30 Days of Thankful: Day 20

Today, I'm thankful for the men in my Young Adult Group (aka, YAG). They hosted a brunch this morning for all of the women, just as a way to say thank you to us for everything that we do for the group. They fed us a huge meal, complete with coffee and mimosas, gave us yellow roses, and told us that they, as a group, have been doing a Rosary novena for the last nine days, praying for each woman in the group (there's 50 of us!) by name. It was a wonderful morning, tinged with just a little sadness as we found out that one of the core men of the group is deploying this week, months before he was supposed to go. But we prayed for him and for his safe return and we'll keep things going until he gets back.

30 Days of Thankful: Day 19

Today I am thankful that I'm in grad school.

Yes, it's hard, especially at finals time, but I am so very blessed to be able to spend these two years (which are almost up!) studying what I love.

I'm thankful for a productive Saturday.

I'm thankful also that my family is coming down for Thanksgiving and will be here in 3 days and a wakeup

30 Days of Thankful: Day 18

Today I'm thankful that sweater weather is back.

I'm thankful for afternoons spent working with a huge fluffy dog sleeping at my feet and for falling asleep myself.

I'm thankful to be warm and cozy

Finally, I'm thankful for a weekend with few plans so that I can get lots of work done before the family gets here on Wednesday

30 Days of Thankful: Day 17

Today I am thankful for the gift of home. I had the luxury of spending all day at home until I leave in a few moments for my afternoon class. There have been a few things weighing on my mind lately (nothing earth-shattering, just preoccupations), so I set about righting them last night. First, I went to Confession so that I'd be in a state of grace again; listening as Fr. W talked to me after my confession was very helpful. Then, today, I took it easier than I have taken it recently. I forwent morning Mass because I was exhausted--I think that either the end of the semester is taking a bigger toll on me than I realized or my anemia is still not under control--even though I felt a bit guilty about skipping out. But I reasoned that 1) daily Mass isn't required and 2) I need to take care of myself, so I slept in, just a little. Then I got up and was really productive as far as my end of the semester papers go. As of 1:00, I've finished most of the research for two of my three final papers.

Now I'm sitting in my living room, windows open while the sun shines and the breeze blows, making the palm tree outside my apartment rustle. My house is cool and shady and I just took a loaf of bread out of the oven, so the house has a light yeasty smell. I slept for a while and I'm not rushing to finish preparing for class, so the calm that pervades my surroundings fills my soul too. I'm extraordinarily thankful for this very ordinary day, this time of oasis in the chaos I've been surrounding myself with.

30 Days of Thankful: Day 16

Tonight, as I'm incredibly tired, I'm thankful for the rain that's falling outside. I'm thankful for all the things (like growing crops) that rain makes possible and I'm thankful for the gentle noise of the rain washing down the gutters and hitting my windowpanes.

30 Days of Thankful: Day 15

Today, I'm thankful for days off, especially towards the end of the semester, because there's a lot of work to be done and I appreciate the extra time to do it.

I'm also thankful for the fun time I had with my friends at the Festival of Lights, even if I didn't get to ride the carousel (it was closed by the time we got there, but Chris wants to go back with his brother, so we're going to go again soon). The weather was super warm, so it was nice to walk around without freezing.

Finally, I'm thankful tonight in a special way for my Jack-Jack, who will be seven (7? Already?!?) exactly one month from today. He brings so much joy to my life and I can't wait to see him in a week for Thanksgiving

30 Days of Thankful: Day 14

For getting out of class early (half an hour!) tonight because the professor could see that we were all tired.

And now, to bed