Fleur de Aleta

I'm grateful that Greg is home. Neither of us slept well with him being out of town. I worry about him driving so much, but I understand and appreciate what he does for a living. I can't imagine if he had to work away from home for months at a time. I know quite a few couples that have long distance marriages, due to work and the economy. It has to be so hard on them to be apart. Very, very grateful that our jobs keep us relatively close to home (a good 97% of the time) - yeah!

I was in such a bad mood after the sleep study this past Friday night. It wasn’t a good experience, but I’m thankful it’s the second and LAST sleep study that needs to be done. Now, I just have to wait to get the CPAP machine. On Saturday, with no sleep the night before, I didn’t think I would make the beading meeting. I’m grateful that I did. I brought some of the bead stones that Sally wanted to see. She said, “Look, you have a moon in this stone!” Beverly wanted to see it and then she replied, “This reminds me of the pendant I gave you that has a penis in it!” I busted out laughing. There are some things you just don’t expect to hear. Then Beverly told the story of how she went to a beading meeting once where they beaded around a penis (NOT a real one, of course – yeah, get that image out of your head now)… anyway, it was small plastic penises and Beverly told the group, “No thank you, I have the real thing at home.” One of the girls made a necklace with the penis as the pen...

I'm grateful for rainbows. Is that a silly thing? When I see a rainbow, if I have a camera with me, you can believe I'll take a picture. Rainbows make me think of laughter - all those pretty colors ~ I can't help but smile, seeing all those bright melding hues painted across the sky. When we were in Hawaii, on the way to and up the hike on Diamond Head Crater, we saw multiple rainbows. It was the extra highlight to the day. And, no, I'm not a hippie and I'm very straight. I just love colors! I read once about a cake that was made with white icing, but the layers on the inside were rainbow colors - how cool!

I'm grateful for my quiet world. I wrote about my hearing problems in the past. What I didn't write about was when my parents bought me hearing aides. This happened one Christmas not long ago; my parents gift to me was hearing. I never knew what I didn't have until I put those hearing aides in.... I got into my car and turned on the radio and... I HEARD the words! I listened to one song I've heard a number of times and said, "Ohhhhh, that's what it was all about!" When I got home, I was on the computer. Nobody else was there. I heard a sound, something moving. I turned towards the sound and wow - it was the window blinds moving in the other room. (Tigger, our cat, likes to sit on the windowsill and warm his fur.) Then, I was typing on the computer and had to stop. I heard something, but couldn't place it. I went absolutely still and finally realized - it was the tick-tock of the wall clock! The next day, I went to the office and sounds were pl...

"Attitude of Gratitude" That’s what my friend, Gwen, recently said on Facebook. She said that I inspired that quote and Wow – what a compliment! I’m happy to be a positive inspiration. My friends help me through so much ~ sometimes just because they let me vent, lend an ear and offer suggestions and continued strength. We are not an island to ourselves. We need communication and crave togetherness. I’m incredibly grateful for my friends. Not only for the wonderful friends that I know in real life, but also all you wonderful bloggy friends! Connections across the world, seeing the every day life and the joys and tears – sharing – it’s important; it’s valuable. Thank you *hugs

I'm grateful that my husband appreciates my creativity and he encourages it. He doesn't get irritated or annoyed when I want to spend time making jewelry . He'll offer suggestions and *cough* sometimes disagree with my color choices. Lol. (I promise he never has to wear it!) He doens't mind the hours I might spend working on iMovies . In fact, he showed me iMovies on the iMac and gets a kick out of me using it. He's also given me some great ideas on finishing touches with the movies. Not only does Greg appreciate and encourage, he participates by helping me and offering ideas. (I realized a little too late that some iMovies were too long to go on the MobileMe site, so I'll have to trim them down some.)

I'm grateful that my parents are deeply in love. My parents love for each other - made me never give up on love. It is real. It can happen and it's beautiful. When I see my parents smile, it makes me smile. When I see them bicker (as couples will), sometimes they are just too darn cute! When I see them hurt, they support one another. Nothing is perfect, I realize it of course. I know it takes thinking of the other person, being considerate and appreciative and understanding and flexible and thoughtful and being positive. My parents strive for this and they make it work, no matter the flaws of personality or difficult things that life tosses their way. I'm grateful for the way my parents love each other. It's a model of love I'm fortunate to have.

As Greg and I were taking down the Halloween decorations and putting up the Thanksgiving decorations ~ I found a new Thanksgiving angel that I bought late last year, after the Thanksgiving date. Written on the angel's skirt is about being grateful and giving thanks. October was the month of NaBloWriMo - posting anything as long as you posted each day of the month (I made it - yeah!) This month, I'm going to post about things that I'm grateful for. I'm going to attempt to keep going with the post a day (though I missed yesterday - it was my "break day" :) - but with the theme of gratitude. For today ~ I'm grateful that I have a husband who supports and encourages me. Greg recently bought a scooter. You might not know this about me, but anything with just two wheels doesn't generally work well me it. It's a balance issue. Greg took me to the baseball parking lot, which was empty that early in the morning. Greg drove the scooter, with me as a pa...