa with lots of marshmallows

A Spirit of Gratitude: December 6

Last week completely got away from me and it was Friday before I even realized it!  Since I completely missed last week's post - I'm sharing an extra long list of things I have been grateful for over the past two weeks. 

I Am Thankful For:
Finding foods my sick dog will eat
A crazy, exciting Monday night football game
Going to bed at a reasonable time
27 years of marriage
Anniversary cards
Blinking antlers
Family Thanksgiving
The Man of the House cooking the turkey in the smoker
Pumpkin pie for breakfast
Black Friday shopping with the female offspring
Gingerbread house
Spending time with the Grand Kid
Leftovers
A scalp massage
God providing a "new to me" washer when ours died
Cyber Monday
Days that look like winter
Fish and chips
When all the yarn at Hobby Lobby is 30% off
 A good day for shop orders
Treating myself to a coffee
Orange juice
Days when I get a lot done
Hot cocoa with marshmallows
Christmas decorating

What are you thankful for this week?

A Spirit of Gratitude: July 12

Oops, I missed last week's gratitude post!  The Man of the House had a five day weekend thanks to the July 4th holiday.  And while it was wonderful, it completely threw off my days.  Fortunately, I'm back on track this week.

I Am Thankful for:

My beautiful niece who is celebrating her 14th birthday today

Lunch with the Man of the House

Listening to Radio Disney with the grand kid

Benedryl

Yarn scraps

Ice cream cake

The fog lifting before I have to drive

Baby bunny in the back yard

Watching a rain shower at the top of the mountain

When Tuesday is a Friday

That 5 minutes the floor looks clean after a sweep

Bbq ribs

4 bunnies in the back yard!

The sound of distant fireworks

Waking up to a thunderstorm

Grocery shopping with the Man of the House

Going to Hobby Lobby with the female offspring

Breakfast out with my guys

An assortment of birds at the feeder

A Spirit of Gratitude: October 4

I Am Thankful For:

Discovering a deer staring at me from across the yard

A spiderweb glistening in the sun

Apple pie baked by the female offspring

Finding a new doctor I like

Hiking with the Man of the House

A new Fitbit

The family getting together for Sunday football

A Spirit of Gratitude: September 21

It's been a week of contrasts.  A balance of the good with the maybe-not-so-good.  The leaves are starting to change (good) , but the temperatures have felt more like July than September (maybe-not-so-good).  I finished a huge wholesale order (good), which kept me up very late and deprived me of sleep (maybe-not-so-good).  The Male Offspring got a job offer (good), but getting all his paper work completed so he can start has been one challenge after another (maybe not so good).

These are the times when attitude is everything.  You can focus either on the good or the maybe-not-so-good.  Where you decide to direct your focus can affect everything around you.  If you select the good, you will see more and more good.  If you look more at the maybe-not-so-good, you're going to notice a whole lot of maybe-not-so-good.  This can affect your mood, your attitude, your productivity, how you treat others - and more.  

I choose to be intentional about looking at the good.  Which will you choose?

I Am Thankful For:

Dinner and a movie with the Man of the House

The Male Offspring was offered a job

The Panthers win 2 in a row

The grand kid drawing a picture of his uncle

Putting out my autumn home decorations

Silly pets

The first signs of fall color

Finally finishing a huge order

Having the Female Offspring and the grand kid over for dinner

The Male Offspring asking us to watch a movie with him

A Spirit of Gratitude: April 2017

You could have knocked me over with a feather when I looked at the calendar and suddenly realized that next week is May.  April completely got away from me.  I went to visit my sister's family in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, then it was Easter and I kept thinking there was another week or two in April.  But... no.  I need to slow down a bit and take some time to appreciate May!

I Am Thankful For:

My beautiful new pen made by the Man of the House

Road trip with my dad

Visiting the Fort Worth Stockyards

Celebrating my sister's birthday with her for the first time in years

Botanical gardens

The Male Offspring calling me almost every day while I was away
Coming home
A husband who makes me laugh
A quiet Easter Sunday
Rainy days full of crochet

Plenty of coffee
The grandkid registering for kindergarten

30 Days of Gratitude & Thanksgiving: November 16

Today I Am Thankful For:
Playing pretend with the grandkid that he is an elephant
Cardinals at the birdfeeder
Keeping dinner simple
The cat playing like a kitten

30 Days of Gratitude & Thanksgiving: November 14 and 15

I Am Thankful For:
Making (slow) progress
Going to bed early
Reasons to wish my sister lived closer
Receiving this text message:

New recipes to try
Realizing our anniversary is in less than a week

30 Days of Gratitude & Thanksgiving: November 12 and 13

I Am Thankful For:
A successful pre-black Friday promotion
Homemade pecan pie
Watching old "Cheers" episodes with the Man of the House
The perfect hiding spot

Peppermint mocha is back

30 Days of Gratitude & Thanksgiving: November 7 & 8

Today I Am Thankful For:
Sleepy grandkid
Family
New glasses
Peppermint patties
Exercising my right to vote

Dad's surgery went well
Vegetarian chili

30 Days of Gratitude & Thanksgiving: November 6

Today I Am Thankful For:
My house already smells like the holidays

The Man of the House doing some SERIOUS cleaning
My beautiful birthday cake

(made by my talented daughter!)

Panthers win 2 in a row

More birthday surprises

30 Days of Gratitude & Thanksgiving: November 5

Today I Am Thankful For:
Waking up early
Enjoying the pre-dawn quiet with a cup of coffee and my Bible
Lunch with the Man of the House
New ankle boots
The grandkid "making Cpa feel better"

(Little C is the one who is sick, but is petting his C-pa's head to make him feel better)