Today I spent the better part of the day doing laundry.  And I was struck, not for the first time but again, at how grateful I was for washing machine and dryer. Without them the process of doing laundry would take a lot longer and be a lot harder.  When I was in Kenya I had to do some laundry via a washboard and line drying.  It gave me a greater appreciation for 1) those who do laundry that way and 2) my washer and dryer. Next time I'm tempted to complain about doing laundry I'm hoping today's gratitude attitude reminds me to, well, not complain.  :)

I love spices and seasonings.  I'm grateful for them because they add flavor and depth to my cooking and baking. They enhance the flavors already present in the food, they make them "pop".

I was thinking earlier today about choices.  I'm grateful for choices, although sometimes I think we have too many.  I was thinking today about the choices I have, that any of who live in a developed country have.  I think most of the time instead of being grateful for the choices I have I take them for granted, I forget that others in this world don't have the choices I have.  Today, however, I felt myself reflecting on all the choices I had even just today - choices in creamer flavors, music, TV shows, foods, the list goes on and on.  I'm grateful for choices and I'm trying to be mindful of not taking them for granted and pursuing ways to see other people have choices as well.

Today driving to work in the thick-as-pea-soup fog this morning I was, again, grateful for my corrective lens, i.e. glasses. :)  I got them a few years back for distance, watching TV, driving at night.  But I find, as I get older, I need them more and more and once I put them on I am always grateful all over again for them. They truly help me see clearer, they sharpen what I am looking at, they even can give me perspective on something I didn't see very clearly at first look.  I am grateful for the ability to afford the glasses so I can see as clearly as possible - I'm pretty sure other people, like drivers, are glad I can see clearer also!

I am grateful for promises made and kept.  And the only one I have found that can make and keep promises 100% of the time is...well not me.  (*You* thought I was going to say me didn't you, ha fooled you!)  The only one who can make and keep promises 100% of the time is the One who created promises and is faithful to carry them out.  One that I was thinking about today, although I think about it often, is this one: " I am confident that the Creator, who has begun such a great work among you, will  not stop in mid-design but will  keep perfecting you until the day Jesus the Anointed,  our Liberating King, returns to redeem the world ."  The human speaker is the Apostle Paul but the author of that promise is God himself.  He planted those words in Paul's mouth to speak out.  Paul was just the messenger.  I have been so grateful for that particular promise over the years.  I'm not going to be left undone, incomplete, unfinished. I will be brought through and to comp

Most of us know shalom as peace but in reality, it's true-at-the-core-meaning is actually deep peace. A friend commented to me about shalom recently in regards to me and it made me think of how grateful I am for shalom in my life when I have it.  And when I don't have shalom in my life how lost and unmoored I feel. It is possible to have shalom in life even when surface circumstances aren't so peaceful. Shalom has to do with the inner person, the soul.  The soul can be at deep peace even when the world around the soul is in turmoil.  I'm grateful for when I have that and when I don't? I do what it takes to regain shalom in my life, in my soul.

Leaning on Ann Voscamp's Joy Dares a bit for today's. I read some really good books over the past weekend and some tidbits of wisdom popped up in their pages and made me grateful that I came across the words, several days later and I'm still chewing on bits and pieces - that's when you know it is good stuff!  I'm grateful for thought provoking things hiding in all sorts of places.  A few bits of wisdom that have me thinking: "An owl is the wisest of all birds because the more it sees the less it talks." African Proverb While this is an African proverb so therefore most likely published in multiple ways and places, I ran across it in "Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away" by Christie Watson.  "Periods in the wilderness or desert were not lost time.  You might find life, wildflowers, fossils, sources of water." Anne Lamott, Stitches: A Handbook of Meaning, Hope, and Repair "Yes, my soul, find rest in God;  my hope comes from him.  Truly

Sometimes we dread or despise the plan "b".  You know what I mean by plan "b", the alternate, not as ideal plan *you* have to move to because plan "a" clearly isn't going to happen.  But I have found there to be a lot of grace, and joy, in plan "b".  Oh at first it might suck but eventually the grace and joy of it surfaces and you discover that like Garth Brooks you too are thankful for unanswered prayers .  *grin*  Plan "b" is being grateful for unanswered prayers.  It is knowing, recognizing, understanding that Someone knows something you don't and knows that plan "b" is actually the ideal, not plan "a".  I'm grateful for plan "b".  I can look back on my life and see how plan "b" was actually plan "a" all along.

I've mentioned my Sundays before . I'm so grateful for them. And even though my work situation has changed and I'm not at the front desk interacting as much I still need my Sundays, maybe now more than I did then.  Now I'm working full time and so its added a need for downtime in my life.  I'm so grateful for the chance on my Sundays to breathe.  I get a minimum of 6 hours all by myself on Sundays.   Bliss .  Sometimes that looks like grocery shopping, cleaning, or cooking.  Or other times it has looked like I am a lump on the couch and I gorge on either TV/Movies or Reading or sometimes its a mix of both!  I sometimes don't even turn on my phone and I am on social media very little, I truly try to breathe by unplugging the ways I know I need for sanity.  It makes for a happier, more joyful, rested in spirit Beth and the people in my life are probably pretty grateful for that .  :)

I love vegetables and because I do I am very, very, very grateful for them.  I'm grateful for them not only because I happen to think they are delicious but because they provide nutrition as well.  So delicious, nutritious vegetables are my Gratitude Attitude today.  :)  

No, I'm not a  lush because I am grateful for wine.  I'm just smart.  *grin* But seriously, I am grateful for wine.  I happen to enjoy it and today I savored a new one I recently tried and I love it.  In moderation, wine helps me de-stress a little (take the edge off of being so wound up all the time), it actually helps me sleep really good (yes, even with just one glass!), and (confession) it makes me feel like a grown-up which frankly I rarely feel like one!  HA!  I don't know why exactly I am grateful for wine, I just am.  And to celebrate wine here are a couple of funnies that give me the giggles every single time. Look closely at the picture if you didn't catch it at first glance. Tee hee hee The whole thing is worth listening to for a good laugh but especially listen in at 4:00. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That's my "new" motto...*grin*

So I'm working a full time job with benefits for the first time since I was married.  I kinda forgot about the perks of working full time - like a paycheck, medical benefits, vacation time - you know the little things. *grin* I really don't care too much about those sorts of things and so because of that I kind of forget about them most of the time.  I knew I had vacation time but I thought it was date of hire "year" rather than calendar year.  SURPRISE!  It's calendar year which I found out just 4 days ago.  Yep, I've got 68 hours of time to use or lose by December 31.  WOW!!  So I put in for time off per my boss and still have 28 hours to use or lose.  Raise your hand if you think I'm probably going to lose some hours. *hand held high in air*  But how cool is that?  I feel so grateful that next year I can take a mental health day here and there, there's a few "spiritual health" days I plan on taking as well.  And I can get paid for them.  S

I'm kind of obsessed with my slippers.  I now take them with me places.  I have strategized how to get away with wearing them at work.  I pretty much always have my slippers with me.  My slippers are the last thing to be taken off and the first thing put on.  Season doesn't matter, I love them equally summer or winter and the in-betweens (which here in Colorado we basically have summer and winter and no in-between).  I love the particular kind that I have so much that when Kohl's puts them on sale (it's where I have found them) and I happen to be there already I will buy a couple of pairs to have in reserve!  I always have my favorite kind of slipper ready! I am being serious when I say I am grateful for my slippers!  They are like a comfort blanket to me.

Sometimes it's the little things and in this case it's also a first world kind of thing.  Today I found myself feeling grateful for scented hand soaps!  And really you can go ahead and throw in there scented shower gels and body lotions!  I felt odd the moment the gratitude for them presented but I figure I'll just go with it!  *shrugs shoulders*  I really do love using scented hand soaps...when they smell good that is!  :)

Today is Lanny's birthday (my husband).  He's 51 years young.  When Lanny was 32 and I was 20 we started dating and less than a year later, when I was a brand new 21 and he was cruising up on 33, we married.  I moved from my parents home to his, I tell people he had to finish raising me. :)  I'm grateful for Lanny and his life.  Even if we weren't married I would be saying that.  Lanny is an living example of God's grace - God has saved his life more than once and because of that he is a devoted dad and a faithful husband.  His quiet nature makes people feel comfortable and safe.  His patience (except in driving *grin*) is appreciated.  He's so quiet you don't realize he's got a great sense of humor, he always surprises people with his humor.  Despite the hard things life has thrown our way Lanny has remained steadfast.  Grateful for this man who is part of my life.

I happen to have pretty awesome Grandparents and I'm very blessed to have three of the four still living. My maternal grandma passed away in 2007.  You can read about her here .  My grandparents have always done what they could to stay involved.  They traveled to us, brought us to them, sent cards, etc.  And I love that my children, their great-grandchildren, are getting to know them and have relationship with them as well.  It absolutely prompts me to gratitude for my grandparents and what they have meant to me and what they now mean to my children as well.

Today I feel grateful for community.  I have several little communities that I am blessed to be in and the one that made me feel grateful today was my home church community.  We've been experiencing some "growing pains" and walking through some questions together and in the past few months I can really see how we are growing closer to one another in really solid ways.  Each week we study God's word in depth together, we literally break bread together (have a meal), and we serve together in various ways.  Today we had great conversation about the Ten Commandments and I sat there feeling so grateful for this chance to be with this group of people for this time.  How about you?  Do you have community you feel grateful for?  If not, I encourage you to seek out community - you will be blessed!

At my work Christmas party tonight one of the employees gave a talk, and showed a video, about generosity.  The video was really thought provoking and the comments my fellow co-worker made about generosity got me to thinking about how grateful I am for people in my life who are generous with me.  They are generous with their grace toward me, with their love, with their counsel, with their time, with their possessions, with their own hearts, and there are other ways people in my life are generous toward me. How blessed I am, how grateful I am for people who care enough about me to invest in to me.   On the flip side, I am grateful for the ways in which God calls me to be generous and for the times when I actually heed the call. :)   Here's the video, what are your thoughts about it?  (Yes, it's a couple years old but still relevant.)

Today I'm choosing to have a Gratitude Attitude for the ways in which I know God loves me. 1)  It's not condition based.  For example, I don't have to be on my best behavior for God to love me. 2)  It is relentless.  God's love doesn't stop coming after me, or you for that matter. 3)  It is complete.  His love is the most complete "thing" I, and you, will ever possess in my life.  God's love rounds me out and completes me.

I'm super grateful for garages, you know those things designed to store our cars in and not other belongings. :)  Okay, well Lanny and I actually use our garage for the purpose it was intended, the cars.  And boy, on days like today - and apparently the rest of this week - I am super glad for our garage.  I am very grateful I am not outside in sub zero temps scraping off the car so I can try and start it and drive it.  (It's illegal in our state to pre-warm your vehicle...but...)  When the winds is blowing, the snow is flying, the rain is falling I am grateful for our garage.

I've talked about work ethic before .  But today I felt grateful for the work ethic I have.  I have a pretty high sense of it thanks to my parents.  And honestly it helps me get things done even when I don't feel like getting things done, you know?  My work ethic helps keep me on track, both in my job and in my home.  It does kind of drive some people crazy but I'm guessing my bosses have always appreciated it. :)  I have been grateful for it, I like being a productive member of something and my work ethic helps me with that productivity.

This is actually a long standing gratitude attitude.  I'm grateful for leaves that dance along the ground as the wind propels them.  It's a weird thing to be grateful for but it makes me grateful because it helps me to be in tune to other small acts of nature. Things I might miss because I'm too busy and too focused on the bigger, and perhaps more insignificant, things.  Have you ever watched the leaves dance along the ground?  They swirl here and there, to and fro, and are dancing to the tune the wind creates.  It's really quite lovely and for this girl it makes my heart well up in gratitude.  What about you?  What small act of nature makes you grateful?

I am grateful today for lazy days.  A day to do whatever I want, whether that's cleaning or watching mindless TV or reading or napping, or cooking or...whatever!  The older I get the more I believe in taking a lazy day "now and then" as an adult mental health kind of day.  I know I need them, I bet *you* do to. *wink*

No, not the book or movie. :)  The actual color purple. I not only love the color purple, I am grateful for it. Sounds weird right? It's not as weird when you hear my reason why.  The color purple reminds me of who I belong to and whose I am.  It reminds me that I am royalty, not of this earth but of the One who created this earth.  It reminds me that I need to act like royalty, both in my heart and on the surface of my life.

I know I have already covered sleep for a gratitude attitude but I am thankful for naps.  And while they are sleep, they are abbreviated sleep.  ;)  And today I needed a nap.  I needed the rest it provides.  I needed, perhaps, the escape it can provide.  For me naps are a catch-twenty-two.  I'm old enough now that if I take a nap during the day I can't sleep at night but sometimes I just need the nap even though I know it's going to bite me later on.  But today I suppose I'm thankful for naps because I took a three hour one and still could sleep through the night.  Ah....

Yes, YOU.  I'm grateful for you.  For the you's* who have walked with me for years - through the mountains and valleys of my life.  For the you's who raised me and helped my parents raise me.  For the you's who I have worked with in my various jobs over the years.  For the you's that I have had the honor and blessing to experience life-changing events with. For the you's that have been the bad kind of sandpaper in my life, yes I'm thankful for even you.  For the you's who have been the best kind of sandpaper in my life, I am very thankful for you.  For the redheaded you's I have the privilege to raise, as scary as it is. *wink*  For the you that decided to enter into covenant marriage with me and put up with me for the rest of our lives.  For the you's who were stuck with me in life since we we raised by the same parents. For the you's who my other you's brought into my life through marriage.  For the you's who have made me an Auntie.

I am grateful that I love baking.  I am grateful for baking.  Baking is a kind of therapy for me.  It calms me, soothes me, it makes me feel close to my fellow baking lovers.  I love baking things that I know will bring smiles to the faces of those who are going to partake.  I love baking because it is something I am good at that isn't so Type A. :)  It's nice to not be Type A every once in a while.  I will only bake when I am feeling the love for it.  If I am not feeling the love my recipes never turn out.  Today I am going to do a little baking and I can't wait.

Today I was grateful for the processing kind of conversations I'm invited into.  (If you know me then you aren't surprised as this is a counselor's privilege.) As the other person and myself talk out loud and process through a predicament or hurt or whatever I am always awed at what is revealed as we discuss and process and work to find a solution.  And when the conversation isn't for me necessarily I always end up walking away processing something on my own that came out of what was for the other person! It makes me grateful that I have relationships that are beneficial in so many different ways.

Yes, tears!  I'm grateful for tears.  Tears birthed from laughter and from sorrow.  Tears that clean the windows of our soul, tears that release the tension of our days, tears that weep for and with others, and tears that celebrate for and with others.  Tears of pride for something my child has accomplished.  Tears of longing for that dream on pause.  I'm grateful for tears, they reveal my humanity, my heart, my empathy.

I once was lost but now I am found.  I am found in Christ and my gratefulness for this reality cannot adequately be described in words.  I get choked up with gratefulness when I think about what being found in Christ means.  In my life it means, among many things, redemption and forgiveness and grace.  What was ashes in my life he has turned into beauty.  To say that I am grateful is an understatement.

I'm grateful for my siblings.  I'm the oldest but I'm the only girl so that means that sometimes I get treated as the youngest.  :)  I really love my brothers, I'm 22 months older than the middle and 7 years older than the youngest.  I have some good memories of our times together as kids, and some not so good memories but isn't that part of being in a family?  When I was four and Paul (the middle kid who doesn't have that pesky "middle child" syndrome at all) was two I taught him how to read.  When I was 7 and Bradley (the youngest) was a newborn and crying in his swing I was his biggest defender.  Paul, Brad, and I are very different and yet we share some strong similarities.  We all share a weird love for spreadsheets (we can "blame" my Dad for that), we all love music - different styles perhaps but music plays a big part in each of our lives, we all read - some of us read faster than others but we can "blame" my Mom for the read

Leaning on Ann Voscamp's Love Dares today... 3 gifts I'm grateful for before 11 am: 1)  Sunrise 2)  Coffee 3)  Seeing my Mama each weekday morning for a few minutes

Today I am grateful for hot drinks.  Coffees, Teas, Chocolate.  If it's hot I was grateful for it.  It was so cold today.  I love hot drinks in general but today I was grateful for them.  I love how they warm me from the inside out.  I love how they comfort me.  My taste buds were grateful for them today too. :)

I am really grateful for my crock pot.  It helps me provide my family good and hot meals.  It does the cooking for me while I'm at work. And the meal in a crock pot has really evolved over the years, I have tons of recipes that work well!

Kinda weird I know.  If you know me well you know that it kinda makes me gaggy because I have bathroom issues. (Clearly I didn't have any boys to raise or I'm pretty sure my bathroom issues would have been resolved with teaching boys how to properly go.  But I digress.)  BUT.  But I have to be grateful for toilets. Here's why. Toilets, while commonplace in developed countries, are a luxury in developing nations. Today happens to be World Toilet Day.  No I'm not making it up nor am I joking, click here for the info. And here's really why I am grateful for them.  They provide dignity, especially to girls and women. They also happen to serve as conduits to disease free lives.  They keep *stuff* out of water that people will use for drinking and bathing, they help contribute to better hygiene, and they help with sanitation.  Several studies have shown that due to the factors I just listed as well as others toilets can actually save lives.  So my personal gag reflex asi

How have I NOT verbalized my gratitude for coffee yet?! I am so grateful for coffee. It used to be I just liked the flavor, the taste of it.  I didn't need it for the wake-me-up.  Now, getting older, I think I probably do need it in part for the wake-me-up.  I am grateful for whoever looked at a bean and thought, "Huh, wonder what happens when I crush it and pour water over it and let it sit there."  I am grateful for the ways in which coffee has brought me together with people, sounds weird but its true.  I am so grateful for coffee that I have blogged about it here , here , and I even included the word coffee in the title of one of my other blogs. When I was doing the first 365, songs, I found a hysterical song that talked about coffee . And in my last 365, quotes, I referred to coffee several times within my thoughts about the quote of the day. Clearly I am grateful for coffee.  :)

I am grateful for solitude.  For me - for my personality, for my work week, for my interactions with people - some regular solitude is a necessity in my life.  And if I don't get it I start to implode, and no I am NOT joking.  I'm grateful that my husband recognizes my need for solitude and allows me to have it once a week. A friend shared this someecard with me today that pretty much sums it up perfectly.

Today I am sharing a version of my life story with my home church.  It's a big month for me because I also have to share a version of it at work in a couple of weeks.  (Don't ask...)  Notice I say version, I'll clarify real quick.  I have several versions of my life story and the audience tends to dictate which one I share.  Parts are more appropriate to share with some and not others, you know?  So back to my Gratitude Attitude for today, it's kind of two-fold. I'm grateful to hear other people's life stories, it gives me insight into them - into their behaviors, their actions, their beliefs.  I think hearing another person's life story gives me an empathy for them I may or may not have had previously.  You can't argue with someone's story, you have to accept it and embrace them for who they are at that moment and for what they have come through or even are still struggling with. I'm grateful for my life story.  I used to think it was boring,

I was five and at a birthday party at Wendy's.  This was the Wendy's that had tables that looked like old-time advertisements which I was always fascinated by and felt sad when they went away.  But I digress. Back to the point.  I was five and I'm pretty sure I had not seen anyone do this yet but I thought to myself, "Huh.  I wonder what a french fry dipped in the chocolate frosty would taste like." So I dipped.  And fell in love for the rest of my life.  To this day I consider the combo to be a comfort food. While I am not a big fan of chocolate overall I am also a fan of the peanut butter and chocolate combo.  That also is like comfort food for me.  The sweet and salty combo I consider to be God's gift to us.  I'm grateful for it.  I know, that seems so...shallow.  But somedays you just need some comfort and God is good to provide it in a myriad of ways. Today it was the sweet and salty combo of a frosty and fries.

Today I was blessed by the selfless act of some, of all people, middle school boys.  I don't know when it happened and I know it's been floating around Facebook and other places for at least a couple of weeks but today I finally got a chance to watch the story.  It made me cry and it blessed me, it made me incredibly grateful for these young men who did something so amazing in the midst of our self-driven culture.  If you haven't seen it, or if you have, watch it.  You'll see what I mean!

I love E2 (think of that as e-squared).  I love being an Auntie to them.  What I don't love is the distance but it is what it is.  We make the best of it.  My nephew and niece are just about the most amazing kiddos ever.  I adore them.  They make me feel grateful for numerous things.  When I get to see them and interact with them I am grateful.  Their smiles make me grateful.  That I have had the simple pleasure of holding them as newborns and breathing in their smell and rocking them to sleep makes me beyond grateful.  I'm grateful that despite the distance my awesome brother and seester (in law) post a picture a day of them so we can see them daily and not feel like they have grown up in a blink. (Which it feels like anyway but seeing them everyday helps it to not feel so jarring!)  Here's some recent pictures of E2 (both of their names start with an "E" thus I dubbed them e-squared when the second one was born!).

Specifically my Mama's recipe of lasagna. It is divine.  It's called "Lazy Lasagna" and it is lazy and it is delicious.  Don't get me wrong, I've had good lasagna but nothing beats my Mama's recipe.  We had it for dinner tonight and I feel like Garfield every time we have it.  For the record, I think my Gratitude Attitude for today (lasagna) is also shared by my family.  :)

Today I ran across an article, by accident, about keeping a gratitude journal. It's not a new concept by any means but sometimes I get stuck on what to record (as you may know if you've been following this blog) and usually articles like the one I stumbled upon today refresh my memory on recording my Gratitude Attitudes and even why.  And because my Mom taught me to share when I was a wee one I am sharing the article with you today! Click here , perhaps you'll be encouraged, reminded, or challenged to start recording your own Gratitude Attitudes.

It's Veterans Day here in America.  A day in which we attempt to thank those who have served in our country's armed forces in the past to protect the many freedoms we enjoy.  I say attempt because it is terribly difficult to thank so many who have sacrificed much. But we still attempt.   I am grateful for the freedoms we have that are protected by brave men and women.  Despite all of our problems, issues, and flaws America still remains the country in the world that has perhaps the most diverse freedoms and perhaps the most freedoms (but don't quote me on that and also don't get your panties in a twist if I am wrong - who cares if I am, it's more about the point I'm trying to make) of any country on the planet. We still have varied religious freedoms, speech freedoms, reading freedoms, etc etc.  And those are protected in part by our armed forces.  So for those who have sacrificed much, laid down your lives, fought for the freedoms of this nation I am grateful

Today I participated in celebrating new life that is about to enter the world and the enter the family of dear friends.  I was thinking about how grateful I am that we are given new life to celebrate and rejoice over in the midst of life that may be passing or fading away.  It's a gift to have both. Celebrating new life is so much fun!  We rub her belly (those of us who are allowed) and we talk to her and we wonder with anticipation how this little new life will mark the world with her presence (this new life happens to be a girl).  New life is hope for all of us.  Hope for our futures, for our own families, for things yet to be revealed.

Today I was grateful for a breakfast of friends which is better than a breakfast of champions any day. In fact these friends are champions in my opinion.  This morning I had as close to legit Kenyan chai as I'm going to have in America in a mug given to me by my kindred as I munched on toast spread with wild huckleberry jam from Seattle.  The Kenyan chai reminds me of all of the people I know and love in Kenya, the mug is purple and says Chicago on it to remind me of my kindred and the jam is from the home of another of my besties who I visited at the beginning of October.  I'm grateful for these seemingly silly little reminders of my friends, both near and far.

Tonight we had dinner with my friend Steve.  Steve lives in Kenya, near Nairobi.  I met Steve in 2007 during my first trip to Kenya .  Steve is the son of a Pastor, and a Pastor himself, at a church in Mathare Valley Slum - the oldest slum in East Africa.  Steve is also the Assistant Director of Sanctuary of Hope , a ministry through Hope's Promise.  Steve, and his family, have become dear friends to me throughout the years.  God's grace has enabled us to be connected through technology and every so often we get to have true face time.  :) Steve has been in the States for the past 3 weeks doing some work with Hope's Promise and my old church, the church Mathare Worship Centre is still connected to.  At dinner tonight I took the opportunity to ask Steve some questions, to hear from his perspective and heart about some things.  Who better to ask than one who was born, grew up, and lives in the country? Who better to ask than one who has true observations about things and not

Today I'm having a hard time with gratefulness, that is with pinning something down that I feel truly grateful for. So I am using Ann Voscamp's November Joy Dares as my guide.  I like her guide because it prompts me to get outside of my small mind and small world and expand.  It's like taking a deep breath of good air and letting my lungs fill to capacity instead of taking the normal, small breaths. Gratitude fills me to capacity so I have to exhale it toward others. Today's prompt is three gifts seen from my window.  So here you go. 1)  Clear blue skies 2)  Leaves that have fallen and are dancing along the ground 3)  Watching my redheaded wonders walk into their schools

I love my electric blanket.  I am very grateful for it.  Here's my routine:  I turn it on the highest setting that it goes and preheat my side of the bed.  When I come to bed I turn it down to low and climb in.  The sheets are warm and I am cozy.  I am so very grateful for my electric blanket.  Lanny?  Not so much.  :)

I'm grateful today for hugs.  Hugs from a friend that I haven't seen in way too long, hugs from a friend because she saw I needed comfort.  Hugs that I give to someone who needs comfort, hugs that I give to friends who I have a heart connection with and it is felt in our hug.  Hugs in greeting and hugs in departing.  A hug is something given and received that communicates the person is valuable in some way, they are worth entering into their space (sometimes their very messy - emotionally or physically - space) and they are worth the touch of another.  I send a lot of virtual hugs since a lot of my heart-connection friends aren't even in the same state as me.  I hope they know when I say: {{{hugs}}} I am doing my best to embrace them across the miles.  I know when they say it to me that they are communicating that they are reaching out to bridge the gap between us with some love.  I'm grateful for hugs and all they can communicate when words don't come easy or when

Today blows.  No really it does.  Some days just stink and today is one of those days.  I could feel it was going to be this way when my hurting and aching back kept me up a lot of the night.  I could sense it as I arrived to work and people were draggy.  I knew it within myself, I was grumpy and out of sorts. Today blows.  And then someone, the same one from this post , threw a fit about something so insignificant and ridiculous that I got upset.  This particular person is going to end up in a lot of my posts because they can often be like sandpaper on my days. So my day went from grumpy to tears in about the span of 10 minutes. I went and hid in the bathroom for a few minutes trying to compose myself.  And then since I'm a girl I couldn't just suck it up so I sat in my boss' office and cried in front of him.  *smh*  The thing is, their little ridiculous fits shouldn't upset me.  It should just roll like water off a duck's back but, well, today blows. And sometim

It may sound weird but I am grateful for words well-written.  I am grateful for words that somehow express what I myself have been trying to express but have been unable to.  These words could be in the form of lyrics, a book (fiction or non-fiction), a poem, a scribbled note on a coffee stained napkin, etc.  Sometimes these words are grammatically correct and other times they are not.  I try to look beyond that because when a message is profound and moving it doesn't really matter if it's grammatically correct.  How about you? What is a medium that you are grateful for because it gives you an assist in expression?

Gratitude spreads like a contagion you want to receive.  And when others I read or hear or know express gratitude I am prompted in my own heart and life to express it as well. Their gratefulness for things and people prompt me to think outside of the box I so often get stuck in regarding gratefulness.  Sometimes it is as if once I have run through the generalities of being grateful for "food, clothes, shelter" I can't figure out what to be grateful for when in reality I need, and it is a true need, to get below the generalities and get specific.  That's probably why I liked the prompt I followed for yesterday's Gratitude Attitude .  A dear friend, Crystal, posted this poem on gratitude last night after I went to bed.  It moved me to use it as my Gratitude Attitude for today, her thoughts on gratefulness prompted my gratefulness.  And for that prompt I am...grateful. :) Thankful month, Thankful Thursdays, Thankful, just thankful, I wonder when we started designa

Today Ann Voscamp's blog released November Joy Dares . Her blog title caught my eye because it was laying out the stats that November is the hardest month for people overall.  The month of what is supposed to be thanksgiving is the hardest month. That's interesting isn't it?  I wrote a little about it earlier today, click here for those thoughts. But back to my actual Gratitude Attitude for today. I looked over Ann's dares for gratitude in November and decided I would use it for a guide for this month. Seriously, sometimes I am so brain dead from work and life that I haven't really lived in my day, I've just gotten through it.  When you don't live and just get through the gratitude attitude isn't really apparent. Anyway some of Ann's ideas are good, waaaaaaay below the surface, and challenging even.  I probably (okay I know) I won't follow them every day but I might lean on it a little this month for those brain dead days. Her dare for today

It's the month of Thanksgiving here in the USA.  A trend for several years on Facebook has been to post a thankful every day of the month.  A few years ago I participated in that and it was interesting to see how my tendencies to post a status that wasn't so thankful sounding were squelched in light of giving thanks. It feels a little like a mystery to me, this gratitude attitude truly impacting my thoughts, emotions, words, my behavior even.  And it isn't conscious. In fact some days I have to sit and really think about what I was grateful for. But when it comes to me I immediately recognize that, yes, I am grateful for that thing or that person on that day.  And it changed my interactions that day without me being fully aware of it. Gratitude truly does color my attitude.  And yours too when you allow it.  Have you been participating in having a gratitude attitude? If so, I'd love to hear how it's changed your perspectives on your days, your relationships, your l

I'm grateful for the bittersweet of life and of relationships.  Oh, I may not say that in the midst of the circumstance or relationship but hindsight tells me I am grateful for it.  I'm grateful that along with the bitter there is some sweet to be found.  It may be small, barely registering on the scale of life, but it is there and I have personally experienced the growth of the sweet to balance out the bitter that comes.  But in some ways, here's where I get crazy, I am also grateful for the bitter of life.  (Hindsight, this is all in hindsight.)  In the bitter of life I have seen some pretty incredible things happen and people rise to courage, myself included. And there has been tremendous personal growth from the bitter turned to sweet things of life.  It's all a matter of perspective.  

Okay so today's Gratitude Attitude might be a little self-indulgent but I am grateful for the gift of administration!  I'm grateful I have it and I'm grateful others do as well.  While other people shudder at the thought of having to engage in admin type tasks and duties, I love it!  I thrive in it.  I love being behind the scenes and relieving someone who isn't jazzed about admin and feels weighed down and held back by it of it. I love being able to take those things off someones plate so they are free to do what they love to do and are best at.  It truly makes me feel grateful for this gift I possess.  How about you?  What gift do you possess that makes you grateful?

My Mama is arriving at the airport in Denver right about now and will soon be boarding a plane that will take her to another plane that will take her to Africa.  I've taken a similar journey.  Perhaps you remember my journeys to Africa, perhaps you are new to me and don't know.  (If that's the case click here  to start my story about Africa.)  Regardless today I find myself "in" Africa in my thoughts and heart.  In fact, lately I've been having dreams about all my beloved friends in Africa in which we are together.  This past Saturday night I got to have some face time with a dear friend from Kenya, whom I will see again next week.  Bits of sunshine.  My Mama couldn't find room in her luggage for me so I'll have to be content with staring at the picture of the carepoint where she will be in Swaziland and fighting back the green-eyed monster that I can't be there.  I'm grateful my Mama gets to visit a continent that has become a part of my heart

Okay so this is one of those Gratitude Attitudes that I'm trying to have a gratitude attitude about.  This morning (um, ahem, yes that would be yesterday - Monday - because I am behind...again...what's new?) we got in the car and started our trek toward school.  I peered to my left and saw a blaze of pink coming up over the horizon.  And it grew and grew until the sky had been taken over by glorious pink and purples turning into oranges and fading into blue sky.  It was magnificent.  And I was stuck in the freaking car trying to sneak peeks of this glorious show while trying to also be a safe driver.  And I fought being grateful for the display and the gorgeous start to my day and being grumpy because I couldn't sit and simply enjoy it. These days I miss every sunrise.  We are already in the car and the day is already on the fast-track.  And honestly? I feel pretty grumpy about it.  I want to watch the day come up in a blaze of glory and beauty but I'm stuck in the car

I'm grateful for cooking.  I'm grateful that I learned how...eventually. :) I'm also grateful that my family seems to like and appreciate my cooking.  When I have the space and time I love to make delicious food that I know will make the taste buds of those I feed it to smile.  I love understanding how things come together to be delicious.  When I don't have time and space I'm a little less grateful for cooking but overall I am so thankful that I like it so much.  Today I spent the day cooking up 14 freezer meals.  If I don't make up freezer meals about once a month then my family is usually resorting to eating popcorn for dinner. :)  This Mama is busy and freezer meals are ensuring they eat something at least 19 evenings out of the month (I also participate in a cook group that makes up 5 freezer meals a month)!  *grin*

Yep, I'm grateful for airplanes today.  No, I'm not on one and aren't going to be on one anytime soon BUT I'm grateful for them as I think about what they have enabled me to do and who they have enabled me to meet in my life so far. Because of airplanes I have been able to travel to states in America and countries across the oceans.  I've been able to see wonders of the world and wonders of my own little world.  I've been able to have face time with people who have known me since birth and meet people who I'm able to have face time with as God allows. I'm grateful for airplanes that have carried me to my nephew and niece and my NYC family and have carried them to Colorado to see me (okay, and the other family members to.  I will share I guess!).  I'm grateful for an airplane that carried me recently to a friend in Seattle that God has gifted me with so unexpectedly many many years ago. I'm thinking about my gratefulness today for airplanes as

Selah.  I'm grateful for selah.  If you are going, "what?!" let me define it for you.  Selah: pause and think on that, interlude, pause.  Got it?  Basically it is a word that says, "Hey *this* is important to stop at and consider and think through or think about.  Rest on *this* for a moment before continuing."  I'm so grateful for selah.  If I didn't have selah moments in my life then I would just speed through without ever noticing anything around me.  Selah gets me to "stop and smell the roses."  I first discovered selah when reading the Psalms in the Bible.  You might have seen it to the side or underneath a verse before continuing on to the next.  It's saying, "whoa, that was important so think about it a little before just moving on."  So I started doing that, with the verses in Psalms and the verses in the Bible overall.  Then I started doing it in my life with moments and relationships and conversations, even with work rel

I kinda love popcorn.  Oh sure I love some of the "gourmet" kinds but at heart I'm a purist.  A little bit of salt and a little bit of butter.  Seriously, no movie popcorn for me - too much butter and salt.  Just a touch is better in my opinion.  It might seem silly to be grateful for popcorn but when my taste buds are grateful then I am too.  I'm grateful for the person that looked at a kernel of corn and either thought, "What would happen if..." or did it by accident and discovered popcorn!  I'm not really concerned with how it came to be just grateful that it did.

Today was full of sunshine.  Not a cloud in my part of the Colorado sky.  I went out at lunch to run an errand and opened up the sunroof on my car and let the sun shine in.  It was incredible.  In fact, so incredible that I was internally kicking and screaming as I dragged myself back inside for the rest of the workday.  :) Here in Colorado we are blessed with a lot of sunshine days, even when it's only 30 degrees.  I am so grateful for our beautiful sunshine days.  They warm my soul.

Today I am very grateful for massage therapy.  Yes, I love the kind meant for pure relaxation but today I am grateful for the kind I am currently getting - medical massage.  Yes there is such a thing and for this wound up chick it is a good thing there is.  I am wound up.  Who knew?  (Rhetorical question - if you know me well this doesn't surprise you that I am.)  I carry all my stress and heartache and frustration in my right shoulder area.  Then it shares and spreads all over my neck muscles and down into my lower back and makes a journey sideways to the left side.  Like I said, I am wound up.  Well sometimes it really bites me and in the past 6 months I could count on one hand the number of days I haven't had a headache.  Clearly something is wrong.  So I finally bit the bullet and got in with a medical massage therapist.  She is going to be REALLY helpful.  I've seen her twice and she kept saying under her breath, "Wow. You are tight."  Yep.  Welcome to me, wo

This intentional gratefulness project is tougher than I thought.  It shouldn't be.  But it is.  In theory being grateful everyday sounds like a "duh moment."  In reality when I can't come up with a single thing to be grateful for something ugly in me is exposed. The ungratefulness I carry in me is exposed.  The entitlement issues I'm guessing I still have are exposed. The "downer debbie" part of me comes to the surface.  The lack of joy and trust in God make an appearance.  I think my struggles with depression  are also exposed when I find it difficult to verbalize even one thing I am grateful for.  I know that one way to combat the mild depression is to exercise gratefulness and when I can't seem to do it that's a red flag in my spirit.  And the truth of the matter is lately I have been struggling with some mild depression again.  If you know me well enough you have seen the signs - the lack of response time to phone calls, texts, FB messages,

I am grateful for hot tea.  It does something for my soul even when I'm not really paying attention to the state of my soul.  Something about tea calms me, soothes me, brings peace.  That may seem silly to you but it's true for me.  I'm also grateful that it is an affordable way to take care of myself.  What's something that helps you settle down in your soul?

No, not those kind of collisions.  ( That would take some serious sugar to make lemonade from that kind of collision! )  I'm grateful for the collision between my world and the world of others.  Like when my first world life collides with that of the third world life I have been honored to travel to.  The collision of those two worlds have literally changed my life.  I don't have the adequate words to describe my gratefulness for that collision.  Or the collision of God's grace with my weakness.  That has also been a life changing event.  What kind of collisions have happened in your life that you are grateful for?

I'm grateful for opportunities to volunteer for a variety of events and people.  I'm grateful because for the time I am engaged in the volunteer activity I am not focused on me.  Let's face it, so much of our time is focused on us.  I'm not saying it's all bad but I don't know about you but I sure do get sick of myself.  I love how volunteering gets me out of head for awhile, how it takes the focus off of me, how it can put my struggles in perspective, and sometimes...just sometimes a fun surprise comes out of volunteering! Like this from my volunteering tonight at the Steven Curtis Chapman concert... In case you are wondering that's Steven Curtis Chapman and I.  ;)   Fun surprise from volunteering at the Show Hope table during his concert that night.  

Today I'm grateful for the multiple layers of grace.  Grace shows up in different ways for different people and at different times.  I've been thinking a lot about grace lately.  How I extend it, how I receive it, how it shows up in my day when I didn't even know I needed it, how God gifts us with it.  How have you seen grace in your life recently?

Today, and yesterday as well, I found myself grateful for laughter.  I needed a "laugh break" and got it!  Stop and think for a minute about laughter.   It's GOOD for you, it revives you, it releases tension and pressure.  Think about the people you know who don't laugh. Kinda hard to be around them right?  They make people miserable, they suck the joy out of people like a Hoover vacuum.  I'm so grateful for laughter that I want others to get their "laugh breaks" in.  Laughter, like gratefulness, is what does a heart good.  

Dang it.  I thought about this post all day long yesterday and then forgot to post it!  Oy. Today I am grateful for things that happen that, despite the negative circumstances surrounding them, are the silver linings to the clouds of the day or of the week!  Let me explain.  Today my husband went to his car to leave for work and I heard him trying to start the car.  It wasn't starting.  It was dead.  Not the best way to start the day BUT there is a silver lining!  The car died in our garage out of the way of anyone!  It didn't die in the middle of rush hour traffic where people would be honking at him and flipping him off (because of course anyone who has broken down in the middle of traffic plans for it to happen then because they like being honked at and flipped off...or not), it didn't die in some out of the way inconvenient place.  It died in our garage.  My friends, that is a silver lining and I am grateful for those.

I love music.  It in unfathomable to me those who aren't moved by any kind of music.  I'm a big lyrics girl and I'm partial to piano and guitar instrumental artists and albums.  I was thinking this morning how much a part of my life music is and has been. Not only is my family musical but I married a musician and have a songbird for a daughter.  I am moved by lyrics and heart.  Not a day goes by that a song doesn't describe my day or my thoughts or my emotions perfectly.  I am so grateful for music that I spent my very first 365 featuring a song a day!  I am most grateful for music on the days when I can't seem to find the words myself but a song comes along that puts it into words for me.

Today was a beautiful fall day.  The weather was crisp and bright and absolutely perfect for a fall day.  Every moment I was able to be outside I was grateful.  Fall is my favorite season and days like today truly did my heart good.

Today I was grateful for lounge pants.  Seriously.  Sometimes you just need something comfy and loose, you know?  And today that is what I was most grateful for.  :)

Sometimes I just have to be grateful for the day.  Sometimes there's not anything specific about the day that pops out at me so I decide to be grateful for the day.  In Lamentations and Psalms it talks about the new day and I often use both or one of those verses to remind myself that the day, on the whole, is something to be grateful for simply for the fact that God authored it and there are new mercies and compassions to be had.

Fall is my favorite season and rather than issue a Gratitude Attitude for the whole season I thought I would single out a few of the reasons. One of my most favorite things about fall that prompts gratefulness for me are the leaves changing color. I love the pockets of gold that present themselves amidst the green. I love seeing the deep reds (rare where I live but it happens every so often). Something shifts in my spirit when I see the colors changing.  Perhaps it is gratefulness that I get the privilege of going through another season, that I live in a place so beautiful that my breath is taken away almost daily.  Perhaps the colors changing speak deeper to me than the surface beauty. I connect deeply with transformation and changing and desiring my life to be colorful and full of beauty. Today I was driving in to work and my eyes were drawn to every pocket of fall color that was presenting itself. And then a friend posted the picture below on her FB and I just felt...grateful.

On October 10, 1974 my lifelong bestie was born.  I had been born about 6 weeks earlier.  Our parents had been in each other's weddings and were pregnant with us together.  I've got a picture of ours moms rubbing their very pregnant bellies together.  Sarah has known me longer than even my brothers, she was always more like my sister than my friend.  I called her parents Aunt and Uncle, still do actually. The last time I saw Sarah was October 31, 2008.  A few days later she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which had been growing in her and poisoning her for an unknown length of time.  She passed from this life in December 2008. Not a day goes by that Sarah doesn't cross my mind and heart.  While we hadn't lived in the same state together since we were 7 we were connected, she is a very important part of my life.  Some days I hear a song and it makes me think of her and I and I reach for my phone to text her.  And then I remember.  This happens often, I forget unt

Lest I sound trite I'm going to have to start acknowledging the "givens" for Gratitude Attitudes. Some days I just get "stuck", usually it's on those days that nothing has really happened good or bad, nothing has really stuck out, it's just been a ho-hum kind of day that passed by.  But even with the "givens" shouldn't I be grateful?  To take for granted the "givens" means, in my opinion, that I have ceased to be grateful for even those.  A grateful heart, a gratitude attitude life, is grateful for all things, even or maybe especially the "givens".   So with that said... :) Today I am grateful for shelter, a house to call a home.  After traveling to my beloved Kenya and seeing other places in this world (even in my own city) where the kind of shelter I have is a luxury, I am not unaware of how blessed I am and I try to stay mindful of not taking the house we have for granted.  We have a roof that doesn't leak, w

Have you ever stopped to really reflect on the life you are celebrating when you sing or say "Happy Birthday" to someone?  Have you thought about that person and what they have accomplished in their years so far, or what they have been able to overcome, or what kind of legacy they are leaving?  Have you been able to celebrate the potential they have? Have you been able to celebrate how valuable they are despite mistakes they have made, hurts they may have caused, etc? Today I've been thinking about this and I feel grateful to be able to celebrate the life of my family and friends. I feel grateful to have the opportunity to speak life into their life, to show them how valuable I think they are, to encourage them to keep on keeping on.  If you feel grateful about being the one celebrated think about how grateful you can also be as the celebrator.

Today the hub and I celebrate 18 years of marriage, which I like to refer to as "marathon marriage".  I say this because my wise sister-in-law likened marriage to a marathon and not a sprint and if you're married you get it.  And you are wholeheartedly agreeing. So today, despite the lows that happen sometimes in marriage, I am choosing to be grateful for this marathon marriage that I am running with the hub.  I'm grateful that he puts up with me and my crap and still can say, "I love you."  I'm grateful that he made the choice to watch me grow up. (I was barely 21 when we married and still living with my parents, I had A LOT of growing up to do still.)  I'm grateful that he has different eyes when he looks at me than I have when I look at me.  I'm grateful that he believes I could do great things. I have my complaints and he has his but we are committed to going the distance of this marathon together and I'm grateful for that as well.

Today I was grateful for spontaneity, which I rarely practice given my Type A tendencies.  But every so often I can, and do, embrace it and am always pleasantly surprised at what happens when I allow it.  Today was definitely one of those days.  My friend, Stephanie, that I am visiting here in Seattle along with her daughter Emily and myself headed to EMP for a day of museum indulging. We had tickets for a 5 pm Duck tour  so we were planing on taking our time. But then.  Then riding up in an elevator from the parking garage the people next to us mentioned BrickCon going on right there.  We three eyed each other for about 10 seconds and said, "Let's go!  We'll still have time for EMP" and off we went to search out BrickCon, which is awesome because Lego's are awesome. On our way to BrickCon we heard about another festival, the Northwest Tea Festival on the same grounds.  That was another no brainer, we three love tea!  We squeezed in lunch at a place none of us

Today we headed to Leavenworth, WA for the Oktoberfest.  It was a 2 hour drive each way and it gave Stephanie and I opportunity to share more our lives and hearts with one another.  I know I learned more about her history and I'm guessing she learned more about mine.  There's something about being enclosed in a car that makes vulnerability and transparency feel safe. There's something about a drive in the car that makes it easier to process through something.  It was a beautiful day all around but today I was grateful for car ride conversations.

Today I am grateful for the opportunity to getaway and visit one of my besties in a city that I have wanted to visit "forever."  Today I flew into Seattle and am staying with the fabulous Stephanie Almeida.  Stephanie and I go all the way back to high school and in the past 6 years especially we have become close and I treasure her friendship in my life.  A few months ago she proposed me visiting for a long weekend.  The hub said go for it so I did and here I am!  And Seattle is putting on quite a display for me - beautiful weather - dry, sunny, perfect fall temps - and the hospitality and generosity of my friend is humbling.  Today we walked through the famed Pike Market and inhaled Seattle.  It was a perfect day to spend with my friend.  This getaway comes at a good  time, I needed a break from the day to day and my soul needed a chance to breathe.  I'm so grateful to my friend for hosting my getaway.  <3

I am grateful for the honor and the privilege to walk alongside of those who weep and those who rejoice. Have you ever considered that when you have people in your life, or on the fringes of your life, who are weeping and you are invited to weep on their behalf that it is an honor?  It is a sacred thing to be invited into someones struggles, pain, or grief and to weep with them and for them.  On the other side is the same kind of honor to be invited to rejoice with those who are rejoicing.  It is just as sacred to participate in that.  And when the privilege to weep and rejoice with and for others happens on the same day it can be bittersweet and yet I am filled with gratitude that I am invited into that intimate part of people's lives.  I hope, I pray, that I never take that honor for granted but I always treat it with the gratitude I feel today.  

Today a bestie gets her hip replaced.  My Dad had that done years ago and it is quite the operation.  I am super grateful for people who have gone through the educational system to gain the knowledge and skill to perform these kinds of surgeries plus so many other things.  My Mom is a retired nurse and she has saved my family a lot of money in co-pays over the years with what she knows.  She is my first phone call before a Doctor's office.  I am grateful for her knowledge.  I have a terrific "lady" Doctor, he is 'da bomb.  (He is so incredible that I would pay out of pocket to see him, seriously he's that amazing.) I am so grateful that he felt a prompt in his spirit and a call on his life to see to the health and wellness of women and their unborn children.  People in the medical profession are used by the Great Physician to heal and bring health and I am grateful for them every day.

Seriously.  I can't seem to get here daily which is weird since this is my THIRD 365.  {Sigh} I love a big blue sky.  And when I look up at the big blue sky I feel grateful for little things, things that I usually can't even find a name for.  Perhaps it is that I feel grateful for a new day.  For a new day to breathe deep, for a new day to try again, for a new day to grow more into who I really am, for a new day to share a smile with someone who needs it more than I, for a new day to help ease a burden.  Yes, blue skies give me hope for the day and I feel grateful for new days and new mercies .

Oh, do you not know what I mean by "wiring"?  I mean how my brain processes things like organization, how I am gifted to contribute to a business, how I interact with people, you know, how I'm "wired".  :)  In case you're wondering here's a snapshot of my "wiring" - ISFJ, Beaver, Type A, Introvert, etc, etc. (Depends on what "test" you take.  *grin*) It's taken me a few years to understand my "wiring" and to work through it's flaws, still working through some, and to understand how to best come alongside of others with how I am wired.  It's also taken me a few years to learn how to allow my strengths to be more visible than my weaknesses within my "wiring". What is our greatest strength can also be our greatest weakness.  It leaves us in a place of precarious footing at times. But today I was/am grateful for my "wiring" because it has provided me a natural way to serve others, to take the lo

Today I am grateful for the weekend of respite I just had.  Yes, it was kind of a forced respite because I was sick but it was respite nonetheless.  The word respite is defined as a temporary delay and/or an interval of rest or relief.  And this weekend I truly laid as low as I could, I delayed myself from doing too much, and I feel so much better.  To lay low and do basically nothing is not really in my "make-up" but I didn't find it at all hard this weekend, in fact I rather liked it.

Today I am super grateful for the wisdom that people have that they share and don't keep to themselves. Much as we want to think we are all that and more...we aren't.  And if we are open to it we can benefit greatly from other people's life experiences that can speak into our own.  Whether it is through seeing a counselor or reading a book or hearing a person I respect speak, or doing all of those, the wisdom that others generously share with me I am so grateful for.  I want to grow in wisdom myself and when I allow myself to be open to seeing the truth about myself so that I can grow and change and mature in life and wisdom then I'm guessing y'all will be grateful! (Kind of like the "whew, finally she's better" kind of grateful - ha!)

Day 32 was actually yesterday and my trend of struggling to get something posted daily continues.  Although this time it was due more to my sickness than anything else.  I've got a silly "little" cold that has knocked me flat.  Anyway. Day 32, yesterday, I found myself grateful for a great boss.  I've been REALLY blessed in that my last three jobs (including the present job) I have have had great bosses.  A few years ago I had a horrible boss, if you know my story then you just "amened" me.  Horrible.  Working from home for a couple of years for some amazing women was great for rebounding from the horrible experience I had.  When I went to Young Life I was relieved that my direct boss was a woman, I was clearly NOT ready for a male boss again.  She was amazing and to this day I count her as a good friend.  I love her so much.  Then when I made the switch I needed to make for our family and headed over to WAY-FM my boss was...male.  Hesitations abounded.  I