The Magic of Gratitude

Yesterday, the nation took time out to officially give thanks. While Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday, gratitude is magic we can find everyday. It's very easy to get
really caught up in everything that's wrong in our lives. However, I guarantee your outlook will change if you take time every day to list or think about three things you are greatful for. Even finding one thing can turn the day around. At this official "time out" for gratitude I am greatful, of course, for family, a home, a job, and health. But here are some other "off beat" things I am greatful for that have a tremendout impact on my well-being. I am greatful for:

1. My craft room and the opportunity to spend time being creative.
2. Having the opportunity in my life to have learned to do many different things that I can still enjoy - skiing, scrapbooking, playing the violin, writing
3. An understanding boss who is also a soccer mom
4. My Book Club
5. My yearly ski trip to look forward to
6. The fact that the worst thing we've had to deal with so far in having teenagers is a trip to court for a speeding ticket!
7. Kids with good grades and that care about their grades
8. The Internet -- that makes anything you need to know available within seconds, allows you to find and reconnect with old friends, hosts webcams that let you glimpse into another part of the world, provides ways to instantly communicate and share information, and so much more!
9. The fact that Dwight and I are in our mid/late 40s and still have all of our parents with us in relatively good health
10. Being able to leave my kids home alone and be able to trust them
11. Having a husband that cooks dinner since I hate to do that and helps out around the house

Lost and Found

I don't know if this is true for anyone else but when it comes to losing things I tend to lose things in "chunks." What I mean is, I can go for weeks and not have lost or be missing anything important and then all of a sudden I can't find a bunch of things. In the past week or so I've been stressing over losing Dwight's spare car key, a key to a desk drawer at work, an external comptuer drive at work (I think someone borrowed it and didn't replace it), and Mackenzie lost a video card from one of her teacher's cameras that she borrowed. It had important pictures on it. When I can't find important things I get all stressed out and tear apart things looking for them. Usually that is not effective, but I feel that I should be doing something. What I've learned, though, is that usually I find lost things when I'm not looking for them. They just seem to appear. This has been true this time as well. Yesterday, Alex found Dwight's keys in the backseat and I also realized what I had done with the desk key. Tonight I was looking for the video card for Mackenzie. I didn't really find it -- all of a sudden I looked and it was just lying there in front of me on the desk as I searched. I really don't know where it came from. I haven't found the external drive yet. So, I'll wait and bide my time. I feel confident it will turn up. I tend to find when I'm not looking. A good lesson for life in general!

Where are the Refrigerator's Going?

This past weekend I was on the road a lot all over Ohio. Friday, Mackenzie and I went to the University of Cincinnati. Then, Saturday I drove up to Medina to meet my cousins from PA to scrapbook and visit with family. I came home Sunday. While I was on road, I saw four trucks (at different times) hauling refrigerators! What is up with that? Where were these refrigerators going? Was there a refrigator conference somewhere in Ohio???