1. the peace of Sunday morning
2. a nice cup of rose tea
3. new quilted pillow for my kitchen chair
4. so fun to receive gratitude lists in my email
5. on a 28 day streak writing with 750words.com
6. Zentangle Club was so fun yesterday — April did Zentangle hearts!
7. the flu is gone and I am feeling more like myself again – hooray!
8. looking forward to church this morning
9. Sunday morning papers
10. as James would say – I am grateful for now!
1. Birds at the feeder — tweet, tweet, tweet!
2. Peanut butter toast
3. A nice warm shower
4. Cozy sock monkey pajamas
5. A warm mug of tea
6. Looking forward to Zentangle Club
7. My theme word for this year is LOVE, and today we’re doing Zentange hearts!
8. Beautiful orchids
9. Thank heavens for my blue fur coat in this cold, cold weather
10. Purple nail polish
1. Waking up listening to music
2. Not going to book group — it’s a triumph to say no, when I have to catch up with work!
3. Eggs — once over easy with wheat toast
4. The Global Coherence Initiative which is about good energies of the heart like loving compassion — for yourself and the world!
5. An amazing email from an AmeriCorps volunteer in Minnesota who is going to try to help 5,400 returning veterans coming home in May
6. My Zentangle a day calendar — four days behind, but with high hopes of catching up!
7. Had a jammer (pajama) day for 1/2 the day yesterday — hooray!
8. Email from my friend John — we’re as different as night and day, isn’t that wonderful?
9. Grateful for gratitude, and this place of community. My life is definitely much better when there is a good flow of gratitude in it.
10. My bumper sticker says — Gratitude is the Best Therapy
1. The Countdown to Spring has begun today — 71 days! Hooray!
2. When the weather gets really terrible, I always know how many days until the Annual Dance of Spring!
3. My friends and I have tea and beautiful cookies, then we dance around a tree that is surrounded by a fairy garden, waving scarves!
4. Here’s a Winter happiness — I have my blue fur Cookie Monster coat out now! Yippee!
5. When snowflakes land on it, they are suspended and on display!
6. People make fun of my silly, blue fur coat, but I am glad it makes them laugh!
7. And I have wild multi-colored boots!
8. So I get a lot of fun out of Winter, too.
9. Overall, I am grateful for weather — it is magical what happens “out there”
10. And I am grateful to live in Ohio, where we have definite seasons to enjoy.
1. We made it through another year and got through all the ups and downs!
2. Now we get to start fresh!
3. Actually, we can start anew any day, hour, minute or second!
4. This year, instead of resolutions, I am having a theme for the year — Exploring Possibilities!
5. I figure that covers just about everything and sounds like lots of fun.
6. Wishing all of my gratitude friends a year of possibilities, too!
7. Isn’t it amazing that we get so many choices and chances in this life?
8. Aren’t we lucky and blessed to wake up each morning with a new dawn?
9. I am especially blessed at the end of this year to be making new friends, especially my new quotation buddy!
10. Here’s to an astonishing year filled with fun adventures and easily solvable dilemmas! Hooray!
“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await another voice.” — Little Gidding II
1. I started with a 1,583 word journal entry (I usually write around 750 at 750words.com) which was an amazing way to start my day.
2. Then off to book club, where we are discussing one of my favorite books of all time — Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow by Elizabeth Lesser
3. After lunch, three of us broke open! We really discussed some deep personal changes and challenges, and it was beauteous to see how we unfolded from casual luncheon conversation into empowering intimacy! An afternoon I will remember always.
4. During the day, we saw lots of birds, including a gorgeous woodpecker. Any day that includes birdwatching is a wonderful day for me!
5. Belle’s article on creativespiritualwomen.com was another on target winner today. I have to keep telling my friends — hey, this is for men, too — do not be afraid of the website name!
6. Wonderful dinner with husband Tom, Papa Sherman, and daughter Maribeth. Hummus and pita bread with kalamata olives – yummy!
7. I saw an ambulance go by, and after blessing it, I always remember how lucky we are not be to in that ambulance off to uncertain destinies, with family members in a panic. Our health is such a gift and so easy to forget how amazing it is to be able to go about our daily routines, even when we have maladies here and there.
8. Cleared off my husband’s bureau area tonight and removed Henrietta, our gigundus piggy bank of many years. Time for her to find a new home. Replaced her with our photos over 41 years of marriage — it looks so different and inviting. We are going to put Henrietta at the end of the driveway and see if anyone wants to give her a new home. Tom could hardly carry her downstairs!
9. As I sit here in my sock monkey pajamas, getting ready to call it a day, I am looking forward to watching a new episode of Tavis Smiley — my favorite interviewer of all time. He actually reads the books! He interviewed Alison Krauss last night, one of my favorite performers of all time, winner of 26 Grammies. Tavis asks terrific questions and waits for complete answers. Hooray!
10. Each day brings it’s own blessings. Posting here is a wonderful way to acknowledge them and revisit some of the highlights. Thank you, Belle!
1. Christmas was the best ever this year, by far!
2. Evidence of love in action was everywhere.
3. Went to a church service on Saturday with electronic guitars, bold lighting, three sermons, and lots of WOW!
4. Singing Carols with hundreds of people was amazing.
5. I have always missed Christmas services because of family get togethers, so this was so special!
6. Being with my son, daughter-in-law and grandsons made it even better.
7. We all lit each others’ candles at the end, and that was glorious!
8. Christmas Eve was marvelous, with family and extended family — so much love and laughter.
9. Christmas morning, with two grandson 6 and 8 — how fun and happy!
10. The memory of who got what will fade, but the events and loving experiences will last a lifetime!
This YouTube video is remarkable, both in verbal content and in amazing cinematography. Pause during this busy season to enjoy this gift from me to you! And then pass it along!
“Gratitude is a twofold love — love coming to visit us, and love running out to greet a welcome guest.” – Henry Dyke
1. Christmas has been so wonderful this year, that if it were over now, it would still be the best Christmas ever! Wow!
2. My daughter drives a very old car that needs attention, and I got her a certificate for a car detailing from a place that does an amazing job! Yippee!
3. There is a secret photo book in the making that will be a big surprise.
4. I got the CDs of my sister Barb’s interviews — since she passed over 3 years ago, we haven’t heard her voice. I am giving out eight 3 CD sets. It is a miracle to hear her talking and laughing. A true Christmas miracle. This is the best Christmas present I have ever given.
5. I couldn’t find my Christmas music, so I downloaded my own favorites on iTunes individually and made a playlist. Fabulous!
6. My friend had surgery Monday and it went really well, and is going to make the quality of her life better.
7. Last night, my friend Jean gave me a gorgeous, handblown crystal heart — oh me, oh my! Yippee!
8. My son has invited me out for an adventure tonight. Spending time with people I love is what I really love the best — at Christmas and for the whole year.
9. We got the proofs back from the family portraits. What a wonderful sight!
10. My boss sent me an amazing email of appreciation this morning.
Holiday greetings to my gratitude friends. God bless us, every one!
1. Since I was born on Christmas Eve, I am a Christmas Carol! Hooray!
2. Of all the wildest things, we have a glittery full size purple Christmas tree!
3. It shows off the ornaments in delightful ways.
4. I fell in love with it in the foyer of a Borders store with a 40% off coupon in my hand! How could I resist?
5. My family was kind enough to humor me after a lifetime of green trees, and now we all enjoy the fun of purple tree, especially my grandchildren.
6. I also wear a red sequinned Santa hat a lot because it seems to make people happy, I even forget it’s on my head until someone comments.
7. Christmas Carols always perk me up and really seem to have the exact right energy for real Christmas spirit.
8. This year I am giving my son and daughter, 37 and 38, very detailed instructions I had left for babysitters when they were toddlers and babies, and putting them into a booklet called “A Glimpse into Your Childhood”. I am so tickled I found them! They really reveal their baby personalities.
9. I also found tapes of my sister Barbara, and the start of an oral history, and also a tape from an article I did about her for a local paper. I thought they were lost forever. Since she passed, we all thought we had no record of her voice. I am having CDs made of the tapes for everyone in the family and her two best friends.
10. Staying away from the malls is a holiday treat for me. I am so grateful to be able to coordinate that almost every holiday season. Give me the love and joy, and not the spending trillions and get wild and stressed! Hooray!