whoops

it's been a couple weeks...and I have to admit, honestly, that I FORGOT that I even had this gratitude blog going!
yikes!!!
how quickly it is to forget when you don't practice daily.
ok. let's forgive thyself, and move on.

I am back at it, as of now. A Sunday night. A strange weekend.

I am grateful for my ability to have babies - my beautiful, dear friends have had such terrible luck with fertility, and I cannot stress enough how lucky we are that we've had a smooth road with this. I am grateful for friend is okay in her health crisis.

I am grateful for dear friends who come around and bring Bye Bye Breastfeeding cookies.

I am grateful for my dear husband, who puts up with so much of my shit. Who works tirelessly at his job and as a dad/hubby at home. I am sooo glad I got to get out yesterday to the city for dear pal Kate's hen's day. I was spoiled with High Tea at a posh hotel, and I'm one lucky lady.

sighhh. could go on and on.
Should go on and on, but need to head off to sleepyland.

A final thought ...since it's been a couple weeks...a HUGE shout out of gratitude for my recent Perth trip and ALL of the mega amazing experiences there (shopping, food, spas, luxury).

And also - I have signed up for a meditation and mindfulness course...wow!

wednesday

Thank you, day, for being challenging but not unmanageable.

I am thankful for: getting to talk with Steph on the phone! Starting to watch 'The Beautiful Truth' doco. Thank you for being an educated and enlightened person.

I am thankful for my safety. As I watch the continued search for the woman gone missing from Brunswick over the weekend, I am disheartened, saddened, scared and angry. But mostly I am grateful for my own safety. I walked home, like her, on a quiet Brunswick street, perpendicular to Hope Street, a five minute walk after being at a bar one evening. I made it home. She did not.

Thank you, great creator, for my protection that evening. And other evenings like that, where by the grace of luck, I did not encounter foul play.

This world is FUCKED. But I am glad I have seen mostly glimmers of good and amazingness.

a tuesday night

Making up for forgetting to check in last night, I simply MUST say -

thankful for my kids health! Soooo grateful that Ivy's tumble was nothing more serious than a bump (scary tho!). Grateful I held it (mostly) together during it all.

Grateful for my cuddles and fun silly moments with my little boy. When he climbs all over me and we're playing and giggling and silly, I melt with the motherly sense of loving how great he is, and how happy I am that our relationship is strong and loving and blossoming into something amazing.

I'm grateful for getting a bit more sleep.
AND - for feeling a whole helluva lot better since stopping pain killers.
Grateful for money and the luxury of eating at cafes and buying organic produce.

life is good. life. is. good.

sunday night, end of a looong weekend

I am thankful for being able to laugh  (giggle in fact, in that punch-happy way) at the end of a long, long shitty day, and long long crummy weekend.

thank you, laughter

friday night

I am tucked up warm in bed with my kitty. For that, I am grateful.
The roof over my head and the comfy life I lead.

I am thankful for great little films that make me feel something (we watched 'Jeff, who lives at home' tonight). It's been awhile since I've been enchanted with a lovely movie like that.

I am so so so grateful for my hubby, who loves me, and sacrifices so much for my sanity and sake. Who puts up with an incredible amount of crazy from me.
He's a catch - I shan't ever forget it.

berfday, yo

Today, I turn 33 years old. And I give thanks for greeting another birthday, another year of age.
I'm grateful for the luxury of having the money and time and ability to have a relaxing birthday with my baby, shopping and lunching, and relaxing at home.
I'm thankful for my amazing husband, who brought me a divine cake from work and a bottle of my favorite type of vino. I'm blessed that he cooked for me, tired and haggard from work and illness, but still slaved over the hot oven to make a special meal (slow roasted pork with port & hoisin sauce).

I give thanks for the gorgeous little moment of my Jojo and Felix singing "Happy birthday, to mama!" with my one tea candle atop my Bernetti's cake.

:) to age 33!

salud

I missed two days of gratitude posting over the weekend. :( Alas, it was an absolute shocker of a weekend, filled with teething-monster babies, very little sleep, lots of bickering and dwindling health.

Which is why it's ironic then that today's gratitude post is for my health. To thank the universe for my good health, because good health is nearly everything. I realize this when I'm sick or injured. Which I am at the moment, both actually. My knee injury is driving me nuts, and my lingering mystery illness is dragging me down.

I went to the doctor today and am having a full blood work up, and I'm on antibiotics for a uti. But still, I am here, fully functioning (even if curled up in bed with cold clammy feet) and relatively "okay". So I thank god or goddess or whomever is out there that I'm nearly 33 (birthday is in 3 and a half hours!) and alive and well. Well, hopefully well. Let's cross fingers this is just a simple little lingering virus.

to health! salud!

spoiled

I am thankful for my pampery afternoon out today. For the luxury of my birthday massage, and time away from domestic duties. I am blessed to have a generous hubby who gives me time out to help me de-stress. And I'm grateful I have the means to afford luxuries like this.

Also am thankful I followed my whim and stopped by a school fete - what a funny little world I encountered at the German school - AND I won several silent auctions - schweet!

excellence

sounds silly perhaps, but today - finding 'Girls', the brilliantly written show by Lena Dunham. So. Good.

Art like this makes me quiver with glee. Having something this fantastic to view actually makes me a happy lass (pathetic but true!). No, wait. I won't even apologize for it - this show is gold. Comedic gold. Dark comedic gold.

And Lena Dunham is a new heroine. She. Rocks.

Grateful for good art. Yup.

and also

the kindness of strangers.
when a lovely fellow-mom insists on helping me, by carrying my cat (in carrier) back to my car with me, while I lug the baby in her own (Ergo) carrier and heavy purse.

and all the while we had a nice little chat, introduced ourselves, and put smiles on each other's faces.

thank you, Bec. what excellent karma you must have, you nicey nice soul you. I will pass it forward, and remember to be kind to strangers too.

:)

la dee da dee da

I am grateful for song - and singing. And being able to sing well.

I am also grateful today for serendipity.

And for moments that take me back to feeling like a 22 year old. Creative and whimsical and in the moment.

a soak in the tub

tonight i am thankful for:

having clicked on a link to this short vid from amazing comedienne Amy Poehler, who reminded me today to appreciate and love my body for all the great things it does for me.

and so my soak in the tub tonight was extra lovely, because after I put down my book and cup of tea, I took up with a special fancy exfoliation bar I'd been saving and carefully massaged my skin head to toe, with the lovely smelling soapy stuff. While doing this I noted all the wonderful things my body has done (grown and birthed babies, danced for hundreds of hours, etc. etc.). And all the things I like and appreciate about my body (I have a great sense of smell - thanks nose! I have strong feet, thanks feet! I have muscular shoulders and a nice collarbone, yay!) <--you get the idea.

I need reminding of this constantly - that is, to GIVE THANKS to my body, as opposed to just berating it for it's faults and flaws (or supposed 'faults' and 'flaws'). To remember all the amazing things my body has done, it's capabilities and power. To focus on the parts of myself I think are rad and awesome, rather than fixating on the parts I'd like to change or improve.

sun, warmth

Today I am especially grateful for spring weather!!!
The effects that a little sunshine and warmth can have on one's mood is sometimes unbelievable.

thank you, sun. thank you, nice warm spring day.

"monday monday, can't trust that day"

Today I am grateful for...hanging on while a stressful part of the day worked through itself. For not letting stress capsize my sanity this afternoon. For having been able to get past a rough patch and out the other side. 

An afternoon with my little boy

Today marks the beginning of my daily gratitude journal.
I am starting this for many reasons...as a spiritual practice, as a way to capture the small moments for which I am ever so grateful, as a means to live with a more positive outlook.

Some posts might be nothing more than a sentence. Perhaps even just a word.
Others may be more verbose, and/or include a visual. I am inspired by a friend's visual gratitude journal, where she uploads a daily photo to an online communal gratitude log. Love that idea! So I'm starting small, by attempting the practice for myself here. I do try and express gratitude in the evenings, as I lay in bed, before I go to sleep. But I think that with the addition of an online account, I may begin to see the blessings in my life far more clearly.

And that, I hope, will have a profound effect.

***

Sunday 9 Sept

I am grateful for the date I had with my son this afternoon. After talking about it all week, I took him on a "mommy & Felix only" date. He was soooo excited to see elephants and eat ice cream, both of which we did. It was relaxing and fun, walking hand in hand through the lovely zoo. The weather was sunny and utterly perfect...warm, light breeze, gorgeous. We had hours at our disposal and wandered at whim, finding animals to Oooo and Ahhh at. I am grateful for my son, for the smiles and laughs he brings. I am grateful for the proximity we are to the Zoo, and the fact that I have been gifted a membership and can go as often as I wish. I am grateful for time with just my son, to build our relationship and bond with him more and more. I had missed just 1 on 1 quality time with him, and adored our special zoo outing today.