Children of fur

I don't often sleep late. I like to keep my routine and stick to a schedule. Occasionally, usually on a Saturday, I allow myself a few extra minutes to sleep.

Today was one of those days.

Except the cats didn't get the memo.

Rather than be annoyed, I was grateful that they were concerned enough to try to wake me. That routine I have established has clearly made an impact on their day.

I was head-butted, jumped on, pounced on, climbed on, had a wet nose touch my nose, my ear, my cheek, I was kneaded, and I heard several meows.

When my bladder could no longer handle any more pounces, I gave in and got out of bed.

I managed to squeak out thiry-five more minutes. I'm not sure how and I know it wasn't peaceful. But I'm thankful to know that my cats care enough to make sure I'm okay and that I will get up. Even if it's just to feed them. (And no, that is not what they were trying to get me out of bed for today, they had plenty of food and water.)

backwards thanks

I'm very thankful for our snow blower today.

(This was after I had taken a couple of passes. It's the packed snow at the end of the driveway that the plow put there after several passes. It's tough to see in this perspective, but it was higher than my knees.)

Which means I'm thankful for our former neighbors, Nancy and Glenn, from whom it was bought.

Which means I'm thankful for Bill saying to Glenn that he wanted to buy it from them before they moved (which I am not thankful that they moved).

And I'm thankful that it was filled with enough gas for me to clear out the approach.

It took me one hour and 43 minutes (that includes shoveling other areas of the driveway).

Yes, I still like snow! 

I'm also rocking the guns (triceps, biceps, you name it, it's toned).

It's a great workout for sure.

for Mom

Today, I'm thankful for my mom.

Not just because it's her birthday, which is reason enough to remind her why I'm thankful for her, but because she is a wonderful person.

She taught me the art of writing thank you cards.

She taught me to appreciate laughter and good times.

She taught me how to get through tough times.

She has shown me unconditional love.

She is an amazing woman in an ordinary world.

She does small things that no one knows about.

She is giving and loving.

I'm thankful for her every day, but today she gets a blog post and recognition for being mom!

day two, back in the swing of things

There are so many things to be thankful for.

Are those blessings? My mom asked.

They could be. Or just being thankful for simple things.

Like being able to french braid my own hair. I discovered I could do that this summer when I was tired of running with a ponytail that started out on top of my head but ended up at the nape of my neck. I could always (and was always asked to) french braid other girls hair. Especially in Jr. High when I was team manager for volleyball, basketball and track. My braids stayed in no matter how active the game. I could braid. But I could never braid my own hair. It was just one of those things. I knew how, but couldn't reverse it on myself. I was thrilled when I gave it a try back in August and it looked like a french braid (not a giant knot or bird's nest).

I'm also thankful that my hair is long enough to french braid. That's two things for today.

I'm also looking for a sign like the one above (you can visit the website here). I don't know the blogger, I stumbled across the photo when I searched for "give thanks". It turns out that is a theme saved mostly for Thanksgiving. I would like a sign without pumpkins, leaves and fall colors. I want it to be simple. I have found lots of ideas. I'll let you know if I create any of them.

A new start

I'm currently reading, "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voskamp. It's for my book "club". We're on the last two chapters. We've intentionally gone slow because the book is pretty heavy. We've also gone slow because everyone in the group with the exception of myself, have children. That means nothing, other than reading an entire book can take longer when you're caring for ankle biters. (They're all great kids, I'm using that term loosely.) Hence our "club". We meet once a month. That's about all we can commit to doing. We've watched a video, we've shared food and coffee, we've read a book or two. Maybe "book" club is how we should describe ourselves.

At any rate, I gave everyone in our group a notebook so that we could each keep track of our one thousand gifts.

I know I'm not alone in our group when I say I have done a poor job of finding things for which I am thankful. I have thought of thirty-some. I bought the notebooks back in October. So it's not like I just started last week.

Last night, as I read a bit more of the book, it occurred to me that I could continue writing things for which I am thankful in a journal but I could also go back to blogging daily. I could use Giving Thanks as my daily theme.

And so I will.

The idea also stemmed from a friend who posted a comment on Facebook back in November. She pointed out that everyone posts what they're thankful for in the month of November, why not be thankful the rest of the year? Thank you, friend. I think I will.

You'll notice I changed my blog. I gave it a fresh new look for my new journey.

I have no idea what sorts of things I'll come up with, being thankful can happen in many different ways. I hope this will inspire you to think of things for which you are thankful.

Today, I am thankful for a blog, with readers (!), where I can share whatever I feel like sharing.