Last year I kept a running list of all the things I was grateful for during the month. Let's see how it went this year.
Grateful for...
1. ...how much my kitty wants to cuddle with me.
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| A scarf! A dress! A cat! This is peak NGS right here. |
2. ...a successful winter market for our little town. The Chamber of Commerce does a big fair that is at five or six sites across town and it was busy and fun!
3. ...my book club buddies. It's always so fun to have an excuse to get together, eat snacks, and hear diverse interpretations of what we've read. It's also great because we often read books I never would have picked up with the nudge of having to discuss it.
4. ...so much help putting up the holiday decorations.
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| What do you mean the tree skirt isn't for me nap on? |
5. ...a job to go to every day.
6. ...the first of the holiday cards hanging up!
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| Our card collection as of 12/23. |
7. ...a neighborhood of beauty and cheer even when I'm walking the dog at 5:30 in the morning.
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| The skeleton has been up since October. I'm loving it. I thought it would terrify Hannah, but she doesn't seem to acknowledge it. |
8. ...the arrival of my #SecretSANtaSwap2023 gift from Anne!
9. ...date night with my husband to see an unusual Nutcracker performance.
10. ...free time to take Hannah the Dog out for a long walk.
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| Camo doggy! She's the same color as winter Wisconsin. |
11. ...co-workers who take the time to meet with me and share with me their materials.
12. ...my hair stylist! She is super pregnant and has had one complication after another with this pregnancy, but she still found time to fit me in. (Note: she had a baby girl on the 15th. According to Instagram, both mom and baby are doing well.)
13. ...fitness classes that keep me motivated to keep moving.
14. ...access to plentiful and safe food.
15. ...mustering the energy to drive to Milwaukee for the zoo's light show after a long week of work.
16. ...seeing this face every day.
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| Please, humans, give me the food. All the food, please. |
17. ...a place to take Hannah for a bath when she gets unreasonably whiffy.
18. ...time to chat with my cousin on her birthday.
19. ...a great ending to my time on the board at the community center.
20. ...our yearly double date night to see the lights at the local Rotary Gardens.
21. ...friends who give Hannah special treats. BONUS! There's going to be more sunlight tomorrow than there was today.
22. ...the postponement of tonight's plans. It will be lovely to do it in January, but I needed a night to lazy about today.
23. ...quiet morning walks with Hannah the Dog. There are no church bells on these morning walks anymore since they seemed to have started turning them off between 10pm and 7am. It just makes everything so much more pleasant when the only sounds I hear are of me and my girl.
24. ...my delightful, forgetful, brilliant, eccentric, handsome husband who never fails to support me in all my strange endeavors.
25. ...all of you, my dear readers. May you have a lovely 25th of December and for those of you who celebrate, Merry Christmas.
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| Yes, it's the perfect place for a tree. It's the main reason we bought this house. |
Yay! So many wonderful things! I am thankful that you are still posting daily. :-) Merry Christmas, Engie!
ReplyDeleteSo, one of my quarterly goals is to post daily THIS YEAR and even though I finished up the project last month, I've been gritting my teeth and posting daily this month even though I'm getting a bit salty about it! This will not be happening in 2024!
DeleteYou remember and record well.
ReplyDeleteIt's just a quick little jot down every day. I definitely wouldn't remember otherwise!
DeleteMerry Christmas Engie!!! Clearly you need a skirt for the tree AND a skirt for Hannah and probably one for Zelda as well.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is, I think we could arrange that! I have a nasty tree skirt purchasing addiction!
DeleteMerry Christmas Engie! I hope my card arrived on time (yours has a prominent place in my card display.) I love your list, and I love the skeleton with the Christmas lights- someone has a sense of humor. I got my Christmas book flood! My husband picked up My Brilliant Friend, and he loves it (I'm looking over at him reading it right now.) Maybe if you pick it for our next book club, he'll join in!
ReplyDeleteI hope you're all having a wonderful, peaceful, and relaxing day.
Yes! Your card is in that display, I promise! I am considering what book to do for CBBC next and My Brilliant Friend is at the top of the list. It would be fun if he did join in!
DeleteMerry Christmas, Engie. These are great photos (the portrait of Zelda is so sweet) and I love your list. It reminds me of my Good Things Jar of years past. Maybe I should try that for 2024. I liked reading all the Good Thing slips of paper on New Year's Eve; it reminded me that lots of positive things happened, and it brought back some great memories.
ReplyDeleteI am starting a new 5-year journal since my is ending this year and I think I'm going to write one good thing from the day in it this time around. It will force me to think about and articulate happy things!
DeleteMerry Christmas! I love your grateful list.
ReplyDeleteIt's a lovely thing to do in the month of December.
DeleteThis is just lovely. Such great photo memories, too. Loved seeing so many highlights in pictorial form.
ReplyDelete(And I spied several familiar photocards!!!)
So many bloggers on that display this year!
DeleteSuch a lovely list, Engie! I enjoyed each and every pic! <3
ReplyDeleteThank you! I enjoy putting the list together.
DeleteSo many great things. So much to be grateful for...
ReplyDeleteFor sure. It's a great time of year to focus on the positives.
DeleteSo much to love about this post.
ReplyDeleteIt's a fun December tradition for me.
DeleteI love how you hang your cards! And that skeleton made me laugh. I am glad it doesn't bother Hannah.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely tradition to come up with something for each day of the month!
I think we started hanging our cards that way when we lived in an apartment and didn't even have a tree. It was a way of decorating that didn't take up much space. Now I just love it!
DeleteI love this idea! I need to remind myself to do this next December... and maybe regularly throughout the year. I don't find the good as much as I should... this would help. (Also, Zelda... that picture is everything. How do you resist???)
ReplyDeleteI resist Zelda because her constant meowing is super annoying! LOL I mean, she's lucky she hasn't been strangled. If she weren't so adorable, her murder would be imminent!
DeleteWhat a wonderful list. I am love your Christmas Card display (they make me so happy every year) and I am glad you particpated in the Secret SANta Swap this year. Hannah and Zelda are obviously part of this list - I always love hearing about them (and seeing pictures!). I live vicariously through you when it comes to pets ;)
ReplyDeleteSan, you need to get a lizard or a hamster or a fish. You can get a low maintenance pet! And your life will be better for it!
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