Betty Brinn Children's Museum

Our day was spent at the Betty Brinn Children's Museum with 3 little girls ranging in age from almost-5 to seven-and-a-half-going-on-thirty.



Two of them could have shopped for plastic produce and silk flowers at Sendik's for six more hours.

One of them had the attention span of a gnat for anything except keeping possession of the single orange golf ball at the gravity funnel.

All of them had a great time.

I'm grateful that my foot stopped aching on the way TO the museum (or the day would have been altogether different, for me).

I'm grateful for the presence of youngsters brimming with energy in my life, in small doses.

I'm grateful for refueling in the middle of the day, and for the knowledge that the Betty Brinn allows carry-in food at the picnic tables in the lobby (which will shave $50 off our next outing like this!).

I'm grateful for the beauty of the Calatrava, and the kid-friendly menu that allowed each little girl to have their favorite: hot dog, mac & cheese, peanut butter and jelly.

I'm especially grateful there were two of us to chaperon the three of them -- either of us alone would have been challenged to handle all of them! And I'm grateful for the quiet of our own (childless) house in the aftermath.

The girls fell asleep almost immediately in the back seat on the way home. Weekends are good. They provide both over-stimulation and the time to recover from the fun we've had.

Peace of Mind

Last night, I was honored to lead a group of wonderful women in an activity to celebrate the Winter Solstice ... over a month late, due to snow and ice in December. I am grateful to know each of the women in this group -- some of whom have been meeting periodically for about 14 years! For the time and space to give thanks for the increasing light that makes winter tolerable -- and for good food, good friends, and good conversation ... I am grateful.

Yesterday afternoon, I also had the opportunity to lead a group of young college students in a session to familiarize them with a technology I use everyday at work, and for which they play a key role in the support of students on our campus. There is an energy in interacting with these young people, and a playfulness that is infectious. For all of that, I am grateful.

My friend Rosemary and I had a lovely time in Kohler on Monday. I saw so many interesting things we could do to our house (if we had the time, energy, money, and patience). I know it sounds silly, and I know I'll never spend almost $4k for one like it, but it makes me feel good to know that someone in the world has invented a toilet that has clean lines like this, and would be so easy to keep clean, too.



I'm grateful to be surrounded by beauty everywhere I look.

And, finally, today, I am grateful for the quiet, calm, casual, comfortable, fairly boring life I am blessed to lead. I'm grateful, too, for the peace of mind of having made a decision about whether to disrupt that peaceful lifestyle ... it's a relief just not to be waffling back and forth anymore, wondering whether this or that is "THE right thing" to do. (http://holdingthequestion.blogspot.com/2009/01/holding-our-ground.html)

SUNSHINE!

The sun is streaming into my living room window, and I don't need to go to work, so I can enjoy it for a little while! I don't know why sunshine makes me feel so much better ... scientific evidence says the sun's angle at this time of year is too low to be useful for my body to create vitamin D out of cholesterol. Yet, both physically and emotionally, I find it uplifting. Magic.

I don't know if the sun is too weak, coming in the window at a winter angle, to help the house plants, but I've arranged them so they can catch a few rays this morning, too. I can practically SEE them trying to photosynthesize.....

I get to spend the day with my friend, Rosemary!

I'll save the remaining 2 spots for today's gratitude for the end of the day.

Cheers!

Relaxing Sunday

I'm grateful, today, that what I imagined might be a wet, cold, messy cleanup of water at an apartment with no heat and burst water pipes ended up to be no worse than when my laundry tub overflows. I'm also grateful I don't have to participate in the cleanup of the apartment below the one I saw, or the basement, where I could still hear water after the fire department turned off the main shutoff valve.

My day began very peacefully, with time for me to read back issues of Spirituality & Health magazine.

Amy, John, and I went to see a movie. The outing itself was enough to be grateful for, but the movie itself was so thought-provoking my brain is still mulling it over. (Gran Torino - Clint Eastwood)

Although I'm not feeling very well physically, I'm grateful that tomorrow is a day off so I can feel better by Tuesday.

It's bedtime ...

Sunny, Cold, Cold, Cold Day

Today, I'm grateful I didn't have to go outside at all into the horribly low subzero weather. I'm grateful I submitted my proofreading edits for the summer camp brochure so we can get it out to the campers on time this year. I'm grateful for a warm and toasty house, even if it's because John opened the basement heat vents, which I thought was a bad idea, but I can be wrong sometimes, too.

I'm grateful for interactive games over wifi on the Wii, which allowed us to spend an hour playing Guitar Hero with Shannon and Josh who live 2 hours away. And for the opportunity to play some songs with John in the same room, as well! And for the fun of having Amy come home after her night class and join the band!

Here's my guitar hero:

Warm

The temperatures are plunging tonight, and our home is toasty warm.

School closings mean that the children won't have to be outside in the dangerous cold. I saw a number of children walking to and from school today, and I'm grateful they won't have to do it tomorrow!

Shannon called tonight, and it was fun hearing her talk about the week she and Josh spent babysitting ... and wondering how to avoid some behaviors when they have their own children some day.

Amy gratefully accepted the emergency kit I pulled together for her this evening to keep in her car: warm fleecy blanket, two sets of fleece hats and scarves, a pair of gloves and fleece mittens, warm socks, crackers, caramels, and water. Considering that she travels so far for evening classes, I feel better knowing she has this "just in case." I'm sure she won't ever need it, but it's good to have it in her car.

Overall, life is very, very good. [contented sigh]

Grateful for Abundance

It was exactly midnight when I realized that, although I'd had my camera in my hand several times today, I'd never snapped a picture. sigh. I consider the ones taken minutes after midnight to qualify for my own personal "photo a day for a year" project. If they don't ... I'd have already failed, and I can't give up that quickly!

Abundance is the theme of my gratitude journal entry today ....

Working backwards over the last several days, I'm grateful for

1) an abundance of boots ... they're all mine, and they're all right inside the door, where I shed them after various forays into the winter snow and cold:



2) an abundance of early-morning sunshine, beautifully bursting through the trees on our way to work:















3) the abundance of intergenerational fun that happened as a result of the Guitar Hero wii game being taken out of the box:









4) an abundance of fellowship and goodwill during dinner with our neighbors over the weekend:









5) and last, but not least, the abundance of snow that continues to fall ... which reminds me how grateful I am that winter doesn't last forever.

Winter Sun, Getting Things Done

I have amazing miracles in my kitchen! One is this gorgeous "Christmas" cactus that John bought for me last year. It's been hanging over the sink, pretty much gasping for water most of the time. John took it down a couple of times and soaked it in the sink ... and recently noticed BUDS! Now it's in bloom. Look how beautiful!



The afternoon sun was so warm and delicious when I got home (early). I love sunshine ... even winter sunshine. And I love light and shadows. And I love that I get to capture them to enjoy long after their short, ephemeral presence is over.



Last night, I spent two hours applying for a Federal PLUS Loan for Parents. I'm grateful I overcame the challenges in the website and Sallie Mae personnel, to complete the process (including the correction of the amount we're applying for!). I'm grateful for the one person out of four I spoke to who seemed to be a thinking human being instead of a living answering machine. And I'm grateful it's done!

Mack greeted me this afternoon very insistently. I couldn't stay home and cuddle him (that's him in the picture with the computer), but he persisted ... climbing onto the kitchen table and into my arms despite my protests. I snuggled a minute, and wondered out loud if he was trying to tell me something ... checked the food dishes downstairs and discovered they were completely empty. He's such a clever kitty!

Finally, I'm grateful for the progress on the work necessary to make Summer Assembly 2009 happen. We're very close to being on target with our project dates, we've got a GREAT leader, and although there's still plenty of work ahead, it's nice to feel confident instead of frantic. :-)

Just the two of us

I'm grateful for a quiet evening, just the two of us.



And for a smidgen of time with Amy as she rushed between work and dog and school ... and made important decisions about her future. And for breathing room when I get overwhelmed. And for a job that makes sense to me.

And for a good haircut.

(And for the hope that I can style it tomorrow as well as Tanyana did tonight!)

I love you!

I love you!
Originally uploaded by shrnmc

For which I am constantly grateful!

Christmas is sorted and packed, and if I remember what I did today, should be much more inviting to UNpack next year ... instead of a job filled with trepidation and near-dread. I'm looking forward to setting up the tree we bought and actually trimming it with the ornaments we decided today to keep because they were beautiful, or meaningful, or both.

Jobs - back to it tomorrow, with the mindful, active, conscious thought that we are fortunate to have them to return to.

Wonderful holiday memories - good times with those I love most in all the world, and warm greetings exchanged with others I love who are farther away.

Movement - staying home is restful, but restful isn't what the body needs 24/7/365. Time to move!

Clean sheets - when the mind goes blank because contentedness sets in, I fall back on the pleasures that are simple and that I otherwise tend to take for granted.

New Year Gratitudes

New Year's Eve was extremely enjoyable this year! We celebrated at home, just the five of us: John, me, Amy, Shannon and Josh.

We had a special dinner that John and I cooked, including an unusual quesadilla, a winter fruit salad of bananas, oranges, and Trader Joes' Triple Ginger Snaps, plus a green salad. We were nervous about the quesadillas (:-)) but Shannon and Josh are so fun when it comes to adventurous foods ... and they truly enjoyed the surprising blend of flavors, as we did.

Later in the evening, we drank mulled cider that Josh brewed with spices he chose at Penzey's ... where we gave him a gift card. It was so much fun seeing his enthusiasm as he shopped for poppyseed, Hungarian paprika, whole vanilla beans, and more. (That was one "home run" we hit this year, in choosing the right gifts for people we love! Another for Josh -- with Shannon's help -- was the Body Back Buddy Classic, which Josh had mentioned to her as something that looked interesting. We ordered it in time for our belated Christmas here. He was surprised! And he loves it! Yea!)

Earlier in the day, we had enjoyed a little after-Christmas shopping.

We even tried out some of the Wii games we'd been debating whether to buy -- especially ones we can play together, remotely. We had fun with the Guitar Hero demo -- I don't know if I'm coordinated enough to play the drums or guitar, but I pretty much nailed the vocals ... and it's so much more fun when you find something you're good at! We hit another "home run" by buying Shannon the complete set of Planet Earth dvds, narrated by David Attenborough -- which she uses in her teaching. I can't remember seeing her more excited about a gift we've given her! It helps to have her along when we're doing the shopping!

We also intended to buy a new Wii "party pack" of games, and decided on Game Party 2 ... which Shannon and Josh then bought for US, for Christmas! While it's not the most unique or exciting, according to the reviews, it certainly was enough to keep us busy and happy until well past midnight!