Me on Monday: Thanksgiving Weekend

 

My friend, Sian at From High in the Sky, hosts a place to check in from the weekend in a 

convenient list format. What kind of a weekend was it?

- It was a four days off from work Thanksgiving Weekend,

- a happy that the boy found a last minute ride home weekend,

- a relaxing dinner with friends on Thursday and drinks/left overs with friends on Friday weekend,

- a creating photo Christmas cards weekend,

- a starting to binge watch Jessica Jones on Netflix weekend,

- a hanging out with the boy, watching football and soccer kind of weekend; and

- It was a taking the dogs out for many walks in the beautiful weather kind of weekend.

What kind of weekend did you have?

Gratitude on Thanksgiving Day

Today is Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. I've been keeping a gratitude list this month. I posted week 1 a while ago, and today seems like a good day to post the rest!
The first few come from when I took a trip to Eugene at the beginning of the month to visit my son Henry in Eugene, Oregon.

6-grateful for an on time flight and a movie theater that serves beer

7 - grateful for a quiet room and comfy bed; grateful for my son's help

8- grateful for a dry place to sit while watching soccer; a hot shower; and a much needed nap

9 - grateful for plans coming together

10 - grateful for a new beginning 

11 - grateful for family

12 - grateful for a walk on the bluffs with Paul and the dogs - sunshine, cool air, beautiful views and exercise 

13 - grateful for upbeat music on the radio and my students 

14 - grateful for signs of progress and a good friend who listens  

15 - grateful for Shanghai soup dumplings and date night with Paul

16 - grateful for a crisp, sunny day; good health; and help from the high school

17- grateful for a full tuition grant and a smile from my daughter

18 - grateful for a friendly stranger with directions and a well-placed in and out burger.

19 - grateful for soccer victories and dinner with an old friend 

20 - grateful to be a soccer mom and the connection it gives me to my boy

21 - grateful for the boys winning the national championship in club soccer, Henry being named to the all tournament team and (most of all) being able to share it all with him.

22 - grateful for a safe trip home and a relaxing afternoon 

23 - grateful to hear Henry's coming home for thanksgiving and that Clara found a school.

24 - grateful for my comfy home and loving husband at the end of a long day.

25 - grateful for my children 

26 - grateful for my brothers and sisters, my parents in heaven and best friends who have become family 

Me on Monday (or Tuesday)

Spent a long weekend in Phoenix, Arizona watching my boy play soccer in the national club championship tournament.

The boys won the national championship!

And Henry was named to the All Tournament Team for his outstanding offensive play!

Who could ask for anything more?

Well, apparently I could. Because I also got to sneak in a dinner date with one of my favorite blog friends, Deb of Paper Turtle. Overall, an outstanding weekend!
How was yours?

Gratitude: Week 1

Thank you to all who sent hugs and left caring messages on my Monday post. We are continuing to work through some issues here at home. But in the meantime, I have been keeping a gratitude list.

Here's a list of the things I have noted this week:
1. Grateful for a day of peace, a good workout, finishing my casebook chapters and rain.
2. Grateful for the time change, being able to fit into my clothes, escaping to work, and cooler temperatures and so I can bundle up.
3. Grateful for good counsel and a college acceptance letter.

4. Grateful for a well-taught class and a good stretch.
5. Grateful for the feel of sunshine on my skin and to be living by the sea.
What are you grateful for this week?

Photo Pairs: Land and Sea

I had a very nice walk down at the beach today with Luna. She's become quite the swimmer and loves to fetch. It's a day late, but I'm linking up with Helena's photo pairs this week.

Me on Monday: On Struggling and Gratitude

It's the Monday after the Halloween weekend and normally I would have a chirpy post full of how much fun we had this weekend and photos of the festivities. But, to be honest, it was a weekend of struggle. A struggle with work. A struggle with family. I may share more later; it depends how things play out. We didn't go to the annual Halloween party. We were not in the mood for a party. And I was, finally, making headway on my work project. So we stayed home. For now all I have to share are the photos I took of my Dias de los Muertos altar I put up, even though I took it down . . . a victim of the struggles.

And then, somewhere in the midst of the weekend, I came across this photo on instagram. That's my boy (#10 in midfield) playing soccer under a rainbow. His college team was playing in the regional club soccer tournament (they lost in the semi's to the eventual tournament champion). It made me smile.

And I started to notice people posting the intention to compile daily gratitude lists for November.

And, on Sunday night, as I was finally finishing up my work project to send, I heard rain begin to fall. 

And I realized that November 1 at least had not been a completely bad day. I did have things to be grateful for:

a day of peace;

a good workout;

finishing my casebook chapters; and

rain.

I'm not sure how often I will post my gratitude list, but I am going to try to find and note at least one thing to be grateful for each day in November.