Family, Home, Together 

Gratefulness wrapped up in a package of times together. Take the time to pay attention, an attempt to really see, to listen, to be all present with them all.

• Family - together around the table
• re-reading the poem above the sink : Dirty dishes = evidence of blessing (and we have dirty dishes to prove the blessings)
• "Cling to JOY: audacious and unbridled joy, that looks for light in every thing, even in your waiting."  -Morgan Harper Nichols
• R and J - so sweet, so much fun. Grandbabies delight
• Duolingo French - start learning something new
• reading Beth Chatto - Drought Resistant Planting - her plant/word pictures are amazing, love her perspective
• first freeze, first snow - fall days becoming winter
• "While sight is an ability, seeing remains an art." Hidden Half of Nature
• finished two books I've been stalled on - now, on to more interesting reading
• fall leaves dancing, spinning on the freeway like a choreographed ballet
• time with the girls - their stories and challenges and smiles
• concert - Idina Mendez, Josh Groban, wow! amazing, inspiring, beautiful
• diving headfirst into NaNoWriMo - accepting the challenge, willing to make the change to daily writing
• C to vet - simple, easy, except she's so scared, leaned on A
• a fun flute lesson - more play than work
• W's surgery (dog) - long recovery for a recalcitrant patient
• W's reversals - backwards more than forward healing progress
• J here!
• Gift of time thru disappointment (3 day delay in arrival)
• Half-way, NaNoWriMo word count
• P and J here
• SSKB here
• Thanksgiving thankfulness
• full house
• request for gardening articles in PWView
• article in newspaper and From Ground Up out on the same day
• flute rehearsal with professional pianist and pro flutist, fun!
• emails with Jane - appreciate her!
• NaNoWriMo accomplished!
• next day, began new novel
• six broccoli plants still alive, even with the crazy cold
• Cheyenne Mntn Electric Safari with TVES, counting animal shaped lights, found 70, supposedly 85 but didn't ride tramway to the top.

On a Treasure Hunt

This next group from my gratefulness list has a theme of exploration - on a treasure hunt. Looking for and finding adventure in the simple, everyday things.

• feeling effective, valuable at CMG meetings, able to encourage others
• appointments scheduled for vet and groomers (after procrastinating for months)
• photos from far away of a new granddaughter
• pumpkins from A's pumpkin patch placed on the island - center stage - a successful experiment
• amazed - a nutrition plan that results in weight loss - a sustainable way to eat. Oh, and healthy, too
• volunteer garden work at the zoo - listen to monkeys, geese, exotic cows, goats while pulling weeds
• blue skies again after weeks of smoky haze from summer fires
• Theresa writing 'gentle' on music - erasing exclamation point and drawing fluffy clouds instead - saying exclamation doesn't match 'gentle' (at flute lesson)
• eating out and bringing home half
• window open to cool morning air, welcoming fresh air inside
• twenty pounds down! weight = a good thing to lose
• Book Girl by Sarah Clarkson - a treasure key to open more treasures
• woman on the train softly singing a hymn (Come Thou Fount)
• H's help to organize, clean basement - amazing accomplishment in less time than we expected (and fun doing it together)
• fresh breezes, air movement even when it is hot
• travel safety - praying protection for RARJ amidst unrest and turmoil in the city
• relationship challenges
• Duolingo Spanish practice - fun and good for my brain
• new shelf in the bathroom, painted and installed - clutter off the counter
• pick dried beans - amazing, exciting to unwrap the pods and find spotted beans
• ORDINARY MIRACLES - the vision to see the wonder of ordinary miracles; family safe on a flight, babies growing and developing, a good book with time to read it, a smile, seeds becoming plants, a fresh breeze
• "Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder." -E.B. White