November Gratitude Challenge

 November is right around the corner.  The month when those of us in the US celebrate thanksgiving.  If you've been reading my blog for any amount of time, you've probably picked up on the fact that I am big on gratitude and being thankful for the little things.  Not just for one holiday in November, but every single day of the year.

That's why I've decided to cultivate a mindset of gratitude for thirty days by doing a November Gratitude Challenge.  I would love to have each of you join in!

 

It's easy - just name at least three things that you are thankful for each day.  You can post them on your blog, or your social media.  You could even take pictures of them and post them on your Instagram feed if that's your thing.  The only rule is that they have to be three new things each day.  No repeats.  No skipped days. 

Just come back here each day and post a link to your list (or tell us what your three things are) in the comments.

Are you up for the challenge?

Thankful Thursday: October 29, 2020

 

I An Thankful For:

Bright Autumn days

Time to read

Sleep

Pretty nail polish

The pup sleeping on the Male Offspring's shoulder

A day spent taking care of me

Playing math games with  the grandkid

Pretty new eye shadow palette

Talking with the Male Offspring

Feeling pretty 

Early voting

Hearing an owl

Brief rain showers

Dessert smoothie

Flu shots

Costume planning

A sweet treat

Misty rain

The grandkid's laughter

I Did What I Could

Since my birthday is Sunday - today seemed like a good time to review my 15 before 51 list from last year.  The whole Covid-19 thing put quite a damper on my plans.  Despite being mostly in isolation for 7 of the last 12 months, I did manage to mark a few items off the list. 

1. Reach my goal weight:  I did a whole lot of stress eating especially in the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic and I'm afraid my weight tipped in the wrong direction as a result  Boo!!
   
2. Get into an exercise routine.  I would like to blame this one on the pandemic, but it's no fault but my own.
3. Attend a crochet group
4. Learn how to make Key Lime pie (one of my favorite desserts) from scratch  I did find a simple recipe for Key Lime pie on Pinterest.  It was easy to make and the result was a creamy, delicious pie.  I would like to keep working on this skill until I get to a point where I can make the perfect Key Lime pie.  But I'm not disappointed by my efforts so far. 
5.  Read these 5 classic novels
•  The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
• Watership Down
• The Secret Garden 
• The Count of Monte Cristo
• The Picture of Dorian Gray
6. Attend a play
7. Take a class I did a few online learning webinars from the local community colleges Small Business Center.  And I was gifted a year to MasterClass, which I forgot about until recently - but now I have access to many learning opportunities through that membership. 
8. Road trip!   We managed a couple of road trips before Coronamaggedon shut everything down in March.  In November, The Man of the House and I drove to Cleveland for a football game.  And in February we made the trip to Memphis for a weekend.
9. Eat meatless meals one day per week It hasn't been every single week, but most weeks I tried to plan at least one meatless meal.  One of my favorites is a vegetarian taco salad made with a seasoned mix of black, kidney, and pinto beans.
10. Start a sketchbook.  I'm not singing from the rooftops about this accomplishment, but I did start a few little sketches and doodlings in a sketchbook this year.  
11. Go on a spontaneous weekend away with the Man of the House.  It wasn't exactly "spontaneous", since going anywhere takes a bit of consideration and planning these days - but we did rent a cottage at the lake and got away for a long weekend back in July. 
12. Get a family photo with the kids and grandkid
13. Go to a movie by myself
14. Donate blood at least 3 times this year
15. Crochet something for charity

Sunday Inspiration: Our Thoughts

 

Thankful Thursday: October 22, 2020

 

I Am Thankful For:

Good appointments at the Vet

Sleepy little boy

The ability to easily wash laundry

Etsy orders upon orders

Learning new crochet skills

Starry skies

School days

So many hats!

Socially distanced lunch outside with my dad

Puppies snuggled up together

Silly bee wing headband

Afternoons with the grandkid

"Not a cloud in the sky" kind of day

Decongestants

Lazy college football watching afternoons

Cute little tiger hats

The Male Offspring fixing dinner

Going to bed at a reasonable time

Sunday Inspiration: Remember

 

Thankful Thursday: October 15, 2020

 

I Am Thankful For:

Warm Autumn afternoons

October sunshine

Walking through fallen leaves

Clean laundry

A lap full of puppies

New books to read

Rainy day sunsets

Quiet Sunday Mornings

Lamentations 3: 22-23

The fly that gave us all a good laugh

Relaxed birthday dinners

Banana pudding

A quiet house

Morning coffee

My beautiful daughter

French toast and strawberries

Time with my family

Sunday Inspiration: Agree to Disagree

 

Thankful Thursday: The Man of the House Edition

Today the Man of the House celebrates another birthday.  Since this coincides with Thankful Thursday, I thought I would dedicate today's post to him and share many of the things I am thankful for about him.

I Am Thankful For:

His kindness

His generosity 

His integrity

His work ethic

His sense of humor

His tenderness

His strength

The way he supports and encourages me

His mad DIY skills

His intelligence

His loyalty

The way he kisses me

His laugh

His smile

When he tells me I'm pretty

His love for football and the Cleveland Browns

He tolerates my moods

His curiosity

He's nice to my family

He's a great dad

And a great grandfather

And husband

Sunday Inspiration: October

 

Currently... October, 2020

 Welcome, October!  

This is the birth month of one of my very favorite people ever.  (hint:  it's the Man of the House).  That means it would automatically get a big thumbs up from me.  But, I adore October for so many reasons.  Football season is in full swing.  Pumpkins are everywhere. It (usually) starts to really feel like fall - which means I get to start wearing sweaters and boots without feeling as if I'm going to melt into a puddle by lunchtime.  Around here, the best part of the autumn leaf season usually occurs in October. 

There is just so much to enjoy about this month!

Working On:  Prioritizing tasks.  I am doing pretty well with getting myself back into the habit of setting monthly and weekly goals and planning my weeks. (Something I seriously let slide during the first several months of the whole pandemic thing) But I need to do a better job of prioritizing each of my tasks so that Important things get accomplished on time.

Reading:  The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes  and  Living With Intent by Mallika Chopra

I've never read any of Jojo Moyes' other popular works such as Me Before You.  But I am thoroughly enjoying this tale of a British girl who hastily marries an American boy and moves to a small Kentucky mining town where she joins a group of women delivering books as part of Eleanor Roosevelt's new Pack Horse Library Project.

Celebrating:  As I mentioned above, the Man of the House has a birthday this month.  Our daughter and her husband also celebrate their first anniversary.  Hard to believe that an entire year has passed since the wedding!

Loving:  This month!  (see above)   Also my two little doggies.  Yep - two!  We have been talking about getting a "brother" for Max.  A companion and playmate.  Last weekend we drove to an animal rescue in South Carolina and adopted a Chiweenie.  We have named him Ziggy and so far he is fitting right into our family.  It's adorable to see the two of them playing and wrestling.  And Ziggy is a sweetheart who loves to cuddle in my lap.

Wanting/Needing:  I need some book suggestions.  I welcome any reading recommendations, but specifically I am looking for a good daily devotional or two (or three, or four) as well as suggestions for good books about intentional living and mindfulness. 

Dreaming About:  Fun birthday celebrations.  For the Man of the House this month and for myself on November  1st. 

October Goals:

• Get back onto Weight Watchers program
• Schedule a "self care' day once a week
• Select a crochet project that isn't for the Etsy shop
• Create November blog schedule
• Create graphics for November blog posts
• Create and schedule Sunday Inspiration posts for blog
• Create 5 new listings for Etsy shop
• Write at least 3 posts for the shop blog
• Plan for "Before Black Friday" sale 

What will your October look like?

Thankful Thursday: The First of October

 

I Am Thankful For:

Puppy Sweatshirts

Grace

Conquering my To-Do list

Chicken salad

Open windows

Hot tea and cough drops

Happy Customers

New library books

Dessert

Soft, hydrated hair

Gumbo

Reading

New puppy

Joyfulness

Autumn leaves

Exciting football games

Sunny days

The puppies getting to know eachother

Five Lessons I've Learned During The Pandemic

This year has been one heck of a wild ride, hasn't it?  And it's not even over yet!  Who knows what the next three months may bring our way.  

It would be quite a shame to have gone through everything that 2020 has piled on our plates without learning a few lessons along the way.  I've learned some things about things about myself, about others, about life, and about the world at large.  Here are just a few:

1)  Plans are ALWAYS tentative

Maybe you're familiar with the Yiddish Proverb "We plan, God laughs".  In my opinion, that may be the Number One lesson we should take away from this year.  It certainly is for me.  

I recall sitting in a restaurant in Memphis,  Tennessee eating brunch with the Man of the House.  We were making plans to start taking more road trips.  Nothing too far away.  Destinations a few hours drive from our home where we could take a long weekend away once a month or at least every other month. 

This was in late February.  Just as Covid was about to really take things up a notch here in the United States.  Needless to say - those plans didn't last very long since shortly after that trip to Memphis,  the whole quarantine/self isolation portion of our year began. 

Last year, we had also decided that we were going to set a goal to attend a football game at quieteevery NFL stadium over the next several years.  This year we intended to visit the stadiums in New Orleans and either Atlanta or Nashville.   Nope.

2020 keeps reminding me of Proverbs 19:21.

Picture Credit:  YouVersion Bible App

2)  I am much more of a stress eater than I would have thought.

It's true.  I pretty much covered all my stress and anxiety about coronavirus under a thick layer of junk food for much of the Spring and Summer.  Because... comfort food.  Am I right?  I'm sorry to say that this has resulted in regaining much of the weight that I took off last year.  BOO!

3)  I am more of a home-body than I realized.  

I knew I didn't mind being at home for days on end.  But the more comfortable I have become with delivery services and curbside pick-up, the less I feel like I need to go into an actual store to interact with actual people.  

I'm not saying that's a good thing.  It just is what it is.  

I'm not totally a hermit yet.  About once a month I do get anxious to get out.  That's when I mask up and head to Home Depot or something with the Man of the House.  

4) I'm not great about the whole "self-care" thing when I know I'm not going to be around people.

I probably shouldn't mention how infrequently I have showered on more weeks than I care to admit.  The good news is that unless I have been working outside in the heat or something else sweat producing - I've learned that I can actually go a few days without bathing before I start to stink.  But when the odor starts, it hits fast and hard. Sorry, that might have been TMI.

 I haven't been deep conditioning my hair weekly as I did pre-pandemic.  Or doing regular exfoliating and face masks.  And even though I give myself pedicures even when salons are open, I let that go for far, FAR too long over the summer.  It's not like I was going to be out showing off my toes in some cute sandals or anything  

I'm trying to get myself back in the habit of having one self-care day a week.

5) Many more people are willing to take a risk with their health, and/or don't care about the well-being of others than I would have hoped was true.

Honestly, I could go on for a good long time about this.  But for the sake of not opening a big ol' can of worms - I'll just leave it there.  You know what I'm talking about.  'Nuf said.  

What are the lessons that 2020 has been teaching you?