Thankful Thursday

We’ve been having a bout of mostly warm temps here the past week or so.  I even broke down and turned on the central air last week!  Which brings me to today’s topic of gratitude.

I am thankful for sunny days. Days when the weather cooperates and I can sit outside and read a book or play with the pups.  I am also very thankful for central air conditioning.  Without it the temps inside my house would climb several degrees higher than those outside.  Not only would that make me miserable and headachey, but it would be unhealthy for the furkids.

I’m also thankful for rainy nights.  I love listening to the rain and feeling a slight mist come through the open bedroom windows.  I love the smell in the air just before it rains, and the scent of the rain falling. 

While it does get hotter than I like, I’m thankful I live in a place where bad weather rarely kills.  Yes, we can get tornados in our part of Ohio, but the likelihood for twisters is slim compared to the Plains.  Additionally, when we have experienced tornados, they haven’t been nearly as devastating as the ones recently experienced in Oklahoma.  My thoughts are with those who have lived through those storms, and with the friends and family of the humans and animals who did not survive.

And on that note, I’ll end with the gratefulness I have knowing every day I can snuggle with my pups when I am at home and I can hear my husband’s voice on the other end of the phone.

Thankful Thursday - Embrace the Positive

Recently I saw an acquaintance I haven’t seen in about a year.  I was polite and said hello and reluctantly asked how she has been.  Why reluctantly?  Because this particular person is a Negative Nelly. This isn’t to say that she doesn’t have good reason to be unhappy with certain situations in her life, but rather that she chooses to focus on the negative.

I know how difficult it can be to maintain a positive outlook.  It is something that I struggle with on a daily basis.  Sometimes I even struggle with it on a minute by minute basis!  However, a positive outlook is something that I strive to have.  Yes, there are times when I break down and wallow in the negativity.  It is only human to feel that way from time to time.  Over the years I have found that when I try to focus on the positive I feel less stressed and overall happier.  As someone who battles depression, this is an important task. 

How can you keep positive despite negative circumstances?  Here are a few suggestions:

• Surround yourself with positive people.
• Laugh often.
• Think about the things that make you smile.
• Ask yourself: Will this matter tomorrow? Next week? Next month? A year from now?
• Look for the sun shining through the dark clouds.



Luna Belle about to kiss snipe me.




• Make time for activities you enjoy. Whether it is once a day or once a month set aside a bit of time for you.

Don’t think you are a Negative Nelly?  Think about what you say to others.  When you are asked, “How are you?”, do you reply with a litany of complaints? Are most of your Facebook posts gripes about life?  If so, you will be amazed at the difference that small positive thinking alterations will make in your life.

As today is Thankful Thursday, I don’t think it is a stretch to bring this post around to that topic.  I’m thankful for the good in my life.  Although there are situations that may upset me and times that I am sad, I know that my blessings far outweigh my troubles.  Thankfully, I can see and embrace the positive in my life.

Thankful Thursday

The holidays were busy, as usual, and life is getting back to normal…or what qualifies as normal in my world.  I thought it would be best to return to the blog with a bit of gratitude.

Today I want to share my thankfulness for having a job that I truly enjoy.  There are times when something happens to drive me crazy and stretches when the stress levels skyrocket.  Then there are occurrences such as the one that transpired Tuesday evening. 

It was five-o’clock…time to go home.  I was about to turn off my computer and gather my things when I saw Sam walking towards the Youth Services office.  I’ve helped her a few times over the past several months.  A senior in high school, she leads a busy life between school, work and social events.  She loves to read, though, and tries to find time for books. 

I don’t even think we started the conversation with hellos!  Sam told me that she LOVED Where Things Come Back – one of the books I suggested.  She didn’t like The Chocolate War – another recommendation, but really wanted to read Paper Covers Rock.  So we went over to the branch’s Teen Central and found the title and I recommended a few more.

I left work about 15 minutes late that night, but I left with a smile.  Here is a busy teen that comes to the library and looks for me because she trusts my recommendations. 

So I am thankful for Sam – and others like her – that have me leaving work smiling, not because I’m going home, but because I know I’ve chosen the right career. 

Thankful Thursday

For some time now I have been thinking of starting some new holiday traditions.  While I love to receive gifts, I enjoy giving them even more.  This holiday season I want to start something that I hope to continue for the rest of my life.  I want to make it truly a season of giving.

Therefore I am trying an experiment between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Every day I will perform a Random Act of Giving.  I want to go beyond the gifts for friends and family.  Now to just figure out how! 

My reasoning for this?  I am thankful for all I do have.  Hubby and I have had our struggles over the years, and, as life is always full of them, I am certain we will come across more obstacles as time goes by. Beyond the physical objects we possess, we are rich in other, just as important things: love, friendship, humor, joy...Those feelings that are there even when times seem dark.

Starting on Sunday, November 25, I will begin my Month of Giving.  Feel free to join in …and to share your Random Acts of Giving as well.

Thankful Thursday

Today I want to share my thankfulness for something many of us use...Facebook.  I know.  It seems just plain, well, weird to be thankful for this social media giant.  But if it wasn't for Facebook I wouldn't have an adorable puppygirl fast asleep and using my feet as a pillow.  That is what brings my appreciation for Facebook to mind right now, but as I think about it more, I have many other reason to be thankful for it.

Due to being on Facebook I have been able to connect with relatives I didn't know I had, reconnect with ones I haven't seen in many years and to learn more about our families.  (I adore genealogy, so this is extra special to me).

I have made friends through Facebook and have reconnected with people from my past.  We might not talk on a regular basis - even through Facebook - but we have a connection that wouldn't be there if not for the site.

And when my grandfather passed away six weeks ago, I was able to use Facebook to alert many family members more quickly by posting not only on my own wall, but also in a group for another side of my family.

Through Facebook I can see photos of my new niece, who lives in Texas. I can also share with others the photos sent to me via email and text messages.  This allows my brother-in-law's family in Michigan, our family in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio, and friends in various parts of the country share in the joy of this new arrival.

So even though Facebook can at times be dramarama central, and I have lately been frustrated by the political and sports childishness that arise during election and football seasons, and it can be a bit of a timesuck from time to time (games for me, though not as much as I once played, I feel that the good outweighs the bad.  

Thankful Thursday

One week ago my grandfather passed away.  It wasn’t entirely unexpected, but it was still a shock.  But today’s post is about being thankful, not being sad.

When he died, my PapPap was 91 years and eleven months old.  As he slipped into his eternal rest, he was surrounded by all of his children and most of his grandchildren.  We were not ready for him to leave, but his body was tired and he was ready to go.

I am thankful that PapPap lived a long, full life.  Until eight weeks ago, he was still living on his own.  

I’m thankful that I was able to see him when he was still mentally alert.  He knew who I was – and was worried about me driving home that night.

I’m thankful for the wonderful memories I have.  Twice in my life I lived with my grandfather.  After he had a quintuple bypass during my junior year of high school and again while I was in college.  While we might have disagreed on things, I don’t recall us ever really arguing.  I have many recollections of my time with Pap:  Hearing his stories, complaining about the changes to Mass, “stealing” Fudgecicles from the freezer, going to church on Sundays and stopping at Dairy Queen afterwards, Pap doing the crossword puzzle at the kitchen table, and Pap ironing my school uniforms (my method of tossing them in the dryer to release the wrinkles wasn’t acceptable to him).   I realize how very fortunate I am to have these memories.

I’m thankful that I know how proud PapPap was of me.  He might not have explicitly said so, but I knew by the way he would excitedly comment about the travel I have done in my career and through the stories I would hear from other family members about PapPap showing off the cards, postcards and news articles I sent him.  If my name was in the paper, I made sure I had a copy of the article to mail to PapPap! 

So today I am thankful.  Not for the loss of my grandfather’s life, but for the life I shared with him.