Baby and the Calendar

The other day I hung a new calendar in the living room.   It was a Labrador calendar.  I was sorting some boxes when Dan nudged my arm and pointed to Baby and the calendar.

She had put her front feet on the wood chair to get a better look.  Just like a kid she tried to look behind it to find the other dog.  It was so funny to watch.  Of course my regular camera was across the room.  So I took out my cell phone and caught this shot.

The next day Dan saw her jump on the couch to get a different view of the calendar.  I'm going to have my real camera ready when I change the calendar to the new month.

She is such an amazing dog.  We have laughed often at her antics.

Gifts of Gratitude

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These beautiful flowers were sent to me at school yesterday!  They were accompanied by a note that warmed my heart.

"I love you.And I'm grateful for everything you do! Love, Dan"

Why did he send flowers?  Tuesday he had dental work done.  He went to a new dentist and he recommended sedating.  However, someone needs to be with you and drive you home.

I took the day off.  When the procedure was done they called me into the office and showed us a video for mouth care for the next 24 hours.  They put him in a wheelchair and took him out to our car.  I got him in the car.

Got him home and I knew I was in trouble.  Dan is a big man and was very unsteady on his feet.  So I went into the house put the dogs outside.  Put a wooden chair next to the front door.

He hung onto the car and got into the front door.  Rested and then proceeded to his recliner. And he was out.  He was sound asleep.  A friend came over for a short visit.  The phone rang a few times.   I called the dentist's office three times to ask questions.

Around five I got him awake enough to eat some soup.  He was starting to communicate a little.  Slept.  Around 7:25 he started coming out of it and wanted to go to bed.  He was able to walk on his own.  Off to bed he went.  I got him up about midnight.  And then he went back to sleep.

Wednesday morning he was functioning fine.  He told me the last thing he remembered was that the nurse put headphones on him with music, told him there would be about 5 minutes of oxygen and then there would be nitrous oxide.

He was amazed that he felt no pain.  Sedation was a good choice.  Several years ago he went to a dentist to have a tooth extracted.  When he got home it looked like he had gone several rounds with a professional boxer.  And was in extreme pain. The dentist hadn't given him any painkillers.  It took him about a week before he was feeling good.

Remember my one little word.  I know you caught it in my note from him.  Yesterday also brought another surprise Linda at teacher dance found a beautiful poem that she told me about.  Check out her comments from yesterday.  Read the poem and check out the last line.

I am grateful for my husband and for friends.  Especially the ones I've made on-line.  I am amazed at all that has happened since I chose my one little word.  

Gratitude - Reflections on One Little Word

I believe that my focus on gratitude is letting me accept myself and my problems with greater gentleness.  When I participated in the National Writing Project - one activity that we did was take a line for a walk.  In the book “Simple Abundance” there is a line that resonates with me today.

“Most of us are hungering for something more in our lives.”

I have consciously focused on one little word - gratitude - for a few weeks.  My world has begun to shift - a little.  It’s like looking in a mirror and discovering that I’m wrapped in chains.  Chains I’ve wrought one link at a time.  Links I forged with choices, with denial, and habit.

During the last week I have noticed my husband has helped out around the house more.  My home feels more loving.  I have organized my computer desk at school.  Dan and I have recommitted to losing weight with Weight Watchers program.

I am aware that I’m dragging my feet with it though.  I paid for both our monthly membership with the same card.  End of December I lost my card and had to replace it.  I forgot about changing my info with WW.  Early January got a note that my card didn’t work.  Contacted them changed both accounts.  Hubby’s account no problem.  Mine they have run through many times it keeps getting rejected.  I have now made four phone calls.  Each time they fix it.  Yet it still is not working.  Tomorrow will be call number five.  I am confused that the same card works for my husband’s account but not mine. And I use it for regular purchases no problem.

The universe certainly has an odd sense of humor as it lets me work on life lessons.  Metaphorically I am still kicking and screaming about making changes.  About releasing myself from the shackles around my soul.  

What am I really hungry for?  Today on Dr Phil I heard a phrase that caught my ear; “Its not your fault but it is your responsibility...”  Things that happened in my past have contributed to my problems today.  But it is my responsibility to take action, to fix it.

Looking at my life with gratitude seems to be unlocking the shackles.  One layer at a time.

Have You Stirred a Hornets Nest Lately?

As I journey through my gratitude challenge.  Memories from days gone by are surfacing, as well as ways I worked through previous challenges and stopped using the different strategies I had learned.  One strategy I learned when I was 20 something.  I took a new age class about transforming your life.  I remember making a T chart;  on the left side I listed the negative things I wanted to release from my life.  On the right were the things I wanted to manifest in my life.

The instructions were to take something from the left side of my list to start on first.  Because you needed to make room for your good by releasing something else.  To do this - there was a three letter acronym.   I think the one I used was PAM - Pray Analyze Meditate.  I remember working on my list a lot with mixed results.

Like I said many of these thing keep resurfacing.  So on a whim I googled the words to see what would come up.  As I pondered everything I found, another acronym ALT - Ask Listen Take Action.  Take action had been what was missing from my work years ago.  It is still my bug-a-boo.  

I have long known that energy multiplies on what you think about.  I just never got how to fine tune it.  I realize now that I have concentrated on the problems.  Not enough time, not enough room, not enough... You get the picture.  This lesson was recently beautifully demonstrated to me.  

I had noticed what I thought was a big gray paper wasp nest hanging from a branch a couple of blocks from our house.  I finally took the time to photograph the nest.  It amazes me how they are able to build this substantial house with a papery material.

So after taking the pictures I came home to verify my belief that they were paper wasps.  I discovered there are over 1100 species of paper wasps in the world but my nest was not one of them.   I learned there are even ground wasps.  Ugh!  As I looked at information and pictures I confirmed that my nest was not made by paper wasps.

My second guess was yellow jackets.  I found they often build nests in attics.  There was a picture of a California yellow jacket that had almost filled the attic in one house.  That picture  looked like a nightmare to me.

Finally I looked up hornets.  My picture looked like the ones on line.  I read that the colony is at its biggest during the summer.  They can reach over 700 workers per colony.  Most die by the first hard freeze.  Only the fertilized queens survive over the winter to restart the colony in the spring.  The nest is made from plant fibers and saliva.  Hornets and other wasps are known for being pugnacious.

As I began thinking about hornet nests, I began to notice them everywhere.  In a two block area I counted over 5 nests.  Then I looked up at the tree in my front yard.  Yes, there was an immense nest there.  When I stand under it and look up there appears to me an immense front door at the bottom of the nest.  It looks like a big black hole.  I used a flash to take the picture of it.  When I looked at the picture the flash had illuminated the interior and I could see the cells inside the nest.

So how does the hornets nest tie into gratitude.  Well - remember the other day I talked about being grateful for small problems.  Being grateful changed the energy of my relationship with the problem.  It also opened doors to strategies for changing how I behaved towards the problem.  The last few days have uncovered many strategies that I could use.  It had illuminated the interior and I could see there were no quick fixes.

Expressing gratitude for my problems is allowing the stuck energy to begin to move and change.  It feels like I have stirred up a hornets' nest. I guess I'll just have to avoid getting stung.

Problems I'm Grateful For

Years ago someone told me that when I had problems, to praise them and give thanks for them.  I don’t remember who told me.  I do remember feeling incredulous at the suggestion.  They went on to say.  It won’t change until you get out of the way and learn the lesson its here to teach.

Over the years I have remembered the suggestion and applied it with amazing results.  Then I slide back to old “stinkin thinkin” until I become over whelmed and need to reconnect with wiser guidance than my own.

I have been looking at the clutter that seems to be taking over my home.  I know that I need to take baby steps and work on a little at a time.  I have read many books on organizing.  Some even work for a short time.  Clutter has been my boogeyman for years.  But it feels like the paper monster is morphing and is stalking me, ready to consume everything in its path.

So what’s to be grateful for?  As I look at the stacks I feel consumed and smothered.  What other aspects of my life am I feeling that way in?  Its my own wake up call, to be aware that I need to look at where my energy is going.  Why am I feeling this way?

So as I ponder the clutter monster eyeing me for its next meal.  I hold its image in my mind and thank it for the lessons its teaching.  I acknowledge it and in my mind ask what it wants me to understand.  Because until I understand I probably won’t make much head way in taming it.

Gratitude List From A to Z

Today's challenge: share a gratitude list from A-Z

I am grateful for:
A- Authors
B- Books and Brothers'-In-Laws  (Andrew and Alven)
C- Cherished Friends
D- Dan my loving husband
E- Echos of laughter
F-  Family and Friends
G- Granddaughter (Hailey) and Gadgets Galore
H- Health and Historical Research
I- iPad
J- Jewelry making time
K- Kisses and Kuddles
L- Lunches delivered by Dan
M- Moments of Simple Joy

N- Nieces and Nephews
O- One Little Word Opportunities
P- Pets (Max, Lady, Sammi, and Baby) and Photography
Q- Quilts
R- Rita my sister and Road Trips
S-Step Children (Joe and Peggy) and Sister-In-Law (Patsy)
T- Traditions and Thank-Yous
U - Uncle Norman
V- Vampires who hook young readers
W- Whispered Words of Love
X-Xploration
Y- Youngsters Reading
Z- Zephyr (gentle breezes)


                                                     

Did You Know There Is a Gratitude Challenge?

I am grateful for moments that make me smile. From the car window I noticed the three as they progressed down the sidewalk.

A father and  young daughter walked together.  I imagine she was heading for school.  What made me smile was the black kitty that was doing "quick time" to stay close if not in step with them.  


It was almost a an animated cartoon image.  I have noticed the cat before.  He really likes walking with his "people".  I am grateful for moments like this of pure joy.


Tiny Prints has a 21 Day Gratitude Challenge on their website.  They have links to bloggers' who have taken the 21 Day Challenge in the past.  These people have posted about their experiences with the Gratitude Challenge.  Tiny Prints also supplies a 21 Day Calendar with ideas to focus on for each of the 21 days.  http://www.gratitudechallenge.com/


In the past I have accepted two other challenges - Two Writing Teachers 30 day Writing Challenge (March); and the A to Z Writing Challenge (April).  Each of these challenges have helped me grow as a writer and as a person.  I have decided that I am ready for a new challenge.  I have decided to take the 21 Day Gratitude Challenge as the next step with my "One Little Word" adventure.  It is already taking me in new directions.

• "Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. " - Melodie Beattie

I really liked this quote. It says so much to my heart.  Thank you for keeping me company on this journey.