Daily: Reflect on 5 things for which I'm grateful.

My computer is sad so I haven’t checked in lately…

Today I am grateful:

- That all seems to be going well at my new branch location. I’m only a bit overwhelmed, which I think is excellent.

- That my yarn store has a satellite store near my new work location. I went there today at lunch. Happy, happy, happy

- At the yarn store I found a new pattern booklet for knit balloon animals. You knit a tube of sausages and then twist it around to make specific animals. Awesome!

- My mother felt like being a Mama this morning and insisted on driving me to work. ‘It’s too cold to be at the bus stop honey.’

- Making valentines with the boy. I’m still covered with glitter, my cat is covered with glitter, my kitchen is covered in glitter. It’s pretty.

Today I am grateful for:

- my cat

- the tooth that came out today

- for my friends at school

- my home

- the tooth fairy coming tonight

Today I am grateful:

- that my Bohus itch is going to be scratched

- for the boy coming to me during breakfast and telling me he had decided where we should give our $10.00 this month. (This New Year I told him that every month we would give $10.00 away and that we would work together to figure out who to give it too.) He told me that, “We should send our money this month to the Red Cross.” I asked him why the Red Cross and he asked me if I had heard about what happened in Haiti. I said yes and asked him what he knew about it. He said that the people there had no food or water and that their buildings fell down and about 12 or 15 people had died. We talked about earthquakes and that our house would be OK, if that happened here, which seemed to make him less freaked out. He asked if the Red Cross would help and I said yes. I have no idea if I handled the conversation well, but I hope so. I haven’t had the news on with him around, but wow. I’d like to bring the money down to the local office, but I don’t want to be a bother. I’m sure it would be easier online, but I think it would make a difference for the boy, especially since he initiated this one and it’s our first.

- for polenta. I have discovered the yummiest thing in the world, which can be topped with almost anything and be made even more yummy.

- for lingering over my coffee today, midst long walk

- for laughing with the boy tonight while watching Pixar shorts.

Today I am grateful for:

- time to hang out at the yarn store today after work.

- leftover polenta and other healthy options.

- green apples. I’ve been eating tons lately. I don’t know why I’ve been craving sugar, but the apples are helping.

- going to work today to do a storytime, and then leaving soon thereafter. Short and sweet.

- so far no one has tried to talk me out of the Bohus Sweater obsession.

Today I am grateful:

- for finally getting off my butt and getting my home back in a liveable state.

- for Martin Luther King day. Last week my boy came home from school with a MLK medal he had made and colored. He told me that Martin Luther King won the ‘biggest medal in the whole world.’

- for the smell of clean laundry

- for the glow on my mother’s face as she talked about some upcoming plans

- for Bohus Sweaters. I’m developing an obsession. These sweaters literally glow. They have fair-isle like collars, though they use more than two colors at a time. They are knit on insanely small needles. Today I asked my mother to talk me out of it, and she practically screamed, “I will not! They are magnificent!” We were having breakfast at a local restaurant and I think she scared the waitress. The kits are sold through a Swedish museum and I might have to pawn my child to afford one. The shipping alone is about $50 bucks. Take a look at http://www.solsilke.se/
I can’t decide between ‘Gold’ and ‘Dark Forest’ with the black body.

Today I am grateful for:

- my boy. Thank you for changing everything about my life and giving me someone to celebrate annual spitting-crackers-out-of-your-mouth day with.

- my friends. Thank you for your support, laughter, and faith in my driving.

- the ice-shanty project on Medicine Lake. It’s an annual event where artists create ice houses with fun and fantastic themes. I think the library shack and the spy shack were my favorites.
http://www.artshantyprojects.org/

- living in the Twin Cities.

- work tomorrow, which gets me going on a potentially lazy day.

These gratitudes are being done by my 6-year old son.

Today I am grateful for:

- playing games with my Mom

- my friends at school

- my cat

- the day

Today I am grateful:

- for being able to make dinner out of the food in my fridge

- for the Yarn Harlot’s campaign for Doctors Without Borders. She’s helped to raise over $50 K in the last two days.

- for all the kids at storytime today who joined in with pretending to be birds. We flew up past the top of the building, up to the top of a mountain, and back down to the tree tops (our rug is a big tree). We roosted on the branches and then tucked our heads under our wings and went to sleep. When I looked up and saw all the little birds sitting in front of me I almost started crying.

- for Kevin Henkes and James Marshall, our featured storytime authors. George and Martha are the best.

- for the sound of my boy’s laughter

Today I am grateful:

- that I will never have a job contract that is discussed by every news and entertainment show

- that I challenged myself and went ice skating today with my boy. Once upon a time I could ice skate, but I don’t remember feeling like I had cement blocks around my ankles. Very fun

- that it is so easy to donate to the Red Cross. It is one of the great things about living in the internet age.

- for all the things I take for granted: drinking water, heat, food at the grocery store, relative peace and quiet

- for my boy’s toothless smile. (He told me to add, “But it won’t be for long!”

Today I am grateful for:

- the yarn store. I don’t think I could continue without it in my life. Tuesdays can be difficult for me if I don’t have work scheduled. I just couldn’t get going this morning and recoginized that the glumpies had taken roost. In moments like that I force myself to get up and high-tail it to the yarn store. There I sit and knit or do things on my to-do list. Today I made all the phone calls I’ve been putting off (when customers weren’t there of course). I had a lovely latte and knit while my windshield was finally replaced. (One of the phone calls) If I didn’t have that place, I’d either go insane or have to sell my home and try to recreate it.

- People who come to you and fix windshields.

- Finishing my mother’s Christmas present: a fabulous knit shawl.

- Warmer weather. Maybe this week the boy and I will go ice-skating.

- A scheduled day tomorrow.