View Full Version : June Gratitude
Today I'm grateful for some rain. With all of the wildfires happening out west where I live, I welcome having it rain on my picnic if it means we'll stay safer from fire for a while.
To celebrate our 44th wedding anniversary, last night my husband and I had dinner at Taste of Texas with daughter and soon to be son in law. It was wonderful!! The food was terrific but the company was even better.
Grateful to get out of the heat today and take a day trip with best friend. Grateful for the health, and money, and leisure time to really relax and enjoy everything.
Today I am grateful that I have the ability to just walk away from perpetually negative people. And of course, am grateful that I've chosen not to be one any longer.
I've been pulling my hair out trying to figure out how to solve an appliqué problem on my current quilting project and today I finally decided how to do it!!! The actual doing of it will be tedious but quite do-able. Whew! Thankful that I won't be fretting about that anymore!
I am glad to have had a second interview for a job, and that it is over. Grateful to be in a position where I have employment options.
Simplemind
6-5-12, 12:21am
I'm glad to have had a great job for the past 26 years that afforded me the ability to retire this month at the age of 55!
My oldest son applied to and was accepted to the new Labratory High School, School of the Ozarks, at College of the Ozarks. I'm shopping on-line at LandsEnd.com for uniforms today. He is giving up some things (show choir,choir, drama) to do this program but I think it will be better for him in the long run with his desire to write. He is looking forward to having college profs teach his high school classes. His girlfriend got in too! Bonus!
I am grateful that we weren't asked to take in a rescue dog during the past three weeks when we working on a neighborhood fundraiser. Today, the rescue coordinator called to say: can you foster a dog?
and yes, today we can. All of the boxes are out of our living room and life is back to normal.
I'm grateful for my health...
I am grateful that our household large item garbage is being picked up this week and the supervisor who was driving by stopped to help DH and me with lifting and carrying them out to the side of the road - mattress, chesterfield and chairs.
I am grateful for the 1 1/2 inches of rain aka 45 mm which has revived my garden and made the rest of my planting so much easier.
Rain, two days in a row.
Plus, I've had a difficult relationship in my life that I feel I'm finally getting free of. I'm more grateful for that than anything right now.
Mighty Frugal
6-6-12, 4:07pm
I'm grateful that the nodule on my thyroid hasn't grown in the last year-I went for my yearly ultrasound today
Today I am greatful that life is good for my loved ones.
I'm grateful for sappy Euro love songs (spinoff from another thread). They never fail to revive me.
First some background - I volunteer at our local libary watering/fertilizing the plants inside. I have asked for years for access to a quiet sink or tap for the water supply. Usually I have to use the sink in the staff room which often has dirty dishes and leftover crud sitting it. Really gross. Management has made every effort to get the offending staff to clean up after themselves.
Two weeks ago, I was feeling really yucky, on a time limit and found the sink filled and overflowing. I asked if the contents belonged to anyone on staff at that time. No one claimed anyhting so I dumped the whole mess into the garbage and told management what I had done via email with warnings that it was unacceptable to volunteer under those conditions.
Soooo, I am grateful that I now have a key to access any sink for filling, a new cart to carry the watering cans and last night a staff member cheerfully high fived me and effusively thanked me for tossing the dirty dishes as the majority of the staff found the mess by a very few unacceptable. She said that it took something like my actions for the offenders to see just how gross their behaviour had been.
Way to go, Razz! At our library everybody's pretty tidy in the kitchen, luckily, but the fridge tends to get really gross with old condiments, leftovers, etc. Periodically someone puts out a warning like yours - "Label or take home anything you want to keep!" -- and then dumps it all in the trash.
Today I'm grateful just to be alive and healthy. Bad dreams of health problems, shortness of breath, etc., and I feel blessed to not actually HAVE those things right now.
The Universe has been kind lately.
In my neighborhood I am getting to be known as the Lily Queen. That is benefiting me. Someone gave me a few cheap vases because I said that I am always looking for cheap vases. I use them for gifts of flower bouquets. I always want the clear glass ones. Well, one was gaudy/ugly with decorations on it. But today I used that one for one single stem of a perfect white lily candelabra, and it looked nice!
Two men who are moving from our neighborhood dropped off 5 French flower buckets to me. yay! I have the perfect use for them and I've been wanting French flower buckets for a while.
fidgiegirl
6-7-12, 10:30pm
Grateful to be able to stay on in my job next year, and that my coworker is gracious and wonderful about the fact that she is not - (funding issue, not performance) :( So a mixed bag of gratitude tonight, though I'm feeling a lot better about things as the day goes on.
i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes
(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)
e e cummings
me too.
this morning I watched a male hummingbird slurp up lots of sugar water several times, the iridesence of his throat was blinding! Also had a robin family teaching one to fly- I think. A bluebird swooped onto the front lawn to grab a bug. Bunnies in the back yard. Glorious, low humidity day. Can't as for much more joy than that!!
fidgiegirl
6-14-12, 5:35pm
Gratitude for the fact that my usual drive to work rarely tops 20 minutes, max 30. I had to go to a further-afield location today and just so so glad I don't have to do it EVERY. DAY.
Grateful for the gift of several fruit trees, to which we added a couple more (as pollinators) to form the beginnings of our home "orchard" here at our new house.
fidgiegirl
6-14-12, 5:55pm
Ooh pug! Exciting!
Today's gratitude is the feeling that my life is finally aligning with what I believe in ~ I've had the last two days off in which my poor tired body has been able to recuperate somewhat from the first three days on a new job. This morning I woke up naturally at around 9am to the most beautiful mid-'70's low humidity day, did my stretching while listening to the radio, played my guitar for a while, took a shower, hopped on the bus to go downtown for a free concert in the park, window-shopped at a cool little store called "Found" (they have all sorts of nifty recycled art-things and ephemera from the past), talked to some former co-workers, took the bus home, rode my bike to get some produce, and cooked a huge Cuban black bean and Mango stew to eat for dinners the next few days. Now I am about to go to an open mic that I have not been to before, and then on to my "cheers" bar for the blues jam so I can hang out with my friends. I don't even have to be at work until 3pm Friday!!!! I'm lovin' it!
Tussiemussies
6-14-12, 10:06pm
: )
I am grateful that since I officially left my corporate-America job, my blood pressure has gone down 15-20 points on each side and I've stopped gaining weight. It's been a little strange on my body clock to not be waking at 5 every morning and not having to eat meals at designated time, but I think I'll manage that. :-)
[EDIT] I suppose I should say that I am grateful for my wonderful wife, the one whose encouragement and income made this possible. (Hmm, no <3 icons here?)
Congrats, Steve! When my father-in-law quit corporate America, he dropped 30 pounds. My own blood pressure dropped 20 points as well, even with the uncertainties of self-employment. Guess that lifestyle was just never right for me.
Congrats Steve! It just goes to show most typical American employment is injurious to one's health!
Tussiemussies
6-16-12, 1:02am
Congratulations Steve, when I quit corp. working my health also improved too. I am so thankful to my husband for letting me be a housewife!
Sounds like you are enjoying the little things in life now -- not having to eat at certain times etc. Your list of things you enjoy will probably get longer and longer!
Christine
Thank you, all!
At work there is a sort of standing joke about seeing retirees when they come back for retirement or anniversary parties (still plenty of people there with 20-30-35 years in): the retirees were always smiling, had lost weight, and didn't look so pale. To a person, this was true -- even the ones who did not retire voluntarily!
You'd think there would be a lesson in there for us, but I think it got lost in the rush back the office to prep for the next meeting...
awakenedsoul
6-16-12, 10:33pm
First some background - I volunteer at our local libary watering/fertilizing the plants inside. I have asked for years for access to a quiet sink or tap for the water supply. Usually I have to use the sink in the staff room which often has dirty dishes and leftover crud sitting it. Really gross. Management has made every effort to get the offending staff to clean up after themselves.
Two weeks ago, I was feeling really yucky, on a time limit and found the sink filled and overflowing. I asked if the contents belonged to anyone on staff at that time. No one claimed anyhting so I dumped the whole mess into the garbage and told management what I had done via email with warnings that it was unacceptable to volunteer under those conditions.
Soooo, I am grateful that I now have a key to access any sink for filling, a new cart to carry the watering cans and last night a staff member cheerfully high fived me and effusively thanked me for tossing the dirty dishes as the majority of the staff found the mess by a very few unacceptable. She said that it took something like my actions for the offenders to see just how gross their behaviour had been.
I got a good laugh over this! I'm so glad they fixed the situation for you. It's strange how inconsiderate some people can be sometimes.
I'm grateful for my orchard and vegetable garden. I am amazed at the production this year. I'm grateful that I'm able to stay home and work on my home and garden. I'm grateful for my health, pets, and my bicycle. I'm grateful for forums like this that encourage simple living.
fidgiegirl
6-16-12, 11:04pm
So glad my body is in good enough shape to be able to do exercise.
Thankful for my sweet doggy to keep me company now that my DH is out of town on the annual fishing trip.
Glad to have a DH that I actually will miss during his fishing trip :)
iris lily
6-17-12, 12:31am
This morning I found out that our current foster bulldog is Heartworm positive. This is the first dog with Heartworms I've ever had. But I am grateful for several things:
* We can afford the $665 treatment
* She is young and strong and beautiful, with a perfect personality. There's no question as to IF we should give her the treatment as there might be with an older dog or one that had other health problems
* We've got her vet records which show that one year ago she was Heart worm negative, so that means that her infection is recent, and that's good
* She's got a lovely calm personality, so being on bed rest for 3 months won't be a burden for her.
fidgiegirl
6-17-12, 10:11am
Oh Iris, what a sweetie!! So glad you can help her. Doesn't the rescue group have any funds? Or is that what you meant by "we?"
Beautiful weather. A wonderful hike yesterday. Good friends, including a new friend I made on the hike yesterday. A greater feeling of freedom and purpose than I've felt in a long time.
Thank you, all!
At work there is a sort of standing joke about seeing retirees when they come back for retirement or anniversary parties (still plenty of people there with 20-30-35 years in): the retirees were always smiling, had lost weight, and didn't look so pale. To a person, this was true -- even the ones who did not retire voluntarily!
You'd think there would be a lesson in there for us, but I think it got lost in the rush back the office to prep for the next meeting...
And for me, one of my favorite employees retired more than ten years ago and we've not seen her since. Now THAT is the real deal--get out and don't look back.
At my place of work there are far too many retirees who keep coming back again and again, especially to the holiday party which is always held at the peak of holiday season and I have to wonder at that. Do they not have anything else to do? doh. Sad.
Oh Iris, what a sweetie!! So glad you can help her. Doesn't the rescue group have any funds? Or is that what you meant by "we?"
DH and I will donate the cost of her care. Our Rescue group operates on a shoestring budget. Sometimes we are waiting for a check to clear for a recently adopted dog so that we can pay the vet for the surgery he performs on another dog. My general approach is that while we are both working and before we retire, I'll pick up the tab for health care for any of my fosters, providing that I agree the treatment should go forward. She was supposed to be a quick in and out (after spay) dog, but now, nope. Oh yeah--and here's the other thing I am grateful for: she will be here for 3 months so we will get to enjoy her for that time. And also during that time I know that we won't be expected to take another dog which is great. We've had two difficult dogs this year and I want a rest from that.
SteveinMN
6-17-12, 10:01pm
At my place of work there are far too many retirees who keep coming back again and again, especially to the holiday party which is always held at the peak of holiday season and I have to wonder at that. Do they not have anything else to do? doh. Sad.
Without thread-jumping too much, where I was working, I'll just say that most people there (except those hired fairly recently) expect to be "lifers". To put it in perspective, the first work anniversary observed by the company is your 15th (!). Retirees are given a "gold badge" which gives them access to company activities and some buildings. They can still be members of the employee club. Given that folks came to the company and never left, many friendships have formed over the years. So, for this company, there's nothing unusual about retirees coming back for events like that. In fact, it's rarer to have the ones that disappear. Yeah, the place was an anachronism when I joined it as an employee 15 years ago. It's even more so now, though I expect that will change as employee life devolves to be like every place else (the Minneapolis paper listed its top 30 large companies for employers; once again, my former employer was missing in action). If so many of us were not wearing the golden handcuffs ....
Grateful that there's at least a little bit of an early-riser in my constitution, so I can get in my hour's walk before it gets beastly hot here.
Thankful too that the Colorado wildfires are far enough away from us (at this moment) that we can get on with our lives, cautiously. And that it brings out the best in many people (not all , but many). This little clip, from a father who'd come to go whitewater rafting in CO with his family, is from our local news bureau, and brought tears to my eyes:
“We were sleeping for 15 minutes when they started knocking on the door — a day from hell,” Stein said of the day of travel. With his wife and two sons, Stein spent the first night of his vacation setting up cots for more than 200 evacuees who slept at the school.
“I think it’s the best vacation ever. This is what the real world is about. There’s a lot of people that need help,” Stein said.
Today, thankful for a smidgen of rain where we live (about five minutes of downpour). It helped us feel a little hope that there may be a way out of this fire season yet.
I'm grateful--especially now--to live in a benevolent environment where it rains a lot and really hot days are rare.
I'm grateful that the closing for my house was today and everything went smoothly. I'm grateful that I got a decent offer after only 2 months on the market. And I'm very grateful to never have to make that long drive down to Atlanta to check on the house again.
Tussiemussies
6-29-12, 1:32am
So grateful for my husband and our little rat terrier, Nellie. After a few rocky years that we went through mid-point in our marriage, he has treated me so well since then. We'll be married 27 years this August. Also just love my little dog Nellie who is so cute and adorable. Just watching her and listening to the cutest, little snore that I ever heard in my life gives me so much joy. Thank you God!
So grateful today for the ability to work at home. It's not too hot today, so I was able to drag my laptop, coffee, and phone outside and work at the patio table for a while. I get tired of being cooped up all day sometimes!
fidgiegirl
6-29-12, 4:40pm
Thankful to have my possessions under control.
Glad to have a wonderful Family of Origin, doing good things for other people and making it day to day.
Thankful to be able to be independent in my own quiet, private space.
Feeling glad to have found our important paperwork (marriage license, car titles, etc. etc.) which had somehow been misfiled when we moved. We're ever-vigilant about having to pick up and evacuate, and not having a handle on where these things were was really getting to us. Whew.
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