Thankful 11

Today I was very thankful we were given one more, probably our last, 70 degree windows open day.

Thankful 10

Today I'm very thankful for a phone call I received at 7:45 this morning.  Maybe two thankfuls
today...I finished, wrapped and packaged for mailing a secret!

Thankful 9

It's only 10:40 a.m. and I can already declare being thankful for today.  Just today.  The sun is shining, two loads of laundry are on the line, scones baked, and I'm headed for the couch with my full blown head cold and Kindle with a new advance copy of a book called Mary Coin.

When I got home from school last night at 9:30 p.m., bookfair finished, distress still evident in every cell of my body, I poured a glass of wine and finished the advance copy of Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley.  His character, Flavia deLuce is a gem.  Friend Laurie, get ready for this one!

Thankfully, the couch is calling me.  I NEVER EVER do something like this and I am eternally thankful I can do it today.

Thankful 8

I'm thankful I spent the night at my mom's last night.  She's 87 and this morning was on top of her game and we had some good laughs.

Thankful

It's been a rough few days at work and as a friend was talking with me this morning she said that since it's November and it's the "Thankful" month, she is writing everyday on her Facebook page one thing - just one thing - that she's thankful for.  It can be big. It can be small. But it's helping her turn her mind around.  She has a lot more going on in her life than I do and some of us handle stress better or differently than others.  I don't handle it well.  I'm learning enough about myself at this advanced age to understand why I don't handle it, but it doesn't take away from the fact I don't.   So, in honor of MaryAnn, I'm going to try it.  I'll backtrack to November 1 and think of one thing for each of the days and continue through November.

November 1:  It's Charlie's birthday.  He's seven years old and he's our first grandchild and we'll forever be grateful for him.

November 2:  I am thankful my daughter took Elizabeth out of school at lunchtime so I could pick the girls up at lunchtime and take them home with me for the weekend.  It prolonged our day Friday.  We miss having them.

November 3:  I'm thankful for naps.  I took a long one when the girls went down.  I am a napper.  When I retire I plan on taking a 6 month nap.

November 4:  I'm thankful for the peace.  The girls went home. The house was very quiet.

November 5:  This is hard.  Monday.  First day of Bookfair.  First day of trying to juggle seventy-eleven things at school.  I think I was most grateful -horrors to say- but I was grateful Patient Husband was out of town and I didn't have to do ANYTHING when I got home.  I didn't have to talk. I didn't have to eat. I didn't have to do a thing.  And I didn't.  Of course, I could have done the same if he WAS home, except for the talking and eating part.  So...I was thankful for the quiet.

November 6:  The day of stress to the limit of not knowing if it was a panic attack or heart attack.  So I'm thankful for the bookstore I went to for relief.  I'm glad it was there, close enough to be able to drive there and spend 45 minutes decompressing.

November 7:  Today!  I am thankful the elections are over.  I'm thankful our President was re-elected. I'm thankful the phone will stop ringing with pollsters or people trying to convince me to vote for someone I had no intention of voting for.  I'm thankful the mailbox won't be filled with election flyers.  I'm thankful the commercials on TV will be trying to sell me a car instead of  a person.

Phew!  I'm glad I wasn't told about this exercise any later in the month!!!

Tomorrow.

Peace and Quiet

What do you  do when the stress level reaches the point where you can hear your heart beat?  When you can't take a deep breath.  When you don't know if what you're feeling is going to morph into a panic attack or heart attack? When you can't seem to stop waking up at 3 a.m. and your racing, raging mind won't let you go back to sleep?  When the buildup to this week confirmed itself - and it's only Tuesday.  When if one more person that day asks something of you, you will look them in the eye and cry? What do you do if you feel like eating will most certainly cause you to gack?

 I slipped out during my lunch break and went shopping.  In a bookstore.   I walked in, stopped just inside the door, took a breath.  A very deep breath.  Exhaled deeply.  I walked around, touching book covers, choosing a calendar, found the new edition of the book review magazine I liked, wandered over to the cookbooks,  ambled through the children's section, wrote down some titles for Christmas ideas.  I spent 45 minutes breathing deeply, pretending that when I went back to work the afternoon would be better than the morning. 

I bought my magazine, a calendar and these two treats.  Rod Stewart's first Christmas CD ( I absolutely love his Great American Songbook collections) and Best Food Writing 2012.  

                                      

I took a deep breath and went back to work.  The afternoon was better than the morning.

Raging beauty

This was the sunset last night as the back end clouds from Hurricane Sandy swirled in our direction, about 800 miles from the East Coast.