Live in gratitude & be happy even if the rest of the things on this list never happen

There was rain today. Only a little, but enough to bring out the rich smell of earth. I hope there’s more on the way!

I had a haircut today. I love the feeling of someone playing with my hair.

I’ve had a couple of editing jobs come in, which I am grateful for. It will be nice to have a little spare money before Christmas.

I’m also grateful I didn’t go out and buy a new book today, just because I was feeling out of sorts. I have enough to read already.

Writing continues to roll steadily along, which pleases me. It is never as much as I want, but the sheer fact that it is steady right now is something to be very grateful for.

My other tasks are ticking over nicely too. I’ve even got a few Christmas cards written already.

I realised today that it has been quite a while since I wrote a gratitude list, despite having many things to be grateful for. It seems like today is a day for getting back on track with things and I am certainly grateful for that.

I have been doing a wonderful job of making my writing and reading goals this month, which pleases me no end. Lately I’ve been feeling quite scattered, with a lot of things clamouring for my attention. One of the ways I have been dealing with it is to focus on getting those goals done first before I turn my attention to the myriad of other things.

My study smells deliciously of lavender today. I spent some of the morning cutting back some of the dead flowers from my bush and have set them to drying in my study.

There’s also a deliciously cool breeze coming in the window at the moment. Summer has been threatening this week and while I very much enjoy the warmer weather, the cool change makes such a lovely contrast.

The weather has taken a sudden turn for the worse. It has been about half the temperature today as it was yesterday. I’m very grateful I changed into long sleeves before I left the house this morning. I was cold enough in that; it would have been freezing in a T-shirt.

I knocked over a few errands today, which was very lovely. Nice to have them out of the way.

I was also relaxed enough to get some reading done and have been rather enjoying my book.

This evening I had an especially lovely dinner with my sister. She shared some of the latest LOLcatz pictures she’d aquired. My cheeks are sore from laughter and there were tears.

I’m very grateful to be completely done with my thesis. I handed it in today. I was especially glad I was able to track down my supervisor to have her sign my form. She was being kept busy by a university audit. Fortunately, I had the chance to chat with one of my classmates while we waited for her.

I did some shopping today. I not only picked up some more grapefruit (love those summer fruits) and some green tea, but I also found myself a lovely amber pendant to celebrate finishing my Honours year.

My sweet and lovely sister is celebrating her first wedding anniversary today. It seems like it’s a very special day all round. She also showed me she was thinking of me by directing me to the site of a local tea seller that has some awesome stuff.

Right now, I’m just enjoying a cup of tea while I wait for my sweetheart to come and pick me up for dinner. I’m really looking forward to spending some time.

I’m also really looking forward to the massage I booked in for tomorrow.

I had a terrible day yesterday. I’m very grateful that things are back on track.

I’m also very grateful to my sister. I don’t ask many things of her, but I tend to be quite demanding when I do. She always takes it with such good grace and really came through for me today.

The end is in sight. Tomorrow is my last day for getting any decent work done on my thesis. I’m very much looking forward to having it done.

I’ve also been grateful for the chilly weather today. It keeps me from wanting to go outside when I should be working.

I’m very grateful for tea. It gets me through that afternoon energy slump.

Today I am grateful for:

A good night’s sleep.

The ring of flowers blooming on my cactus.

For allowing myself some time to freak out. For recognising it is part of the process.

For book chats with my sister.

For getting this place (very) marginally tidier.

That Dad allowed me to cheat on dinner, since we were both too tired to really care.

For an evening cool change.

That tomorrow is a new day.

There were many wonderful things to be grateful for today, not the least of which was finally handing in my thesis to my supervisor today. It’s nice not to have to worry about it again until Monday.

I did a bit of shopping today and finally picked up my 2009 Moleskin diary. I started using one for the first time at the beginning of this year and I’m a total convert. I spent some of this afternoon writing up all the birthdays and celebrations for next year. It’s a process I love.

I spent some lovely time this afternoon with Merceria and the Countess. We started out at the local chocolaterie, where I ate entirely too much chocolate and loved every minute of it. It has been too long since the three of us spent some time together.

Then we headed off to Borders where I made the most of their very generous birthday gift voucher.

I was exhausted when I got home! But I took the time to savour half a grapefruit. My eating habits have been terrible lately and I’ve really been craving some fresh fruit. Fortunately summer is coming up. I love summer fruit.

My sweetheart stopped in briefly. It was nice to check in, even if only for a little while. We’ll get to spend some more time tomorrow.

There were storms last night and I was woken up at 4am by a big crack of thunder. It was so lovely to hear the rain coming down, though.

And it still managed to clear up in the afternoon. So I got the best of both worlds—both the rain and the sunshine!

The end is in sight. I just have one last section of my exegesis to redraft and then I’m off the hook until next week. With any luck, my supervisor won’t have too much for me to redraft (again).

And now I’m off for a nice, long soak in the bath with a new book. I’ve certainly earned it.

Things have been coming along on schedule with my thesis, for which I am very grateful. Things are coming down to the wire now and every day I wake up and worry that I won’t make today’s milestone and that things will start to fall apart. Yet every day I make my milestone. I am also very grateful for my resiliance.

I spent some time today basking in the sunshine in between sessions of writing. It was so lovely to sit out in the warmth on my front door step and eat toast.

I discovered where the lovely scent of jasmine in my front yard is coming from. Somehow a jasmine vine has managed to insert itself amongst the ivy and honeysuckle that climbs over my front fence. It’s a very fragrant addition that I am enjoying very much.

My sweetheart came to visit this evening. Over the last few days he has been making a special point to come and see me as often as he can. He knows that this is a stressful time for me and is doing his best to ease it for me.

Only 15 days to go!

I woke to the sound of steady rain this morning. How delicious it was to lie in bed and listen to it.

The grey of the sky made the green of spring all the more beautiful. We don’t get such vivid veridian for much of the year.

When the rain stopped I made good use of the soft ground by doing some weeding. It makes weeding even more of a pleasure!

I had a super productive day today as well. I got a heap done on my uni work and don’t have much more to go. I also made a bit of pocket money on some editing work.

Over lunch (and the internet) I had a lovely chat with my brother-in-law who showed me what a sweetheart man he is by expressing concern over the way things have been for me.

Now I’m just passing time before I head out to dinner with friends. I’m very excited about seeing everyone.