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.