Gratitude List

I've been meaning to do this for the last _____________ (fill in the blank) amount of days and have forgotten. I shouldn't forget to be grateful.


Gratitude List


1) Blue skies and a newly-mowed lawn.
2) Tulips everywhere
3) Dreams about pinball machines with birds on them
4) Healthy family and friends
5) Fresh coffee in the morning
6) Mexican chocolate (why had no one told me about this?!)
7) Being told about Mexican chocolate.
8) My art class and figuring things out.
9) Writing in my shed
10) Paperback swap (have you heard about this? www.paperbackswap.com it's fantastic!)
11) The end of NaPoWriMo (though I'm a little sad about this)
12) 30 new "poems" to work on
13) That people didn't stop showing up to this blog in April
14) Openness, forgiveness, and compassion in others
15) Unexpected walks that lead to beaches


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Gratitude List--

1. For the quietness of power outages and then the lights returning

2. Synchronicity

3. Books

4. Breakfast Blend coffee

5. red grapes

6. my space heater

7. Neruda the betta fish

8. Mama deer and her two babies

9. Cars driving the speed limits and with drivers not on their cell phones

10. Friends, family, and countrypeople

Things That Go Broke in the Night...

I woke up this morning to find that our thousand year old furnace had broke during the 30 degree night. The house was a balmy 62 degrees. We knew the furnace wasn't a spring chicken, we dressed it up in duct tape and insulation. It was held together with safety pins and scotch tape. We asked it for a few more winters, it said, yes yes yes. But last night, after one final touch-up yesterday afternoon it exhaled its last warm breath onto our family.

My house likes things to break all at once. It's the blue drama queen on the top of the hill, so I wasn't surprised when I went to my laptop to find that during the night we'd lost all internet access and email. While talking to the knowledgeable 18 year old at tech support, my cordless phone breaks into hissing mode and disconnects. Who was it that said, "Any idiot can face a crisis, it is this day-to-day living that wears you out.” Ah, Chekhov, that's right.

Anyway, since I'm typing this, I'm back online (no help to the help desk, but the internet gods I do not see) and I thought today would be a good day to do a gratitude journal, to remember all I have, even when I'm heating my home with propane at $4.37 a gallon, I am thankful for propane.

Oh the furnace man? He arrives sometime between 2 and 4...


Gratitude Journal

1) Space heaters, electric blankets, wool socks, sweaters, and a propane fireplace
2) Warm showers.
3) My golden retriever who tells me, "Well, since you have nothing to do and it's cold in here, let's go for a walk," which we did.
4) Acceptances-- Crab Orchard Review took 2 poems for their summer issue (congrats to January too who will be in the same issue)
5) Swiss Muesli with raspberry yogurt
6) Leftover Pink Champagne birthday cake
7) Did I say "space heaters" already?
8) People with skills who can fix furnaces.
9) The internet gods
10) hot coffee made fresh
11) Barack & Hillary
12) It's not raining
13) Dove chocolates
14) Nana is 96 and one day
15) An old home with a new roof, a good view, and alotta love.

Thankful

Gratitude List

1) My family & another Thanksgiving with my nana, who will turn 96 in January. During our family grace before our first Thanksgiving dinner on Tuesday when asked, "What are you grateful for?" She said, "Give me a minute, you took me by surprise." Love it!

2) Thanksgiving Deja Vu: Since half of my family lives on this side of the water (rural seaside USA), and the other half lives on the Seattle side, we're having two Thanksgivings. One traditional one we had at my mum's and one today, where we will meet my sister, nieces, nephews, great-nephew (yes, I'm a great aunt!)and we'll dine out. I am thankful for the colorful stories this side of the family gives me with their holiday dramas, it would not be the holidays if someone wasn't talking about someone else. ;-)

3) The holiday season-- I know many hate it, but ignore the commercialism and listen to the underlining message-- to give, to be thoughtful, and to pay attention to the others around you.

4) I give thanks to giving thanks.

5) The Macy's Thanksgiving parade

6) You. Yes, every known, unknown, or random person who reads this blog. Whether you comment on not, email or not, you matter.

7) 4-day weekends-- Which reminds me of my friend's goal in high school: Never waste a 3-day weekend

8) The earth. As much as use and abuse it, it still keeps spinning for us.

9) Our imperfections. Imagine how dull this world would be if we were all perfect. I give thanks for our bad habits, our vices, our emotional days, and everything about ourselves we try to fix.

10) Ferryboats-- my water car.

A Week for Being Thankful

I'm writing this B.C. (before coffee), before I've really even rolled from bed (so B.F.- before floor). Thanksgiving slides up on us this week. Here we were, minding our own business, just finally getting around to throwing out the rotting Jack O'Lanterns, when now it's time to return to our families--no, this year I won't have sit at the child's table--and the roles we love to hate.

So, I'm thinking about gratitude this week and what I am thankful for:

1) Family and Friends, as much as I see myself as a bit of a loner, I'm not.

2) Christmas songs (played 24 hrs a day starting this week)--I know, some of you are cringing, but it's the soundtrack to my season

3) Miracles, Coincidences, Synchronicity - and not just this time of year, any time of year

4) Peace, Love, and Understanding - Not just an Elvis Costello song and also the Elvis Costello song.

5) My pets-- they should have been mentioned earlier in the list, but my cat Eliot appeared and sat on my foot when I was on #5

6) Clean sheets - my favorite way to go to bed

7) Snow - Yes, I'm putting in my request for this holiday season.

8) Poets -known & unknown: I love to learn someone is writing poetry, or reading poetry, or going to poetry readings because s/he loves poetry. No other reason.

9) My new palm pilot-- it has taken the place of my 15 lb. daytimer and I love it!

10) Christmas shopping - while I despise shopping in general, I love buying gifts for others

11) Stuffing, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie-- while I've never been a huge turkey fan (probably from my 12 years of being a strict vegetarian), it's the trimmings on the table

12) A title for my manuscript (CHECK and DONE!)

13) Salted sunflower seeds in the shell

14) Hedgehogs

15) Faith

16) A cedar tree of cedar waxwings

17) Toys that don't require batteries

18) Each day

19) Gift bags full of girly stuff (thanks, J9!)

20) A poetry community - virtual and real life.

Satisfaction in Two Parts...

So satisfied--

Last night I went to check my Verizon cellphone minutes to make sure I hadn't used more than the 700 allotted to me. When I went to check, it said 699 . I got this hugely satisfied feeling seeing how close I came with out going over (sort of like the Price is Right showcase showdown).

Anyway, I felt incredibly happy; I felt "wow, sometimes things just work out." And it's so small in this chaotic world, but 11:45 pm after a bizarre and not-so-powerful windstorm, knowing that midnight, my cellphone minutes would be cleared for a zero balance today, I felt good. I felt as if I got my fill from the cellphone buffet. I guess it's the little things that get me through sometimes.

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Speaking of little things--

It's been a while since I posted a gratitude journal. Here's some other things that get me through the daze, I mean days.

1) Waking up to find hot coffee already made
2) Uwajimaya's paper dragon(s) & $7 beaded slippers
3) Lumpia made by my mother-in-law
4) My teeth after a cleaning
5) Kind strangers who smile
6) Always a hot shower
7) Lavender soap
8) The Frida Kahlo necklace a friend gave me
9) Art class
10) Other artists who make their lives creating their art

How Rich Are You?

Here's a great website, especially good when you are feeling down about money (or lack of money).

See where you are on the Global Rich List...

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And this blurb is from The Smart Woman's Guide to a Simple Life:

You know that phrase, "The rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer?" According to a new University of Michigan study, it's true: Over the last 20 years, the net worth of the top two percentile of American families nearly doubled, from $1,071,000 in 1984 to $2,100,500 in 2005. But the poorest quarter of American families lost ground over the same period, with their 2005 net worth below their 1984 net worth (the poorest ten percent actually had a negative net worth--more debt than assets).

Yet USA Today just reported this year, in a top 25 trends story, that luxury is now mainstream. "Enjoying fancy perks no longer takes Bill Gates' fortune. Average Joes enjoy $4 cups of Joe at Starbucks, guzzle bottled water, feast on Godiva chocolates, drag suitcases on wheels, sit on heated car seats and let GPS systems guide them."

So what's the deal here? A tiny fraction of people are rich, but we can all afford gourmet chocolates? The real wealth gap is between all of us in the U.S., rich and poor, and the vast majority of the world. If you were an individual living at or below the poverty line, defined in the U.S. in 2006 as $10,294, you'd still be in the top 13 percent of income levels around the world. If you've ever lived in or traveled in a poor country, you know firsthand how superfluous all of our things and luxuries back home seem when you're overseas staring in the face of a child who only gets one meal a day or a single mom living in a rattrap and supporting a family on less than $5 a day. Of course we have to consider cost of living and other socioeconomic factors, but it's still a good reminder every once in awhile that, even if we're not exactly raking in the millions, we're still comparatively pretty well off. No more complaining about the rich: we are the rich.

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****And always remember, money is just *one* thing to consider when determining how rich you are. Don't forget about health, good friends, happiness, arts.

Top 5 Things that Make Me Feel Rich (in no particular order)--

1) Hot hot showers

2) Being able to buy books

3) Having friends I can call

4) A warm house with family

5) The occasional Perrier with a lemon twist

Thank you!

You know who you are!

Gratitude Journal

I haven't done a gratitude journal for a while now, though in my own life, I'm saying thanks daily.

Here are some things I'm feeling thankful about--

1) Our new coffee pot (it has a timer! who knew?!)
2) The evergreen clematis blooming on the way to my front door.
3) The mixed up tulip bulbs-- 3 red, one yellow
4) Our cherry tree in full bloom
5) The Man Who Wouldn't Plant Willow Trees

Willows are messy trees. Hair in their eyes,
they weep like women after too much wine
and not enough love. They litter a lawn with leaves
Like the butts of regrets smoked down to the filter.

They are always out of kilter. Thirsty as drunks,
They'll sink into a sewer with their roots.
They have no pride. There's never enough sorrow.
A breeze threatens and they shake with sobs.

Willows are slobs, and must be cleaned up after.
They'll bust up pipes just looking for a drink.
Their fingers tremble, but make wicked switches.
They claim they are sorry, but they whisper it.


by A.E. Stallings