Grateful Saturday

Because I want to highlight all the goodness that surrounds me right now...

• hanging out with D on the couch listening to a never-ending Supertramp song
• paints & colours & textures, oh my!
• our first sunny 20+ Celsius day of the year
• hiking a new-to-me trail at the Mer Bleue bog (#8 on 36 Things)
• the abstract painting class I started on Wednesday (#32 & #36 for at least 10 weeks) and the possibilities that come with trying something new
• chickadees, cardinals and woodpeckers outside my window
• Sis, Lala, and all the Squammettes
• last year's Squam experience (still!)
• my health
• the roof over my head
• healthy food
• my paycheck and the flexibility it allows me
• the Mad Chatters
• RSVPs trickling in for the wedding
• the prospect of a happy, healthy, adventure-filled marriage with D (and Cassie)
  
• my morning pages
• a trip to Montreal to the The Tragically Hip next Friday, another one in August to see AC/DC (floor tickets for that one!)
• and so much more...

I've been feeling envious, frustrated and discontent lately. Thanks to Christine Mason Miller's (aka Swirly) latest post, this Miniature Earth video helped put things into perspective. Check it out if you have a few minutes.

What are you grateful for today?

Mid-week Gratefuls

Because I feel like it, here are a few things for which I am grateful today:

• D. and Cassie
• we're in the final stages of prepping the wedding invitations, I've only had one meltdown and the wedding is still on
• opportunity
• painting
• learning
• my ever supportive and fun circle of friends and family
• my warm bed
• my home
• the new earrings I just got from Sis and Bro-in-Law for my birthday
  
• potential new projects - the process of getting excited about them even if they don't materialize
• my upcoming Abstract Painting class
• my upcoming Nia class
• creative energy
• rest
• my paycheck
• escaping in The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
  
• morning pages
• Squam
• my little Honda Civic
• an upcoming getaway to Montreal with D. to see the Tragically Hip
• lazy Saturday mornings
• the morning song sparrow, cardinal and chickadees at my window

Because I felt like it. I am blessed.

Smitten...

... by the sun and blue skies
... by the cardinal's song
... by possibility
... by colour
... by the moon and the stars
... by spring
... by creative community
... by the written word
... by morning shadows on the wall
... with leisurely Saturday mornings
... with self-awareness
... with the sharing of spoken word at the Raw Sugar Café
... with friends and family
... with creative business ideas and opportunity
... with locally grown organic vegetables delivered to my door
... with learning and new connections
... by breath
... by being

What smites you today?

Honour to an Unknown Artist

painting and signature close-up

Monday's meandering brought me to St Vincent de Paul, my favourite thrift shop, where I picked up the painting in the photo above. It was painted in 1939 on what seems to be a 4"x6" piece of thick cardboard, edges ragged as if they were torn.

At $13.99 it was unusually pricey for a thrift store find, but I bought it anyway. Part of me felt a need to honour the artist that painted it nearly 70 years ago; I think the clincher though was the date underneath the signature: SEPT. 2 1939, the day after Germany invaded Poland, triggering WWII.

Considering how the artist may have been feeling when he or she painted it, the least I could do was give it a good home.

Grateful Friday the 13th

A quick list of gratefuls before going to work on this Friday the 13th:

• D, Cassie and our home
• my registration for Squam and all my first choice workshops
• painting
• my health and the health of those around me
• it's Friday!
• plans to go see Jim Cuddy play at Winterlude tonight
• a three-day weekend coming up
• a sunny weather forecast for the next four or five days
• it's Friday! (I'm aware it's a repeat)
• crossing a few to-dos off of my list this week
• a few dates for dinner and tea with kindred spirits planned for next week
• a good week at my day job so far

Till the next time...

Grateful Friday

Mika on my art table

In the midst of a bout of the February Blahs, I thought I'd list a few things for which I am grateful to help pick me up:

• Sunshine, blue skies and milder temperatures!
• Local berries frozen last summer for a midwinter treat
• Two paintings produced this past week: Giselle and Mika (above)
• D, Cassie and our home
• My health
• Fresh, organic, local veggies delivered to my door every Friday
• Friends and family
• An evening of laughter, Pictionary and Rock Band with D's brother and his girlfriend
• Three boxes of stuff purged, packed and dropped off at Sally Ann
• An evening of reading and writing at my local coffee shop
• Squam Art Workshops
• Free outdoor concerts during Winterlude, Ottawa's winter carnival
• The Mad Chatters
• A creative burst of energy and the opportunity to learn how to manage it so I don't crash
• Wonderful blogs that inform, entertain and inspire
• An obligation-free three-day weekend coming up

I feel better already. :)

Grateful Saturday

I've many things to be grateful for today, but I thought I'd keep it focused on my Christmas trip home to New Brunswick. As I recounted my week to a colleague, he exclaimed, "It almost sounds idyllic!" In hindsight, I guess it almost was.

Here's my list:

• arriving to and from destination safe & sound
• Sis, Bro-in-Law and his mum arriving safe & sound
• witnessing a shooting star the morning of the Winter Solstice - feeling at one with All
• Mom's chocolate chip cookies, fricot (chicken & dumpling stew sans dumplings) and meat pies
• poutines râpées - a traditional Acadian Holiday treat
• Grenache caramel spread on my toasts EVERY morning
• crackling fires in the fireplace
• feeding the chickadees on my parents' deck
• communal crossword and jigsaw puzzles
• snowshoeing on Mom & Dad's 100-acre piece of land with D, and a bonus trek bushwhacking through the woods at our neighbouring National Park
• Holiday Inn, A Christmas Story, It's a Wonderful Life, The Chronicles of Narnia
• spending the week in one house with six other people, sharing meals, stories and space without cramping each other's individual style
• listening to the scratchy sounds of Gene Autry, Rosemary Clooney and Elvis Presley's Blue Christmas on Dad's record player in the basement
• sharing and laughing with D during the car ride there & back, listening to CBC Radio
• stopping one last night at Château Vaudreuil on the way back, treating ourselves to a suite with a jacuzzi after 11 hours in a car

So many things for which to be grateful - and there are even more that didn't make it here 'cause the list is already long! I am, and continue to be blessed.

Saturday Gratefuls

I'm posting my Grateful Friday gratefuls on Saturday again, but better late than never right? Here are a few things for which I am grateful today:

• my health
• D, Cassie, other loved ones and friends
• my job
• my home
• fat swirling snowflakes and glittering snowdiamonds
• houses decked in coloured lights
• hunkering at home in front of a fire, wrapped in a homemade blanket
• Saturday morning conversations with D over a pot of coffee - sometimes two!
• living walking distance to shops, bakeries, restaurants and cafés
• the smell of dinner cooking as I write
• warm mitts and wool socks
• a new funky hair colour
• a renewed connection to my Higher Power

Till the next time ...

Saturday Gratefuls

I have so many things for which I am grateful this week. Here are a few ...

• my cozy home, slowly but surely getting decked out for the Holidays
• camping out on the sofabed in the living room last night with D and Cassie, falling asleep by the glow and sound of a crackling fire in the fireplace
• not one, but two Christmas/Winter trees!
• an evening of jazz presented by Ottawa's Impressions in Jazz Orchestra, inspired by a famous 1938 Benny Goodman concert at Carnegie Hall - I was so giddy when they performed Sing, Sing, Sing I thought I was going to burst!
• winning my very first blog giveaway at Wonderings and Wanderings (merci Jeanine!)
• dinner with a dear friend spent gabbing, giggling and pondering modern-day questions & quandaries
• a few good book finds at St. Vincent de Paul's thrift store
• tickets to tomorrow's reading of A Christmas Carol by local CBC personalities - set in a church and combined with a Christmas singalong it's a beautiful way to welcome the Holiday season

Blessed am I.

Grateful Friday a Day Early

A few things for which I am grateful tonight ...

• experiencing Nia over the past eight weeks - re-claiming my physical health and re-connecting to my Higher Power through joyful movement, is there any more fun way?
• being able to move my body in ways I couldn't a month ago
• candlelight and Loreena McKennitt's To Drive the Cold Winter Away
• my overall financial situation - I'm hard on myself when it comes to details, but sometimes I need to take a step back and gain perspective; it's really not that bad
• savouring my first clementine of the season - I associate clementines with the Holidays; D. and I bought our first crate this week and my first bite was bursting with juicy sweetness
• taking a course in the Byward Market this week, bussing it there and not having to drive in crappy weather
• feeling much lighter and Zen-like for the past two to three weeks - I know, I'm stumped too! :)
• tickets to see Bill Cosby's stand-up show tomorrow night at the National Arts Centre
• plans to put up the Winter/Christmas decorations this weekend (yippee!)
• my new snowshoes
• friends and family
• D, Cassie and our cozy home

Holy smokes it's been a good week! Lucky me to be so blessed.

Till the next time ...

Grateful Friday

a groggy (and possibly annoyed) Cassie

I went with a "Five Senses" theme for today's gratefuls:

• Sight - blue skies, golden sun, a smiling baby
• Smell - freshly brewed coffee
• Hearing - Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker suite, sentence overheard at a vegetarian restaurant that made me chuckle: "You don't see much FISH here do you."
• Taste - the gooey sweetness of organic onion chutney and the decadence of chocolate cheesecake
• Touch - the cool air against my cheeks, the ground beneath my feet, the softness of Cassie's fur on my fingers

Till the next time ...

Grateful Friday

A few things for which I am grateful on this Friday night ...

• good food, good company and good conversation on a girls' night out
• trying bubble tea for the first time (Chocolate Mint latte sans tapioca please!)
• sitting at the beginning of a three-day weekend
• my home
• dinner with friends, laughing until it hurt
• feeling that I have choices in my life, in my outlook, in my career
• trying Rock Band for the first time
• D and Cassie

Till the next time!

Grateful Saturday

Today I am grateful for:

• the book I started reading yesterday that's due back at the library in two days: The 4-Hour Workweek
• having made the switch from cotton to flannel bed sheets, mmmm, soft
• meeting a financial goal I'd been working on for a year and a half
• the comfort of Lipton's Chicken Noodle Soup from a box - salt, MSG & all!
• Cassie & D.
• feeling a bit better this morning after almost six weeks of feeling under the weather in one way or another
• the weekend - being off for two days with no plans

'Til the next time ...

Grateful Friday

evening sun in Gananoque town park

A few things for which I am grateful on this sunny Friday:

• the vibrant colours of fall
• having the day off with no plans
• an email from a dear friend sending me strength and love to accompany yesterday's comforts
• a few hours spent working on my creative space in the sunroom
• Squam (yes - still Squam! :)
• an early morning walk and breakfast outing with D.

'Til the next time ...

Fall Comforts

This chickie's been nursing a cold since last week. I think it's progressing, but I thought I'd take some time to mention a few of the fall comforts that help me feel better these days:

• a simmering pot of homemade lentil-veggie soup
• mint tea
• vintage magazines, pretty paper and paints
• short, slow evening walks around the block with D. and Cassie to get a fix of crisp October air
• new blogs and discoveries - see some under (Re)Discovering on your right
• creative ideas and inspiration
• naps
• a favourite book reminding me to live simply
• the warm fuzzy feeling of cocooning on a cool fall night, knowing that there's a full night's sleep ahead of me before tomorrow's workday

I'm off to curl up with my book. See you soon.

Grateful Friday - A Day Late

Oops! I guess I had other stuff on my mind yesterday and completely forgot about Grateful Friday. Here are a few things for which I am grateful this week:

• the yummy, healthy food in our fridge and the bag of Miss Vickie's chips on top of it
• a surprise movie find from the library called Everything Is Illuminated
• an evening of sharing with Lala, full of dreams, tears and laughter
• inspiring blogs, books and magazines
• nearing the achievement of a personal financial goal
• finally finding the right frames to start our salon wall in the dining room
• signing a lease extension for another six months
• unexpected bursts of creative inspiration and ideas
• Sis and Bro-in-Law living a mere five minute drive from our place
• a cleaner house than last week
• sipping my morning cup of coffee in the sunroom

'Til the next time ...

Grateful

Before I let myself sink into a spiral of dissatisfaction and despair, I will balance out the last few posts about my more challenging dilemmas with a list of things for which I am grateful – no questions asked:

• D. and Cassie
• Family
• Friends
• My home
• My paycheck
• My overall health
• The healthy, organic, abundant food that sustains me
• The creative women bloggers, entrepreneurs, photographers and writers who inspire me – most of them without even knowing it – to grow into my own creativity
• My upcoming trip to NB with Sis
• My upcoming trip to NH for Squam Art Workshops
• My personal library
• My computer
• My car, my mechanic and the fact that I can drive
• The sun, the moon and the stars
• My new digital camera
• That I live in a peaceful country, city, neighbourhood
• Backyard birds – chickadees, cardinals, blue jays
• Hiking trips with D. and Cassie
• My Evil Dead t-shirt, cool skirt and funky bracelet outfit
• My back deck under the trees
• Being walking distance to Bridgehead, the bakery, the florist, the grocery store, the meat shop, the farmer’s market, a favourite sandwich shop and the library
• Saturday coffee and errand runs with D.
• The opportunity to write about how grateful I am, here, today.

35 Years, 35 Gratefuls

I'm 35 today. To mark the occasion I thought I'd share 35 things for which I am grateful. Some are seemingly simple, some are grandiose. They're all significant.

1. the sun, the moon and the stars
2. this past weekend's getaway to Toronto with D.
3. being born in Canada
4. my books
5. music
6. being born in a musical family
7. my job, bosses and colleagues
8. my health
9. my car and my ability to drive it
10. my past marriage - for its joys and lessons learned
11. my computer
12. Bridgehead coffee
13. my friends
14. coloured pens and blank journals
15. birdsongs
16. the proximity of many good, challenging hiking trails to Ottawa
17. last year's trip to Grand Manan, NB
18. fresh flowers
19. the 11-month sabbatical I took in 2006-2007
20. my spacious, light-filled home
21. the bamboo curtain hanging in the sunroom
22. classic movies
23. Web sites, stories, and people that inspire me
24. my family - immediate and extended, cousins, aunts, uncles, in-laws, those here now and those who came before me
25. my creative source and spirit
26. colour
27. dreams and intuition
28. my urban living experiment on Elgin Street
29. my Writer's Group
30. my burgundy, faux snakeskin kick-ass boots
31. old family photos and documents
32. my vintage red enamel ring
33. D. and Cassie
34. my age
35. being off on my birthday so I can write this while sipping coffee in my home office

What are your gratefuls? Can you come up with a list equal to your age? If so, please send me a sample in the comments. I'd love to hear about them.

Regular Reads

I've updated my list of links to include the favourites I enjoy reading - many of them on a daily basis (see right-hand side).

It's a mish-mash of sites with a wide range of subjects, but each one inspires or entertains me in its own way. For too long I've been accessing these sites through other blogrolls or lists; it's time I created my own.

Enjoy.

Favourite Things: Crooked Hardwood Floors

if these floors could talk ...

My floors are crooked and well worn. I'd love to hear the stories they'd have to say about life in this apartment over the years. Wouldn't that be neat?