just one thing

it is my wish that each and every one of you can find 1 thing to be grateful for on this day of Thanksgiving.

my biggest wish is that you have pages and pages and pages of things to be grateful for.

years ago i began a journey. 

mine was a journey of self discovery in the deepest, most sincerest form.

a journey of transformation.

a journey of enlightment.

a journey of love.  not just for all others, but for myself as well.

a journey of acceptance.

a journey of forgiveness.

i am still on the journey, and always will be, no matter where my soul lives.

i learned on this journey that gratitude is so very important.

the days when you are tired, weak, frustrated........gratitude for what is now at this very moment takes all of the discomforts away.  if you are in alot of pain, mix half gratitude with half a vicodin.  seems to work for me.

when you are stuck in traffic because there has been an accident....thank you God that I am not the one involved in the accident  that has caused this back up. 

when you have a messy house to clearn....thank you God i have a home to clean.

when your kids are driving you crazy.....thank you God for my children.

i have had a couple of events  in the last couple of decades that i can truly truly say were bad days. 

we seem to throw those words around to casually.

i am having a bad day because.....

  i broke a nail, i did not have time to stop for my latte, i had to drive an ugly rental car while mine is being repaired, it figures i was the repairmans last appointment,  i wanted to eat at that restaurant not this one....


it drives me crazy, but i have to admit there was a day many many many years ago when a broken nail so totally ruined my day.

now, when i hear others complain over the minor details, i am grateful that i have come so far in my journey and that i can see a bit of my former self in them and have a bit of peace knowing they just have not quite made it the same place yet in their journey. 


having a bad hair day....thank God i have hair.

every day

throughout the day

i give thanks

thank you God for the dishwasher. 

   there were a couple of years i had to wash them by hand, for a family of 5. 

   thank you God i have dishes to wash in the dishwasher because that means we have food to eat.

thank you God for our hot water.

  last year our hot water heater pooped out.  for 3 months we took ice cold showers, unable to afford a new   one, and while dealing with a call center, long story short i started making calls here in America and found there was a recall and we were given a brand new water heater. 

thank you God my kids do not do drugs.

  after being without air conditioning for 2 years, we finally scraped the money together this year to get it fixed.  almost 700.00 to do work on an air conditioner that was only 5 years old.  most of that bill was to refill the  freon.  no leaks.  a drug addict  most likely stole our freon, inhaling it. 

thank you God for our groceries, toilet paper.....

  there have in the not so distant past been some really tough times...no, i mean realllllly tough. 

thank you God for my collection of antique wooden chairs....

   my beloved 90 year old couch bit the dust this spring.  thank God that i have quite a few old chairs that no one else wanted that i fixed up that can fill the void until we can afford a new couch.   we look like we are holding 12 step program meetings in our living room, but  there is a place to sit if need be.

the gratitude does not have to be for just the big schtuff.   for the out of the ordinary stuff.

i am hearing impaired, the weather permitted us having the windows wide open earlier this week and i woke up being serenaded by song birds.  thank you God that i still have enough hearing to hear the birds.

there are still a few roses blooming.  i can see them, feel the soft petals and the ouchy thorns.

the unbelievably beautiful sunsets night after night that i can see, and photograph.

i am breathing.

i can read this.

i can taste the meal i am eating.

i can smell the rose blooming, and when wanting to curse the cat for stinking up the house after using the litterbox....thank you God i can smell.

i am exhausted from doing all of this cooking and cleaning for Thanksgiving......thank you God that i am healthy enough to cook and clean.

i don't know why i stopped to do this blog post.  i am tired.  my vertigo flared up from all of the movement cooking and preparing a tasty Thanksgiving meal for our small, but mighty, family of 5.  Thank you God for each and every one of us in this family, that even with the vertigo i kept on cooking and preparing.

i was so heading off to bed to get some sleep, thinking about doing a blog post friday.  i still have so many photos to show and stories to tell....something made me stop.  something made me want to wish you all the most wonderful  and happiest of Thanksgivings, and to wish for all of you that you have at least one thing you are grateful for, but most of all that you have pages and pages and pages of things to be grateful for. 

maybe there is a wonderful reason i was so inspired on my way to bed to write this post. 

whatever that reason, i am so grateful.


i cross my fingers  um, i mean my heart....told you i was tired..... i will try to do some  show and tell friday, i am looking so forward to sharing some wonderful photos with you, and i thank God that the virus my computer got last month did not eat up any of my photos.


with much love to you,

mwah.

so much to tell you.....

the past week has been one wild ride here.

there are so many things i want to say.

so many photos and stories to share.

last week i had one of my worst vertigo flair ups......

we thought for sure i was going to end up in the hospital. 

 i live with vertigo every day, every day is like a gift. 

 i don't know until i open my eyes  if that gift is a diamond ring kind of day or an ugly sweater kind of day.

5 long days it lasted.  today is the first day i have felt back to my normal self......

yesterday we celebrated sam's 17th birthday.  this is all going way to fast.  sometimes i wish life had a pause and rewind button. 

tonight we attended sam's choir performance. 

i am so proud of this child o'  mine.

he does not let his speech impairment keep him from doing something he loves. 

sing.

played with the fish eye lense while waiting for sam's group to sing.


saturday, the 13th, marked 6 years since my dad passed on.  i miss him.  sometimes i feel like knowing him was a dream that i don't fully remember after waking.  

while the vertigo is on the mild side i will be spending as much time as i can adding the rest of the items to our etsy shop. 

hoping for some shoppers to stop by to stock up on ho ho ho gifts.

i will be back soon to add photos and share some of what life has given us in recent days.

with much love to you,

until next time......

smooches to you.

nighty-night.

aah......aah......choo

just a quick note to say i am back.  last week my computer caught a virus and i just got it back from the computer fixer upper. 

i will be back soon with a post and pics....and thank you, again, God that my pictures are safe and sound.

mwah!