Day 66 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful that my friends and family had a safe, happy, healthy 2015.
2. I'm grateful for fresh starts (which is always what the new year feels like to me even though I know it's a totally arbitrary day with no real meaning).
3. I'm grateful for friends... over and over and over.  I just can't say this one often enough.  Wish I'd known the importance of friends when I was younger.

Day 65 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful that the outdoor only cat has relented to coming inside during these super cold nights.  Not only is he warm, but he's safe from.... things.  I'm also grateful that so far he's behaving.
2. I'm grateful when my kids contact me after traveling to let me know they've arrived safely.
3. I'm grateful when people like the jewelry gifts I make for them.

Day 64 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful for vegetarian cookbooks with pictures.
2. I'm grateful for friends who get me out of the house to go for a walk when it would be infinitely easier for me to stay inside and hoard calories.
3. I'm grateful for so many choices of tv shows so that when I *do* want to watch something it can actually be something I want to watch rather than just watching what happens to be on because that's all there is.

Day 63 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful that we get good internet here and it's limitless bandwidth.
2. I'm grateful that the boy cat who we've had to bring in this winter because it's really cold out is behaving so far (except when there's food around... then he's a maniac).
3. I'm grateful for rain at night that gives me a humidity reading of 55 in the morning.  Yay!  'Cause right now, for example, it's 36... that's too low for me.  I'm one of those totally static people who gets shocked every five minutes.

Day 62 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful for the end of the year and the start of a new year.  I know these days are really arbitrary but mentally it's fun to have a "fresh start".  I always spend the week before New Year's day organizing, cleaning, and purging.  Mostly organizing.
2. I'm grateful for Indian food.  Had lunch with my sister today at an Indian buffet.  LOVE the flavors and me not having to cook.
3. I'm grateful for the dollar store... just picked a couple of those silver window sun shields... to replace the ones I took out of mom's car when I made the outdoor cat protection thingie.

Day 61 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful for healthy meals.  They inspire me to eat better.  Had a good dinner and totally avoided the chocolate in the house.  :-)
2. I'm grateful for low gas prices.  I know in some parts of the world people pay 2, 3, 4 times what we pay per gallon.
3. I'm grateful for Amazon Handmade.  I am getting a steady stream of orders even though I don't promote my AH shop and I don't even have very much in it.  Yay for Amazon (then again, I spend a ton over there so it probably evens out).

Day 60 Gratefuls

Today is Christmas.  I've done 60 consecutive days of gratefuls at this point.  I'm happy about that.  I'm a great starter, but not always a great keeper upper.  So far, so good.

1. I'm grateful for phone calls from people I love.
2. I'm grateful that the people who try to talk with me on the phone don't give up since I can only hear usually one-fourth of what they're saying.
3. I'm grateful for whiteboards.  They're cool.  I've got one that is a calendar and I keep track of my appts on it (and then Mom can also see what's going on with me so she can make her requests around my schedule)... and I have another that is just one giant list.  ha ha ha!  I write on it when I think of something I need to purchase mostly.

Day 59 Gratefuls

1. I'm super grateful for generous friends who make me feel loved and appreciated.  I hope they know how appreciated THEY are.
2. I'm grateful for the pretty moon rise I got to see tonight.  I think it was a full moon... came up over some heavy rain clouds in the distance.  Very nice.
3. I'm grateful for scoring lots of good DVD movies at the thrift store.  Yay!

Day 58 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful for people who help my children when they need assistance.
2. I'm grateful when car problems turn out to be solvable for a couple hundred dollars rather than a couple thousand dollars.
3. I'm grateful for pears.  I don't eat them often, but when I do... MMMmmmm so sweet and juicy and full of flavor!

Day 57 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful to stay in touch with people I met who I like and admire (a friend from Stress class).
2. I'm grateful for everyone who shares uplifting and humorous posts on the internet.
3. I'm grateful when friends have medical procedures and come through with flying colors.

Day 56 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful for catching a few minutes of video of my kids when they were little.  It's been a long time since I've seen any video of the kids.  I hope I can transfer and convert all of the tape I have.
2. I'm grateful for living where I do.  I really love it here.
3. I'm grateful for winter break.  I do need to look up when school starts again, but for now I'm enjoying MY time off and my son's visit and knowing that my daughter might catch up on some R&R.

Day 55 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful for going to the movies with awesome people and seeing a great movie.
2. I'm grateful for a cool breeze at night that gives just enough chill to keep me wrapped in my blankets all comfy and cozy.
3. I'm grateful for my workroom.  I love, love, love it!

Day 54 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful for having an over abundance of good food in the house.
2. I'm grateful for sharing my work with family members (helped my son make some jewelry).
3. I'm grateful for 3mm pre-fab bezel cups.  I just can't imagine trying to make those by hand.  Yikes!

Day 53 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful that it's so often so easy to get fast answers to any question in life by using the internet... Google to be specific.  Just now I turned off an annoying feature my text messenger does.  Until I googled it, though, I had no idea what it was called so didn't know what to disable.
2. I'm grateful for finding new vendors to purchase interesting jewelry supplies from.
3. I'm grateful for being together with family while checking out Christmas lights (there were actually a lot of lights, but I didn't think to take pix until we were almost done).

Day 52 Gratefuls

1. I'm so so so so so grateful I found a textbook I thought for sure I'd tossed into the recycle bin with a bunch of cardboard boxes last week.  But no, it was merely hiding in a stack of papers (that I'd flipped through three time earlier this week while looking for the book).  It's an Amazon text rental and I was so sad to be stuck with a $130 bill for losing the book (especially when used versions of it are obtainable for $40).  I was really kicking myself, trust me.  But hooray, this morning I found it.
2. I'm grateful Gabe and Sereen shared some really wonderful pictures and stories of their trip to Tahoe today (for Sereen's birthday).  
3. I'm grateful for soldering jobs that eventually work, even if they didn't the first three times. 

Day 51 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful for spending the whole day with my son and his gf.
2. I'm grateful for the opportunity (sort of) to practicing being less critical of myself for making a mistake and learning to "let it go".
3. I'm grateful for cool night air and warm fuzzy blankets.

Day 50 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful that I've been able to blog my gratefuls for 50 days in a row.
2. I'm grateful that my son and his gf are in the house today... visiting from UCLA.
3. I'm grateful for vanilla bean gelato.  Whoohoo! 

Day 49 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful that I get to see my son and his GF (probably tomorrow morning 'cause I can't stay up too late).
2. I'm grateful my daughter has been calling me often.  It really means a lot to me.
3. I'm grateful for more fabulous students.  Here are the rings that were made in my first "spinner rings" class.

Day 48 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful for leftovers (particularly when I don't feel like cooking).
2. I'm grateful for soldering that goes right the first time.
3. I'm grateful for infused water (or my pitcher that makes infused water)... here we have mango and blueberry.

Day 47 Gratefuls

1. Grateful for children who appreciate when you put everything on hold to do something for them.
2. Grateful for still the most awesome students ever in my workshop.
3. Grateful for fast shipments... usually it's Rio.  Today it was my new Foldio 2 (testing out a new photo cube/lighting system for taking jewelry shots).  Here's my first (very rough) test.  First pic... no editing, no futzing... didn't have time to really play yet.

Day 46 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful my daughter and I get along well 99.9% of the time.  She's so caring and smart and such a good person all around.  I'm honored to be part of her family.
2. I'm grateful California is getting rain this fall/winter.  I know it's a drop in the bucket, so to speak, but every little bit helps.
3. I'm grateful I have a soft bed to get into every night.  It may be small but it's warm and cozy and I'm very grateful for it.

Day 45 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful I have a friend who trusts me enough and feels comfortable enough with me to let me take care of her post-surgery.  I'm probably a bit of a helicopter parent, though.  ha ha ha
2. I'm grateful that the orders continue to come in.  'Tis the season!
3. I'm grateful when I hear that packages I sent arrived at their destination.  Yay!

Day 44 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful I'm able to help out a friend who is ALWAYS there for me.  Makes me feel good to be able to give back once in a while.
2. I'm grateful for the nicest post office and UPS delivery people.  The ones who work in our area are just supremely nice!
3. I'm grateful for getting A's in all three classes I took this semester.

Day 43 Gratefuls

As I'm studying for my final in my Ethics class, I'm reading an Ayn Rand article and come across this sentence: "Any action that a man undertakes for the benefit of those he loves is not a sacrifice if, in the hierarchy of his values, in the total context of the choices open to him, it achieves that which is of the greatest personal importance to him."

And so I give you today's gratefuls which include one that I was often questioned on while raising the kids (and still get questioned on occasionally).  When asked what we were doing at Thanksiving, on Mother's Day, on Fourth of July... my response for about ten years in a row was "hockey tournament".  When asked how much I was paying for my kids to play hockey... my response was "about 1/3 of my paycheck".  When asked if I'm not tired of going straight from work to hockey practice every single night (two kids on an average of three different teams) and spending every weekend at games... my response was "it's together time and we all enjoy it or we wouldn't do it". 

The question or statement that followed generally went something like this:

• Your kids are lucky you sacrifice so much for them.
• Don't you ever regret sacrificing your time or money just so the kids can play hockey?
• Parents sacrifice a lot for their kids; I hope they appreciate it.

I never, ever felt I was sacrificing anything, and Rand explains very well why.  To do it all over again I wouldn't change a thing.  I look back at our hockey days (which was practically my children's entire childhoods) with only the fondest of memories.  Crammed in the car with stinky hockey gear, fighting Bay Area rush hour traffic to make it to practice in time, sitting for hours in freezing temps on cold, hard benches... it was a brilliant time in my life. 

I think any struggles we faced during those years taught us some valuable life lessons.  We learned that where there's a will there's a way.  We learned that even if circumstances aren't pleasant we could find SOMETHING to be happy about and that's what we focused on.  We learned that being part of a social family is one of the best things there is.

My kids do not take what they have for granted.  They appreciate everything they have and seem to enjoy life.  I think hockey (and struggling to make hockey happen, year after year) had a lot to do with that.


As I write this, one child is a goalie at UCLA and the other is a goalie at BROWN.  Sacrifice?  I think not.  We loved what we did and we're still enjoying the fruits of those labors.

1. I'm grateful for all the fun I had raising my kids.
2. I'm grateful for being a part of the youth hockey world where I met and still am friends with some of the most awesome, helpful, compassionate, generous people.
3. I'm grateful that youth sports exist as a great way for children to learn about teamwork, discipline, friendship, socializing, competitiveness and a whole lot of other things that are just plain old good for them.

Day 42 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful for the awesome people I met in my Monday class (which just ended tonight).
2. I'm grateful for potluck parties with a wide array of yummy food.
3. I'm grateful for my eyesight (as much as a bitch about how sucky it is... I'm really grateful I have it at all).

Day 41 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful for finding things in the freezer that I didn't know where there on days when I can't think of anything to cook.
2. I'm grateful for coffee that's all doctored up with sugar and cream.  I only drink coffee a couple times a year, but when I do I really enjoy it.
3. I'm grateful for mail sorters that I can use as my filing system.

Day 40 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful when the cats behave.
2. I'm grateful for being able to watch my daughter play hockey today 3000 miles away.
3. I'm grateful to be done with one of two finals.

Day 39 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful for the people (and sometimes the person) who leave comments on my blogs.  It's nice to know someone is listening, even when I'm talking to myself.
2. I'm grateful for going to bed early any time I want.  While it's true I can't take naps, I do enjoy the luxury of crawling into bed early on occasion and catching up on my reading.
3. I'm grateful for trees that make a "California snowstorm" when it's windy and then leave a layer of pretty leaves on the lawn.  I know most people don't want leaves on their lawn, but first of all, lawns aren't really "happening" in California lately, and secondly it's still beautiful no matter what.
   
   
   
   
   

Day 38 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful for Roku, JetFlicks, Netflix, and Amazon Prime.
2. I'm grateful for friends I've never met who I think would give me the shirt off their back.
3. I'm grateful the price of silver is $14 these days.

Day 37 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful that when I took a spill today, I managed to only scrape my knees.  It could have been so much worse the stupid way I went down.  I got really lucky.
2. I'm grateful that a necklace I made for myself today turned out awesome.  Well, might not seem awesome to others, but I'm really happy with it and it's exactly what I wanted.
3. I'm grateful that I get to veg tonight.  Maybe I shouldn't but at least I don't have any commitments outside of the house. 

Day 36 Gratefuls

Oooh, this is gonna be short 'cause it's cold and late and I wanna crawl into bed.

1. I'm grateful I have a warm bed to crawl into.
2. I'm grateful I can (in theory) go to sleep and wake up whenever I want.
3. I'm grateful I love what I do for a living.

Day 35 Gratefuls

Hey, I passed the 30 day mark.  Isn't that supposed to be one of the important time frames for something you want to become habit?

Anyway, let's see what we can put on the agenda for tonight.

1. I'm grateful that dilating my pupils (every six months) feels NOTHING like when they use drops to constrict my pupils (before I had laser surgery).  I never EVER want to go through that again.  Dilating is a wee bit of a PITA if I have somewhere I have to be (like tonight... had to go straight to school with my cartoon eyes... ha ha ha).  But you do get to experience a state of continual fireworks with all the different lights on at night.  The effect is really something.. particularly with Christmas lights.
2. I'm grateful that I found another good book to read.  It's a juvenile by Heinlein... I decided to go through all his juveniles.  I think there are some that I've missed.  And I have no apologies for my reading materials, ever.  I'm perfectly fine with young adult fiction because I counter it with some pretty heavy duty non-fiction books.
3. I'm grateful for pomegranates.  They are just SOOOO yummy! 

Day 34 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful I go to school by choice rather than by necessity.
2. I'm grateful for friends who give me ideas like putting on a simmer pot to add humidity to the air (it's down to 27% today).
3. I'm grateful that the sun moves across the horizon so only for a few months of the year is it in my eyes when I sit at the computer or reflecting on the tv.

Day 33 Gratefuls

1. I'm super, super grateful for getting to spend the whole day with Gabe and Sereen!
2. I'm grateful for finding a little pet cushion and insulation thing for my outdoor cat house.
3. I'm grateful for a beaded necklace that worked out pretty nicely.  I don't make very many beaded things lately and I almost forgot some of my former techniques. 

Day 32 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful for great company and home cooked meals.
2. I'm grateful for citrus fruit in the winter.
3. I'm grateful for realizing my Ethics final isn't until next week.

Day 31 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful for all my friends and family.
2. I'm grateful for central heat.
3. I'm grateful that I live in a place where I get to see occasional wildlife (check out the antlers on the male).

Day 30 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful I had a long (and really nice) phone conversation with my daughter today.  
2. I'm grateful my son just called and said he's coming to visit this weekend (up from UCLA).
3. I'm grateful my homemade pumpkin pie turned out very yummy.

Day 29 Gratefuls

1. I'm so grateful for where I live at the moment.  It's beautiful  Every day is like a vacation.
2. I'm grateful for oversized fuzzy sweaters on cold days.
3. I'm grateful for banana bread being an easy solution for too many overripe bananas in the pantry.

Day 28 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful for helpful tech people on the phone with voices/tones/accents I can hear okay and understand.
2. I'm grateful for wood floors.  I'm extremely unfond of carpets.  Rugs are tolerable, but I really love wood floors.
3. I'm grateful for orders that finally arrive and are better than expected.  Got some fun new cab jewelry coming up soon.  Yeeha!

Day 27 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful when I see people being nice to other people, even if it's just on tv.  For example, on The Voice, the coaches always say nice and encouraging things to the contestants, even the ones they have to let go.  And while the grown-ups on shows like Masterchef and Project Runway can be very catty and back-stabbing, when they do children's versions of these shows, the kids are always encouraging and supporting one another.  They say NICE things behind one another's back.
2. I'm grateful that it's going to rain again Tuesday (we welcome the rain) and that it's supposed to be sunny on Thursday (Thanksgiving... I prefer no rain for those who will be driving that day).
3. I'm grateful that even in the winter, I can hang my clothes out to dry instead of using the electricity-guzzling dryer.  We just plan accordingly and do laundry on non-rain days.

Day 26 Gratefuls

Today was one of those... not so stellar days.  Nothing horrible, just little things going wrong here and there.

So in light of this...

... I will reach for three positives today.

1. I'm grateful for trees.  I'm glad I live where there are lots of trees and they're all so beautiful.  I don't want to take trees for granted.  (Here's our gorgeous persimmon tree)
   
2. I'm grateful for nights without stupid freaky anxiety-inducing dreams.  Yes, I really love those!  (Not the dreams... the nights without them)
3. I'm grateful for November and December because business really picks up then.  I know, it shouldn't come as a shock that people buy more jewelry before the holidays, but it's always pleasant when it happens nonetheless.  I also have the highest number of men buying jewelry (presumably as gifts) before the holidays than any other time of the year.

Day 25 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful for times when I'm entertaining and dinner turns out awesome.  
2. I'm grateful that Hulu is the opposite of almost every other viewing system when it comes to commercials and volume.  The sound for commercials is actually LOWER than the sound for the program.  
3. I'm grateful for nights when I can leave the window open and get fresh air all night.

Share your gratefuls in the comments section.

Day 24 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful that I was able to design and make a piece of jewelry that had to be mailed today (along with some freshly picked mandarins)... and it worked (hey, they don't wall work, I won't kid you).
   
2. I'm grateful for days when I don't have any other obligations and I just get to play with jewelry.
3. I'm grateful for the beautiful sunset tonight.  I stopped on my way home to take the first pic.  The second pic is once I got home.  The actual sunset was much better than these awful cell phone photos show, so can you imagine?! 
    
   
   
   

Day 23 Gratefuls

These are pithy posts, I realize that.  It's because I write them before I go to bed and I'm a total morning person so by the time I'm doing my daily gratefuls I'm exhausted and haven't got much brain power for clever posting.

1. Today I'm grateful for nice UPS and USPS delivery people.
2. I'm grateful for socks (those who know me may be shocked by that, but it's been in the 60's lately and I'm freezing... so yes, I have been wearing socks).
3. I'm grateful that the less sugar I consume, the better non-sugared foods taste.  Today I ate some plain unsweetened, unflavored yogurt and it was SOOOO yummy.  There was a time I would have said NO WAY.

(And I had a great cartoon to put here, but I'm suddenly feeling like not joining in with the rest of the internet and using other people's material without their permission.)

Day 22 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful migraines (for me) don't seem to last more than a day or two.
2. I'm grateful for the classes I'm taking at college... they're very interesting and it's fun meeting new people.
3. I'm grateful for that gasoline isn't too expensive right now.  I think I paid $2.35 per gallon today.  I recall paying as much as $5 per gallon about 5-10 years ago.

Day 21 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful how easy the UPS website is to use and that they offer a reasonably priced ground service.
2. I'm grateful that I got to see a really beautiful moon tonight as I was driving home from school.  Orange, low on the horizon, crescent.  I wanted to stop and take a picture, but that always translates into a little dot.  Hmph!
3. I'm grateful for solder joins that works the first time.  Ha ha ha!  

Day 20 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful that when the electricity went out during today's thunderstorm, it was a very brief outage (my portable charges weren't charged!).
2. I'm grateful for so many nearby places to buy healthy, organic, locally-sourced, wholesome grocery items.
3. I'm grateful that the three cats are here every evening when I go to bed and every morning when I wake up.  'Cause when I can't find one... I go looking.

Share your gratefuls in the comments section.  I'd love to hear from you.

Day 19 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful my daughter's team won today's game.  Timely moral booster.
2. I'm grateful... well, truth is, I'm spoiled rotten with my technology... which isn't even much compared to most people I know, but me... well, I *do* feel spoiled rotten.  I was watching a streamed hockey game on my phone and I kept getting texts which stops the streamed game each time.  So I put the game on my Kindle instead so the texts could be answered without stopping the streamed game.  I do not take all this for granted.  I am so grateful every day that I have so many cool things in my life.
3. I'm grateful the grass has stopped growing so fast in the orchard.  If I don't have to mow much in the next few months I can start going on morning walks again.  Yay!

Day 18 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful I got to see the work of some cool artists today (a small jaunt to one of the stops on the local artist loop that I hope to be a part of this time next yer).
2. I'm grateful Utah has live streaming since I never even get to find out the scores for the UCLA games without my son's gf texting them to me.
3. I'm grateful for all the people who help out during difficult and dangerous times.

Day 17 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful that Costco took the screw out of my tire and repaired the tire for free.  They apparently also found a nail in the same tire.  Geez... I'm sorry poor car.
2. I'm grateful for friends who will go with me without any notice to Costco to have my tires repaired.
3. I'm grateful for garlic.  I just LOVE the stuff!

Day 16 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful for so many different kinds of tea to choose from.
2. I'm grateful that my friends are very forgiving of my mistakes.
3. I'm grateful I'm working on not having any big regrets in life...

... just little ones.

Day 15 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful for people I've never met who bend over backwards to help my daughter adjust to life 3000 miles from home.  This sentence doesn't do justice to the gratitude I feel for that east coast family.  I'm so touched.
2. I'm grateful for all the people willing to share their knowledge and experiences with jewelry making and/or selling online in order to help others speed up the learning curve.
3. I'm grateful for my son's gf who texts me the scores of my son's UCLA ice hockey games since it's impossible to find out anything about that team anywhere on the internet. 

Day 14 Gratefuls

1. I'm truly grateful that I have the option of cooling off if I'm too hot and of warming up if I'm too cold.  I realize this is a luxury and I don't take it for granted.
2. I'm also grateful I currently live in a place where "freezing" to me really means it's about 55 degrees outside.  Yes, I'm a wuss when it comes to cold weather.  I pretend to think I could live on the east coast, but when California goes below 60 degrees I rethink my hardiness.
3. Still and again grateful for the awesome, awesome, awesome students that come to my workshop to let me share my knowledge.

Day 13 Gratefuls

1. Today I'm grateful for my two snuggly little blankets that are SO soft.  Although I generally get hot in the night and kick all my blankets off, it's nice to snuggle up with my blankets when I first get into bed and feel like I'm freezing.
2. Today I'm grateful that I have access to lots of experienced metal smiths who are very patient with my questions.  I learn a lot from them.
3. Today I'm grateful for sourdough bread.  I try not to eat too much bread but an occasional piece of sourdough bread warmed up is so yummy!

Share your gratefuls in the comments section!

Day 12 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful that I found some cool books at an estate sale.  I got the "Forks Over Knives" cookbook along with a book on Neuroplasticity (one of my favorite subjects).
2. I'm grateful that my tumbler hasn't given my jewelry any of the black gunk since that one time a couple months ago.  I do hold my breath every time I empty it, and so far yay it's all been sparkling shiny sterling silver.
3. I'm grateful that the organic peanut butter powder is back in stock.  Patiently waiting to see if Costco will stock it again, but in the meantime I just order it from the company.

Share your gratefuls in the comments section!

Day 11 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful that the baby deer that was injured so badly animal control was out here looking for him seems to be surviving okay.  I saw him with him mom and, while he does have a bad limp, he is getting around fine.  I do understand they were only trying to do the humane thing... if he couldn't get around he'd just suffer and starve.  So I'm grateful he seems to have overcome his injury (got caught in one of the fences he was trying to jump).
2. I'm grateful for live streaming games of my daughter's hockey so I can feel a little less far from her (she's 3000 miles away).
3. I'm grateful for fun garage sales and fun people to go with me to garage sales.  $5 for a pair of these cool stained glass windows (they're 3 feet tall).

Day 10 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful for vitamin C powder from Trader Joe's.  I hate swallowing pills and although this stuff is mind-numbingly sour, a little goes a long way (1000 mg per 1/4 tsp).  I like a little Vit C boost when I feel I may be coming down with something.
2. I'm grateful I don't hear anyone snoring at night.  I've known and lived with snorers and it drives me batty.  So yay for no snoring these days.  I even make our snoring cat sleep upstairs.
3. I'm grateful I have a rolling mill.  Although I don't use it on a daily basis, it's so nice having one.  I like adding textures to metal this way.  Like this bracelet and these earrings.

 

 

 What are you grateful for?  Share in the comments!

Day 9 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful that I found something I was looking for in the workroom.  That sentence doesn't begin to express the angst I felt when I couldn't find the item and the overwhelming relief and gratitude when I did find it.  
2. I'm grateful I had a wonderful phone conversation with my daughter this evening.
3. I'm grateful I got to work in the studio today.  You'd think, being a jewelry maker and all,that's where I spend the majority of my time... but you'd be wrong, so I'm EVER so grateful when I get to spend even half a day in the workshop.  Here's a (poor quality) photo of one of the items I made.

Don't forget to share YOUR gratefuls in the comments section if you like.  I'd love to hear what my friends are grateful for, big and small (the gratefuls, not the friends).

Day 8 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful I got to share some of my personal life/work in one of my college classes.  Yes, I get excited talking about the process of making jewelry, so any audience I can find makes me happy.
2. I'm grateful that Rio (www.RioGrande.com) ship fast.  I usually have my items two days after placing my order.  Whoohoo!
3. I'm grateful that the cauliflower recipe I just tried was a success.  

Day 7 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful for the awesome library of reference books I have.
2. I'm grateful that my camera sometimes makes my jewelry look really good.
3. I'm grateful that it's November and we're still picking cherry tomatoes off the vine every day.

Day 6 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful that when the box fell onto my shelf and landed right on top of my sorting tray, the tray didn't upset, tip over or spill.  The tray was full of a day's worth of cabochon sorting... some as small as 3mm.  I would have cried had they spilled all over my room.  So yay for the non-spilling!  
2. I'm grateful that I have a workshop full of supplies and tools at the beck and call of my experiments.  No, I don't have every tool I want (my next goal is a Pepe or Swanstrom disk cutter), but I have so many to be grateful for, indeed.
3. I'm grateful for that fresh feeling in the air after a rain.  And yes, we got rain today.  Hooray!

Please share your gratefuls in my comments section!

Day 5 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful I have such nice friends, virtual and IRL
2. I'm grateful for Facebook because I get to stay in constant contact with so many people and share stories and photos back and forth and I don't care what people say about Facebook... I have friends there!
3. I'm grateful for DVR... I remember when I first heard about it and I was like, "Nah, I don't need that."  But now that I have it I see how cool it is even if you don't watch a lot of tv.  Zooming through the commercials of recorded shows, being able to record things weeks in advance, pausing live tv if the phone rings, etc.  I feel so spoiled!

Don't forget to share one or more of your gratefuls in the comments section!

Day 4 Gratefuls

1. I'm grateful for friends who come over every Friday night to watch Project Runway with me.
2. I'm grateful for kids that text me "goodnight" every night no matter how far away they are.
3. I'm grateful for really good books

Day 3 Gratefuls

Today I'm grateful for:

1. Amazon's fast deliveries
2. My nutribullet
3. This Jasper stone

Spent some time organizing my cabochons today and am always reminded how much I love patterned Jasper. 

Day 2 Gratefuls

Hm... let's see.  I had a pretty decent day today.  As in "not stressed".  That's always good.

So here are my three gratefuls for today:

1. I'm grateful for a family member's safe travels this week.
2. I'm grateful I can embed images into Excel files.
3. I'm grateful my Ethics professor lets me be authentic.  I never get penalized for writing in the same manner in which I speak (which is very casual).  Those of you who've purchased tutorials from me probably know what I mean.  

Let me explain why my other blog is a morning blog and this blog is an evening blog.  While I'm a morning person and really want to do everything in the first part of the day and basically veg out in the later part of the day, I feel some tasks are important to do before bed. 

There's actually some truth to that cartoon.  Some people relive moments in their day and sort of mentally "rewrite" parts they didn't like into more positive outcomes or scenarios. After all, what is the past?  Merely memories.  So if we "play" with our memories and manage to turn some of the less positive ones into more positives ones, even if it's only on a subconscious level, it could have a positive effect.

So back to the bedtime routine.  You all already know about how bad distractions and backlit technology are (and if you don't, look it up... scary stuff).  So after doing the grateful thing, reading is one of the best things you can do before sleep.  If you're reading on a Kindle or tablet, it should not be backlit.

Turn your phone off at night (or at least turn text and email notifications off at night).

Don't fall asleep with the tv on.

Strive for eight hours.

And most importantly, thing of nice things before you fall asleep.

What I want to do is go to bed with pleasantness on my mind.  This is why I do my gratitude journal at night.  Of course, that leaves the possibility wide open for more typos and whatnot, but I think looking in the nooks and crannies of the day to seek out at least three things that put a smile on my face that day... well, that's a good thing (as MS would say).

So there you have it.  My day 2 is done.  How was your day 2?  I hope you leave me a comment with your gratitudes!


And because I like to leave you on a funny/silly/happy not, we'll close with static cat. 

Day 1 Gratefuls

The premise is simple and oft-used.  At the end of each day, find three things that you experienced that you are grateful for.

By starting a habit of seeking out happiness over misery (or even mundaneness), we can train ourselves to see more of the good things in our lives.

I hope you share (use the comment section) your daily gratitudes!  Here are mine for today:

1. I'm grateful that I current have a 97% in my ethics class.  There's a lot of reading and a lot or writing in that class and we just has our midterms last week, so I'm pretty happy with that.
2. I'm grateful that when I hear "Eye of the Tiger" on the radio I picture Dean Winchester (some of you will know what I'm talking about).  And yeah, see, not all "gratefuls" have to be profound.  Heck, sometimes it's IMPORTANT to find the little things that make you happy.
3. I'm grateful we have a 40% chance of rain tomorrow (I believe this is our fifth year of drought in California).

So that's it, plain and simple.

Don't forget to leave a comment and/or share your gratefuls.  Remember, changing your perspective can change your life.