Gratitude Jounal: Entry 1

I'll start with 5:

1.This morning I am grateful that I took an extra two minutes to watch a bluebird in our tree with my kids. It then flew to the fence and a red bird joined it there. Then the kids pointed out a scampering squirrel after both of those beautiful birds flew away. This incident is what prompted me to start this journal in the first place.

2. I am grateful for the wonderful friends that made such a beautiful Sheva Brachos last night for one of our JWRP sisters. Congrats to Sarah and Daniel on the beginning of their new, beautiful life together. I wish I could have done more to help with the preparations, but the rebitzen said I basically planned the menu and sent some great recipes that they used!

3. I am grateful that the day the tzedakah check posted to the bank is the day all the news of SBR's strides on the road to recovery were posted. Maybe it was just the fact that I sent in a check, or the fact that I sent in more than I should have, or maybe there is no correlation - it was still a good coincidence.

4. I am grateful that my kids are who they are. Jonathan feels things deeply and takes things very much to heart and Yael is a force to be reckoned with.

5. I am grateful that we are going to Louisiana for Thanksgiving to see that part of the family that will be there. We'll miss the others, but I won't have to put together a dinner party, my in-laws will be on their best behavior, and we can play with the baby Zoe and cousin Charlie! And a change of scenery just might be the best thing for everyone.

That was certainly a mish mosh...But stay tuned.
Tomorrow's entry will come sooner. We are off of work at 12:00 Noon! So glad I chose to take Monday as my switch out Friday holiday off so I could take the in-laws to the airport. Score! Extra time off!!! A calculated guess and strategical move on my part (I expected them to close up Wed at 2 PM)

Gratitude Journal

This is a new thing I am going to try. I heard about it from a "granola-yoga-y" lecturer this summer in Israel and read about it again today. UPDATE: Here is a link to an article on this subject by the woman who ran the workshop that I took in Israel. She also spent some many years on an Indian ashram before "finding" religious Judaism. My original comment about her stands.

Plus, lately I have been being very hard on myself - what with all the stresses of being a major-income earning mom, in my family, in this scary downturned economy.

I will try to log 5 things daily that I am grateful for without having any repeats.
Apparently this is a growing process and the first 100 are supposed to be the easiest....I'm thinking I might run out after 10 or so easy ones....We'll see how this goes.

More to come