An Accounting and Gratitude

Well the month of October passed by with very little action on my little blog with the exception of a few polarizing, political posts. I will be so glad when this election is over. These last few weeks I've struggled with writing. I've started new posts many times and then I just don't finish them. I was bored with my own writing so I could only imagine how my readers were feeling. Yawn. Plus, I really missed reading. A book, not a blog. I resisted it for a while. I told myself I didn't have time and tried to satisfy the yearning with blogs. It worked for a week or so and then I finally, desperately, looked at my stack of books on the night stand (most of which are heavy, difficult reading - not what I was looking for) and picked up "Peyton Place". I fell into it immediately and for a week I couldn't put it down. Funny enough, just a couple days after I finally gave into my craving for a good read my friend Caroline gave me "Eat, Pray, Love", my friend Kathleen gave me 2 great magazines and a book on Buddhism, my friend Paul gave me the script his sister wrote, and my friend Tanja gave me a glossy food magazine she brought back from London. Thus, a stack of unexplored reading material just waiting for me to have a moment to spare. Funny how the universe gives you what you need, just when you need it.

Anyway, looking back over what I've written here lately I feel like I've been whiny, tired, uninspired, ungrateful, even a little angry. Yesterday, I kept thinking of things that I was thankful for - it wasn't something I planned to do, it was completely spontaneous and when I wrote them all down here, I felt so good afterwards. It reminded me that it is so important to give thanks, to appreciate everything - all the small things, the sweet things, to be grateful for what refreshes us, invigorates us, emboldens us, inspires us. I hope I can keep it up.

Today I am grateful for:

• daylight savings time which allowed me to stay up late last night to watch "All About Eve"
• to Jack and Dean for managing to stay in bed until 6:30am (adjusted for dst)
• a playdate with Sophia and Bianca and a delicious brunch prepared by their parents
• my voice, raspy but still there despite all the coughing, coughing, coughing
• a rousing soccer practice with Dean and Jack in which Dean scored many goals and went straight for the ball!
• a clean living room and semi-clean kitchen
• daylight savings time again which means the boys will fall asleep early (Jack's gone already)
• more rain that fell during the night that cleaned the streets and freshened the air
• my patience which nearly ran its course tonight after dinner but didn't
• my temper which stayed in check all weekend, despite being tested repeatedly
• Jack who wanted to help me sweep, cook and clean and who never hesitates to ask for more candy
• Dean who got along so well with his friends today and who showed me more sweet than fiery this weekend
• that this is the last night of solo parenting - Tom will be home tomorrow (YAY)