There are many things I am thankful for #10

Is is bad that I am sick of writing about what I am thankful for? I'm really impressed with anyone else involved in this challenge through The Insomniac's Dream who actually wrote every day. Some people chose to list one thing each day they were thankful for. Maybe that would be a better plan. Because each time I think about it, I come up with big, universal ideas. I can only tell you that I am thankful for my friends and family and lip gloss so many times. Have I mentioned that I am thankful for lip gloss? Because it's my world!

But in keeping with the spirit, I will tell you that I am thankful for Connect 4. I am ridiculously good at Connect 4. And that's okay to say because I don't have a lot of obvious talents so you have to kind of give me some space to gloat about a skill as measly as crushing opponents in a game targeted for 6 and above.

Last night we hosted our first ever Friendsgiving. Holiday gatherings seem to get more and more complicated as I get older and people marry off and then you have all sorts of in-law variations to contend with. I kind of wanted to run away from it all and just celebrate with my homies but I knew my mom would be upset about it so I stuck with tradition. The idea pleased me so much, though, that we decided to do an addition to our traditional Thanksgiving and have friends over on Sunday just for pie. We then appropriately named it Friendsgiving: Pie Edition. And when I say "we" I mean me because my husband made fun of me for it.

It was really intimate; I invited 4 people and my husband invited 3. One person from each side dropped out so it was quaint. Everyone invited was part of our wedding party five years ago, with one exception. These are the people we call when you are freaking out. Friends who know you without you having to give a backstory. For me, these are the people who keep me as sane and grounded as I ever get. When family gets crazy, when big life crises erupt, these are the people I know will support me, have fun with me, tell me I am right. And it just felt appropriate to celebrate the family that we have created in some way.

One of my friends was going to write speeches for everyone but got sidetracked. Then she decided she would orate her speeches but I only heard one (and it wasn't mine! :)) So I guess this post ended up being a taste of what my speeches would have been if I had come up with her brilliant idea. I would list the times I called on them and how they helped me. I might have talked about a couple of shared highlights from the year past. But that stuff is private and you probably don't want to hear about all of it anyway. Except maybe the time....wait, no. That's a secret.

So how did I get here from Connect 4? Good question. I almost forgot. We played Connect 4 at Friendsgiving: Pie Edition and I am the reigning champion. It only sweetened the night.

There are many things I am thankful for #9

It's so much easier to be thankful this week! Maybe it's the short work week? Or the fun things coming up? Or just gorgeous blue skies?

This week I am finding it much easier to be thankful for the little things as I notice them. Last night after seeing a friend, I reveled in how grateful I am to be able to spend time with good friends and that I have them. This morning, the parking lot I was in was next to a farm that had a llama as well as a number of horses and it was so nice to just sit and watch them for a few minutes. The combination of moments like that and hating to drive in the city make me so thankful for living in the suburbs. Also, twice this week I have seen people picking up trash or debris at a park or on the side of the road and have been thankful that they were willing to give of themselves in that way. Sometimes it just takes a little mindfulness to look around and appreciate what you see.

Part of my cheery disposition is that tomorrow is my favorite day of the year. No, I'm not forgetting a day on my calendar; my favorite day of the year is the day BEFORE Thanksgiving. Since I was in the first grade, so over 25 years ago (gasp!), my mother and I have gone to Plymouth-home of THE rock-on this day. More specifically, we go to Plimoth Plantation, a living museum where people represent colonists from the year 1627 and act and speak as if they were a specific resident in that year. Last year was extra awesome because I had just learned that my mother's family descends from a Mayflower passenger and we got to go into 'his home' in the colony and chat with him.

Not only do I love history and the strong roots that I have grown up with in the midst of New England, but I just adore traditions. This is the most salient tradition I have in my family, though there are many smaller examples. I am so thankful that my mother came up with this idea years ago and that she raised me to appreciate all that it teaches and represents. Through the years, different people have come along or dropped off but it has always been my special day with my mother. Even as an adult, I think it's great to have a mommy/daughter day each year!

For a long time, we followed this tradition to a tee. We would buy the same fudge afterward, visit the rock and then go to the same little restaurant. The last few years, we took it up a notch and have bought tickets to eat a Harvest Supper with the pilgrims after our visit to the village. They pray, they sing, they come joke with us at the tables, all in character. The food is all traditional to what they might have consumed in 1627....and they make a mean rice pudding!

So, I am really looking forward to all of that and a few days off. What are you thankful for today?

There are many things I am thankful for #1

Well, let's start with the obvious: It's November. Thanksgiving is coming. It's time to be thankful.

Regarding my title......Do you remember that song from elementary song? "There are many things I am thankful for. Let me tell you what they are." If you don't, then you definitely didn't have the pleasure of sitting with Ms. Conway, a heavy chain smoking music teacher who was the best at holiday theme songs and traditions. And letting us play with tambourines. So let me start by saying I am thankful for having a teacher who did something right if I remember her and her songs two and a half decades later.

A lot of people use November as a time to update their Facebook status every day with things they are grateful for. I am not going that route so that the people who complain that some people glamorize their lives publicly won't have anything to say about my sunny disposition this month. If you read my blog, it's your own fault if you are exposed to some less cranky words coming from me.

So, following the inspiration of some fellow bloggers such as The Sleepy Bard and The Next Step, I am accepting the challenge to spend November blogging about the things for which I am grateful. Here are my caveats: I don't promise every day blog posts but I promise to think about and somehow acknowledge the things I am grateful for each day. Actually, even before this challenge, I did this verbally with my husband last night. And I don't promise long posts. Sometimes just a line or two. But I promise to be mindful of the things I am grateful for and to see how that makes a difference in my life.

There is research out there that shows that keeping a daily gratitude journal increases perceptions of happiness and lowers symptoms of depression. Those are good things, right? Plus, Oprah recommended it ans she is the greatest sage of my era.

So today I begin simply, leaving room for to grow the list for the rest of the month. I am thankful for good friends. I went to a  movie last night with a good friend to see The Perks of Being a Wallflower-it was really good-and was so content in the simple pleasure that it was to be together to eat some popcorn and watch a movie. The older I have gotten, the more I value the people in my life who are genuine and constant. Even if my social circle is still broad, there are only a handful of people that I know will care 100% about my good days as well as my bad and I am so blessed to have a full handful of those kinds of people in my life. So I am thankful for my friends everyday but giving them the shout out they deserve today.

Ode to 2011: 11 Events that defined my 2011

So I'm a week late with my farewell salute to 2011.....well, I'm late in actually posting it. As part of my job I run a Speaker's Bureau and we met on Thursday night. My coworker provided a writing prompt that helped me to reflect on what I wanted to say to summarize the year. It was a take on something that had been posted somewhere else onlline that highlighted the 11 events that defined 2011. I decided to make my own top 11 events of the year.

1. Glaciar Hike in Iceland.

2. Flamenco Show in Seville, Spain

3. My first trip to classic Europe.

4. Traveling with my parents for my mother's first trip out of the country to Bermuda.

5. Swimming with the Dolphins.

                                     

6. Canyoning in Costa Rica.

7. Seeing the Tower of London after all my reading about it.

8. Hiking Rio Celeste.

9. The New Kids on the Block Concert at Fenway Park.

10. Accidentally biking 72 miles on the Cape Cod rail trail and beyond.

11. Making my first from scratch apple pie to be served at Thanksgiving dinner.

Ultimately, 2011 was a huge year for me. I got to travel for 6 weeks out of the year and see some truly awe inspiring sights and, more importantly, have some life changing experiences with people I love. It will be a year I never forget. Can't wait to see what 2012 will bring....

There are many things I am thankful for

Did anyone recognize that line from a song I remember singing as a kid? It would go on to say "I'm thankful for the earth. I'm thankful for the sea. I'm thankful for my country and I'm thankful to be me." Or at least I think those are the words.

Speaking of singing, in church this week we sang some songs for Thanksgiving. My favorite weeks are the ones near holidays where we get to sing songs that I'm really familiar with.  I remembered singing those Thanksgiving songs in elementary school growing up but when I was singing the words in church, it occurred to me that my niece and nephew probably don't even know what these songs are because they would never fly in a school system these days. Part of me is amazed that they let me sing about God even back then and another big part of me is really sad for the kids today who don't get to learn these classic holiday songs.

A lot of blogs have focused on lists of things they are grateful for this month, being Thanksgiving themed and all. I totally wanted to copy them!! But I decided to wait and hold it all in for this week to really embrace the holiday spirit. I adore Thanksgiving (yes, more than Christmas in some ways) but this year, partly because of  my vacation and partly because of the unseasonably warm weather (snowstorm aside) we have been experiencing, I feel a little unprepared for turkey day this week. So my hope is that focusing for a few days, at least, on the real roots of the celebration will bring me up to speed.

Each year in my journal on Thanksgiving I fill a page with things I am thankful for, large and small. I would like to follow that pattern and, in no particular order, list a bunch of things I am really grateful for:
lipgloss   my bishop   reality tv   my husband   my mother   Stella (my cat)   Pants (my kitten)   cereal   my VIP movie pass   a supportive work environment   a job in this economy   my ability to travel this past year   my new carpet and green paint   DVR   Plimoth Plantation   family traditions   the smell of Barnes and Nobles   time to read   nutella   Golden Girls   heat   fall foliage   raspberries   my car   pools to swim in during the winter   hiking trails   The Humane Society   friends   Target   a safe relationship   health insurance   my grant being funded   being part of a faith community

And thank YOU for reading this:) Happy Thanksgiving!