I love the little things; like Mondays and Gratitude reminders.
Friday morning I picked up five of the grandchildren (Beanie’s kids.) We had a mini-vacation, and a mini-work day. These five are soooooo good, and yet I found myself so tired after the three days we spent together.
Here’s what I thought about yesterday when the house got quiet again. (No particular order.)
LongAn empty nest. Well, yes, that was the first thing I thought about. Ahhh… the quiet and the slowness of it all. There’s a reason for the “pause” in menopause. Listening to silence. Yum.
Jenny. The editor at the monthly newspaperm where I write feature articles, sent me an e-mail with a new interview idea. I read it without my reading glasses and quickly sent a reply (amid the bustle of five children.) I’m so thankful Jenny has a sense of humor and a large dose of patience. Nuf said on that one.
“Stuff You Should Know,” and other podcasts. You would never believe how much I learn whiled I’m entertained on my four mile walks. I almost don’t want to stop. Almost.
Walks. Especially with someone. At least twice a week, I meet Duckie on her walk home from work. It makes for a good four-miler
for both of us. A visit on a walk is so much different from sitting face-to-face, playing a game together, or watching a movie. The same thing happened with the little ones as we walked the mile back and forth from the lake. There’s something about the pace, and the shoulder-to-shoulder that makes for a uniquely intimate experience.
A Big Garage. Lots of room to store bikes and rakes and floaties and pails. Oh, and room to store Wrestler Number One’s long boards, which we used on the lake this weekend. Thank you Wrestler Number One.
Patience. Not mine. The patience of a child. They tried so hard to catch a fish with a fruit snack and a plastic cup. Almost. Almost. But not quite.
Little Helpers. My oh my, we got so much weeding and clipping, and lugging done. Besides that, they helped me drink up a gallon of milk, two bags of hamburger buns, all my bread, bunches of bananas, the remaining peanut butter, and half a peck of cherry tomatoes and a batch of chocolate chip cookies.
The Cubs Baseball Game. Just the right background noise to lull me to sleep in a kicked-back recliner.
Clean Laundry. After the nap and faced with all that quiet, laundry seemed almost meditative. Usually a Monday chore, Sunday evening saw it complete.
If you like my list, maybe you’d like to see some others. Join Laurel at Alphabet Salad for more Monday Gratitude. And please, let me know what’s on your gratitude list. Yours always reminds me of other things to add. Like this week, Laurel’s reminds me I’m thankful for new friends from volunteering and old friends that marveled at how much the kids grew, especially grandson #1 who was yay-high when they first met him and is now almost six feet tall.
