1.  my grandson Nate’s team won their play-off game to be in the Day of Champs!  yippee!

2.  then they won another game tonight against a very good team

3.  lots of people eat sunflower seeds at these games — it’s kind of cute!

4.  fresh cherries

5.  purple nail polish on toes

6.  blue nail polish on fingers

7.  got a bright red casserole dish and trying a new recipe

8.  spraying my flowers with deer repellant after losing more geraniums!  love deer, but couldn’t they trim my bushes instead of eating my flowers?

9.  lunch with friends at a fun restaurant — very delicious salad

10.  meringue kisses

1.  sock monkey checks

2.  saving money for an Ocean City, Maryland vacation – hooray!

3.  planting a new succulent garden in a huge pottery tea pot for the yard

4.  organizing my plant shelf – looking good!

5.  spending the night at my Paparoonio’s apartment

6.  lunch with him today

7.  took him to a Dr.’s appointment – struck up a conversation with some people in the lobby

8.  my 96 year old Dad, saying loudly and crabbily, “what is all this gibber jabbering in this lobby?”

9.  telling him later how different we are — I love, love, love to strike up a conversation with a stranger!  lololol

10.  feeling so blessed for all the love in our lives! – hallelujah!

1.  Today Nate and Andrew planted their circle garden in our yard

2.  The flowers are bold in color and type

3.  Begonias, Gerbera Daisies, Petunias, and more!

4.  This was the first year of them really taking over the planting

5.  We have been doing this since they were 4 and 6, now they’re 8 and 10

6.  Then they made the most spectacular fairy garden ever

7.  Buttons, marbles, shells, glass discs, pine cones, flowers, wood slices, leaves and more

8.  Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Kermit the Frog, rubber duckies, and fairies

9.  You can see photos on my Facebook page

10.  I love gardening anyway, but gardening with my G-sons is beyond fabulous!

11.  Also finished the fairy rock garden today.  Yippee!

1.  morning newspaper

2.  lunch with my daughter, husband, and Pa

3.  my Dad mumbled, “these people are a bunch of miscreants”

4.  he has a wonderful vocabulary, and he is an incredible conversationalist

5.  I keep a blank notebook in my purse to catch his unusual comments

6.  volunteering at the library book sale

7.  fun to meet new people and have free snacks

8.  saw Kylia at the drugstore where she works – hooray!

9.  answering a fun email

10.  putting out my plastic pink flamingo by the fairy rock garden — she will be the guardian

11.  this day and the privilege of it

1.  going with my G-sons to the garden store and having them choose the flowers for their circle garden at our house

2.  we have purple, white, pink, red, orange flowers and more

3.  they picked out a bench, a frog, and a pond for a fairy garden at their house

4.  spending time with my G-sons is always a thrill, no matter what we are doing

6.  but G-sons, the garden store, and future fairy gardens — oh me, oh my!

7.  got a large pottery tea cup for a succulent fairy garden

8.  going to Andrew’s last baseball game of the season — they won!

9.  planning what to do with the boys next week when I babysit — a hike in the woods perhaps

10.  I know how blessed I am to have my G-sons living close by.

1.  photos, artwork, and an array of magnets all over my refrigerator

2.  a Zentangle that says “all blessings, no complaints!”

3.  a goofy fairy garden plant shelf with a jade plant, cactus, a wild succulent, and Chinese bamboo

4.  my multi-colored Fiesta ware — fun and practical!

5.  the big kitchen table which has hosted lots of friends and family over the years (and will continue it’s gracious reception of lots of people in the future!)

6.  the big kitchen table which is my office and where I do my artwork

7.  looking out the window at a tree and a bird feeder, what a view!

8.  red and white gingham checked chair seats – yellow and white gingham wallpaper

9.  a window with cobalt blue glass, paperweights, stained glass, a fairy, and a dish of real robin’s eggs

10.  a huge Smurf poster and little Smurfs on a shelf.  I love Smurfs!

11.  silk purple tulips given to me by my dear friend Suzy!

12.  shelving up by the ceiling — figures of Betty Boop, Howdy Doody, gnomes, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, “Where’s Waldo” (he’s on the shelf!), Daffy Duck, Shirley Temple pitcher, the decorated bowl from my childhood, and more!

13.  a gorgeous, large floral stained glass piece in the picture window!

14.  the Pillsbury Doughboy cookie jar that my beloved mother-in-law gave me over 35 years ago!

I could list 100 things easily, but I think you are getting the idea that I love, love, love our kitchen.  It is a happy place!

1.  What could be better on a beautiful Saturday morning than a Little League baseball game with my G-son Nate playing, and my husband and son coaching?

2.  Sitting in the sun next to my 96 year old Dad — this was his first game this year.  Hooray!

3.  My daughter, Maribeth, was the scorekeeper and fellow kibitzer

4.  One of my best friends, Carol #1, was a grandmother to Colin on the other team

5.  Off to Zentangle Club, with time to spare which I spent in the library getting wonderful books

6.  Does anyone out there love Lewis Black and Kurt Vonnegut as much as I do (I am attracted to highly opinionated people, especially if they are funny)  yippee!

7.  Zentangle Club’s youngest attendee is 6 1/2 years old, and he is a very enthusiastic creative force!

8.  Today we did black Zendalas (a Zentangle mandala) with white gel pen and white chalk pencil for shading

9.  Off to dinner with Tom (husband) — pesto pasta!  yummy to the max!

10.  Then to Home Depot for a shepherd’s hook for my wonderful pink and green hanging basket.

Thank you for this day!

1.  babysitting my G-sons, Nate and Andrew today!  yippee yo yo YO!

2.  they did a fabulous lemonade stand to raise money for the Red Cross recently

3.  today I took them to the Red Cross so they could present almost $250!

4.  really amazing for 8 and 10 year old boys!  hooray!

5.  at the Red Cross, they were treated like heroes, lots of people congratulating them and taking photos!

6.  lunch with laughter, silliness, and fun

7.  off to Toys R Us to buy Monopoly, Sorry, and Yahtzee!  yahoo!

8.  lots of fun this afternoon with board games

9.  Grandpa even joined in for some merriment

10.  what an honor to be G-ma to two such amazing guys!  yahoo!  yippee!  hooray!

1.  I was so delighted when Crystal came up with the wild and wonderful idea of surprising Ruth with a flash mob.

2.  What better song for us all to sing and dance to than “You’ve Got a Friend”

3.  And oh my, Ruth has a million friends at least!

4.  Ruth was truly surprised — yahoo!

5.  And the weather held out — I think Crystal coordinated that as well!

6.  To my very happy surprise, my grandson Nate showed up with a family who knows Ruth, too!  Yippee yo yo YO!

7.  We formed a flash mob of gratitude!

8.  Ruth has taught us all a lot about gratitude and unconditional love.

9.  It was so fabulous to have Ruth’s daughters and husband see such a fun manifestation of LOVE!

10.  Thank you, again and again, to our amazing Crystal, who boldly took on this huge challenge and pulled it off magnificently!

Getting ready to a webinar on gratitude for WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan) tomorrow!  Hooray!

Gratitude has the power to turn challenges into possibilities, problems into solutions, and losses into gains. — Daniel T. Peralla

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.  It turns what we have into enough, and more.  It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.  It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events.  Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. — Melodie Beattie

Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns.  I am thankful that thorns have roses. — Alphonse Karr

According to studies, grateful people are more optimistic, energetic, enthusiastic, determined, interested, and joyful!

Sometimes when I am feeling a little low, I make a list of 100 things that make me feel grateful.  It always lifts my spirits and puts me in a more grateful frame of mind.  It is almost impossible to be unhappy and grateful at the same time!

Each day comes bearing its own gifts.  Untie the ribbons! — Ruth Ann Schabacker

Yippee yo yo YO!