Attitude of Gratitude

This morning dd and I lay in bed, watching the sun streaming across the trees in the backyard. It was BEAUTIFUL. I liked how it danced on the branches, on the needles of the tree, as the branches swayed in the light wind. She liked how it filtered through onto the trunks of other trees, the lightness of the trunk surrounded by the darkness of the forest and branches. We remarked that the trunks must be warm to the touch from the sunlight.

When I went out to let the chickens out, feeling the warmth of the sunshine on my back felt *SO* wonderful! SOOOOOOO good. The chickens are grateful for the sunshine, too; you can tell when they do their 'happy cluck' all around the yard... happy to be outside, happy for the sunshine, happy for some cracked corn. ;) I'm happy we've got chickens. Sure, it's a responsibility, but they're delightful and bring joy to our lives.

I am grateful for the beautiful, fresh kale growing in the garden. I had some in my smoothie the other day, but mostly I just like munching on it when I'm outside.

I am grateful for having two nights in a row out with other friends. Book club on Tuesday (I hadn't even read the book, but insisted on going, and I'm glad I did. Hearing what the others had to say about the book was really interesting.), and then the hs'ing support-or-socialize night last night - which I wouldn't have gone to if a friend hadn't suggested I drop my kids off at her house with her family. Tuesday the kids went to grammy & grampa's, who always invite them over and are exceedingly gracious. So two nights out. What a treat!

I am grateful for getting to sit with a friend I haven't seen in months at aikido on Monday night. Her son is back taking the class, which gives her and I an opportunity to reconnect. I cherish her friendship.

I am grateful for the preparations we've made as a family towards emergency preparedness. It doesn't have to be done all at once, but with communication, it has come together, bit by bit. We were talking about it (the hs'ing mamas) at swimming yesterday and it was good to know others are starting to talk more about getting kits together and so forth. I want to communicate about it, to get prepared, so that what the Japanese are dealing with right now isn't in vain. Their tragedy should be the wake-up for the rest of us to get prepared. Now.

I'm grateful for dh. He's a pillar of support in our life and works tirelessly (actually, he gets quite tired, LOL) so we can have the life we have. From the outside, it might look very gender-stereotypical - the breadwinning father and the stay-at-home mother, but these roles are not as they are because it's expected of us, because of outside social pressures. They are the way they are in our house because they've been discussed, negotiated, and chosen consciously. It just works well for our family.

Today I'm going to donate blood. I haven't donated in at least a year. I'm sure it will go well. It will be interesting to see how my iron levels are (as they test at the very beginning of the donation process).

We'll have to be prompt with piano lessons. Sometimes we arrive 5 mins late and then chit chat at the end, so we end up getting out of there 15 mins past when we're supposed to. But today, dd has her end-of-year figure skating show and we need to be on-time. Both sets of grandparents are coming to watch. I'm very much looking forward to the show! I need to get the videocamera ready to go.

UPDATE: I cancelled piano last-minute as donating blood took a *long* time. My appt was at 2:40 and I wasn't out of there until 4:10, and that was leaving about 10 mins before they like you to leave (they like you to sit and eat cookies for 15 mins after donating but I skedaddled after 5). But donating itself was painless, thanks to nurse Patrick, who's a pro at getting that disgustingly large needle into my deep veins. I have quite a bruise after, but it was a quick donation - under 10 mins with the needle actually in the arm. dd couldn't figure out why we were at a church to donate blood. "Shouldn't you go to the hospital to give blood away?" LOL too funny. Lamenting about the waiting during the screening process, dh said that's why he just won't donate blood. "Who has 2 hrs to sit there except retirees and maybe SAHMs?" And having to make appointments ahead of time, while I realize it's good for Cdn Blood Svcs so they know how many people to expect, discourages people from spontaneously dropping in. Still, as they say, "it's in you to give." Despite having to wait extra-long during screening, I'm glad I went.