Thanksgiving Attitude

Happy Thanksgiving.

I enjoy Thanksgiving for the reminder of what I am thankful for; family and friends always top my list. This year I am also thankful for my busy life because it’s not just busyness; my life is very full with much that is important to me.

My daughter is in one of the top aeronautical colleges in the world, my son is in band and both children are happy. What mother can ask for more?

I am almost finished with my master’s degree in Special Education and I am positively impacting students and families in the school setting, community and cyber communities. All of these activities put me in a position to learn even more and that is just another blessing in my life.

Sure, there are the nights when I crawl to bed after getting home from band practice, finish my homework and research for lessons to present to my students or ponder ways to deflate the bullies in my son’s life but those moments are special to me because I really am doing things I enjoy (I do wish the bullies peace so they can move on with their lives and leave my boy alone). I may be drop-to-deep-sleep exhausted but I’m happy.

I wish there were more hours in a day not so that I can get to the sink full of dishes but so that I can learn more, or read my boy a story (which somehow or other will begin again!), or create more blog posts or write more.

I have dust bunnies with names. They don’t eat much and they don’t poop; no worries.

My daughter and I spoke online with video twice today logging in over 2 hours (sharing with family). Talk about blessings and technologically enhanced miracles. Sure, more hours in the day would be good when they come with Love.

I’m with family, my belly is full and I have plenty to be thankful for. I am truly blessed.

If every day we practiced noticing what we are thankful for, think how huge an impact that would have in our lives; within ourselves, our families, communities and globally.

Remember to be thankful for the busyness of life, there's truly much to be grateful for.

I think Thanksgiving is a day to practice an attitude that can be nurtured into daily living - maybe replacing the extra helpings of calorie rich foods with the busyness of love.

Eos, Family Fun and Wine

My sister, Roro came out from Colorado for a brief visit this weekend. She and Mom drove down from Pacific Grove and we went wine tasting and visited family in Fresno.

We were responsibly irresponsible.

We didn’t drink and drive our way to Fresno, although there are a number of wineries along the way. On Friday when they arrived while I was at work, Roro and Mom checked out a few wineries then when I got home she and I went to one of her favorites from a previous visit.

We went to EOS Winery. Eos being the goddess of dawn often portrayed with Pegasus she was cursed by Aphrodite to have an insatiable attraction to younger men. How tragic.

We had a blast!

I tend to be very responsible and usually the designated driver but I turned the keys over to her, had some wine and immediately got loopy. I’m a cheap drunk. By the time we were on our 3rd sample I was actually flirting back with a couple of guys bellied up to the same counter.

Saturday we drove over to Fresno to visit family and again had a blast. When we returned, Roro and I went to another handful of wineries. Although most had the drier reds so we didn’t do a lot of sampling, Ro prefers the sweeter wines, the sights were beautiful.

The late afternoon sun turned the fading leaves golden and the grapes were hanging full and nearly ripe. Fall harvest is just around the corner. I’m making plans to go to some of the harvest events this year.

Hope to see you there too!

Fog, Friends, and Fun

I missed my mark this morning. As Irene's Granddaddy used to say, "You sure can sleep in this country". I got to the Bagel Bakery after the motorcycles and their men in leather had left for the track. Had we given advanced notice we were coming up, we'd have had tickets available. Oh well. There'll be other races. Oops, don't say that around the true fans!

It was cold and foggy on The Peninsula today, all the way into the Carmel Valley according to my friend. Usually its sunny that far inland. Irene got a call from her brother this morning and his family showed up tonight in Pacific Grove on the back end of their family vacation. Mom pretty much keeps a revolving door spinning here.

We had a really good visit with our friend today, drank a lot of coffee and didn't really get all that much accomplished except catching up on one another's lives. Irene and I'd planned some photo and flirting ops, but those somehow didn't materialize. Sometimes just hanging out with friends takes precedence. Today was one of those days.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring? Probably more time with the family and maybe some more time with friends. We are blessed with good friends and family and are grateful.