Friday, August 17, 2012

Gratitude. Because if I don't remind myself daily, then I might just get sucked up in the vortex of this life.

1. Walking downstairs and finding a big brother, lovingly and without being asked, swinging his little sister. Which means, he had lifted her from the floor, carried her outside and placed her in the swing. All by himself. Pretty great kid I have. Wouldn't you say?

2. Missing my moms presence in my life everyday. My tears don't come as often as they did 5 weeks ago but when they come, they come without warning. The sobs are intense and come from such a deep place within me but pass just as quickly as they arrived. I am thankful for that.

3. Music. Loud music. Loud music, in my car, while driving alone. Music, for me, transcends anything and everything that is going on in my life. Lately, I am beyond grateful for that.



4. Presents from older daughters. Thanks Taylor. Although anyone that knows me, knows that "dammit" is fairly mild when it come to my curse words arsenal.
5. Unexpected presents in my mailbox from beautiful blogging friends.

6. The return of our carefree beach days. Welcome respite from the heaviness of the last 5 weeks.


7.  A reminder to persevere. No matter what.


8. Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf during these sweltering Southern California heatwave days.


8. Getting back to my running routine. I have missed it. A lot.


9. Grace that carries me through the saddest of moments of missing my mom.

10. New life. Yep, gonna be a 'Mimi' again in February. Darling family of three will soon be a darling family of four.


11.  Beautiful emails awaiting me in my inbox, that remind me of why I continue blogging.

12. Been this kind of week and sometimes I find quotes that say it all so much better than I ever could.


13. 'Breaking Bad'. Always a welcomed distraction. Pretty intense so you need to follow it with a healthy dose of laughter. So Jimmy Fallon does that for me. Cracks me up and I am grateful for the laughter at the end of a long day.

14. Rice cakes with peanut butter, strawberries and bananas on top. Yep, I am thankful for them. Otherwise I probably would be eating nada. I have been known to have them for breakfast and lunch.

15. 7 weeks left and we will have our own resident nurse in the family. So proud of Jess. Just began her last semester of nursing school.

16. I do love being at home with my kids. I really do but I have to tell you, I do feel a little like this sometimes.  So this little pice of gratitude comes tempered with a side of humor. Cuz you have got to keep your humor if you are going to be a mom. Only way you will survive your vocation. Really is.



Really, really tried to squeak out a few more points of gratitude this week but it was tough my friends. And speaking of friends. I have been absent in and around the blogworld. Keep thinking I will get back in the groove and then, not so much. Life is so extremely complicated these days, that I seem to be pulled in so many directions, that certain aspects of my life seem to be falling to the wayside. Just has to be that way for now. I will be fine. Always am. It is the getting to fine that is proving difficult.

But I will be fine. Eventually and until then, I will just keep looking for those daily reminders of gratitude. What else can one do? Right?

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Think of you alot these days, my friend. As you say, life is so incredibly complicated...and may I add.......painful at times. I too have had a tough time with blogging. I love your first point of gratitude. There is something about the Zoe's and the Moise's of the world that bring out the best and most beautiful attributes of their siblings. Can't wait to see what these kids of ours turn out to be when they grow up.

Said a prayer for you this morning as you are missing your dear mother. Love from afar.

Anonymous said...

Great post Heather! Congrats to Danny & Caitlin

Taylor you should go into full scale production - you'd soon be a millionaire!

Great to see a return to the "beach days"

and... that is a sweet big brother thing! Zoey looks so happy in her swing!

Take care

Bluebelle

Bea Braun said...

Wow that's a lot to be grateful for!!! A big congrats to Jess and Caitlin - how exciting for everybody. I'm so glad you're feeling a bit more "normal". My sister's been gone for a year and a half and I still find myself crying out of the blue. Happened while I was buying oranges at Sprouts of all places. Enjoy your beach days, but a heads up, they've had a couple white shark sightings in Santa Barbara.

Elizabeth said...

Wonderful list -- and I'm always glad to find you here, leading us all gently to gratitude. I think of you daily -- sending you continued healing thoughts and wishes for strength and perseverance.

Shannon said...

I love, love, love following your amazing family, Heather! Thank you for this post today - I needed it! We're wrapping up (hopefully) five very long, very challenging weeks in the hospital with our youngest daughter and I needed a reminder of all the things we have to be grateful for. I will be stealing your "storm" quote.

Isylla-Beth said...

Thinking and praying for you:)

Rochelle said...

Congrats on the new baby! Hugs and love and many prayers for you each week! Love you my friend.

Becca said...

Congratulations on the impending addition to the family! So exciting! Thinking of you always, Heather, and I love seeing the things you are grateful for, the things that move you. A beautiful list from your heart. (((hugs)))

Justine said...

I will continue to enjoy your posts regardless of how often you make them. Thank you for the beautiful reminders of gratitude and the funny ones, too.

Cammie Heflin said...

You know I'm always thinking of you guys ;)

EN said...

I can relate to so much of this! What a sweet big brother Zoe has! And the tears when you lose someone coming unexpectedly...I so get it. And cleaning up messes you didn't make...hello! I love joking about how "glamorous" being a mom is :-) What a perfect post!