Energy & Letting Go

Today I am grateful for energy and all of it's colors -- red, yellow, white. I am grateful for healing. I am grateful for friends and their power. I am grateful for my hands and their ability to let go.

Mom helped me in the bakery all day today and we got a ton done. Then I came home to shower and headed over to Three Sisters' Spirit for a little Reiki-sage (NO idea how to spell that) in my desperate attempt to do anything to help heal my shoulder/arm/wrist/hand. I don't know how energy and the world and God work. I just know that right now I am typing without much pain and numbness and I couldn't wait to do so! I enjoyed the heart connected visit of a friend I see very little of anymore and I learned more about myself again.

OH! And I am thankful for help in the bakery and for tears that gently fell as I learned to release. And I'm thankful for Dani and popcorn.

Yes, popcorn.

Today I am grateful for not being claustrophobic, for being organized, and for my Diet Coke. I started my day by having an MRI to see if they could figure out this shoulder/arm/hand thing and just shy of 7 hours later, I am finally home to unpack all the days errands.

I don't need no stinkin' GPS thingee -- the little secretary in my brain mapped out the entire day for me and I barely missed a beat -- with a cool refreshing beverage of my choice in my hand for most it! :o)

Hair

I am SOOOO thankful for finally being able to pay attention to my hair. Which is sad really, because my sister has been doing my hair since she went to "Beauty School" -- 20 years ago -- so you'd think it would be easy for me, but what a whirlwind the last 4 months have been. Let's just say I am also thankful for no more outgrowth and those newly blossoming hairs of a new color! I am also thankful for traditions, for daughters who don't want for anything, and for best friends.

Pecan Pie, Tears of Laughter

Today I am grateful for Pecan Pie, for daughters that make me laugh so hard that tears come out of my eyes, for sisters and nieces and nephews who love to come to my bakery and help, and for customers that go out of their way to bring their good, kind and full energy to our little Sweet Shoppe.

Gratitude is my Attitude

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough...makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow." ~ Melody Beattie

Back at the beginning of my 30's, I became aware of my desire to speak, listen, see and feel graciousness. I started to come into my authentic self and each day I became more and more aware of one of the most important things to me -- a thankful heart. I became increasingly full of wanting to express what I noticed, to pay compliments to others that were of value (as in: that dress looks so great ON YOU vs I like your dress), to not be afraid to tell complete strangers (including children) something worthy that I noticed about them. I became fully and completely aware that all anyone wants is to feel of value and BE of value.

And I started keeping a gratitude journal (not my original idea...got it from Sarah Breathnach). It was simple for me. I wrote down at least one thing everyday that I noticed that I was grateful for. Some days it was the weather or a good friend...others it was baby geese or a beautiful tree. It didn't matter the subject, what mattered was that my heart opened itself to awareness, to light, to life, to living. I still have that journal, though I don't write in it anymore.

I'm still having (a lot) of pain and trouble w/ my arm (I can NOT tell you how much this hurts to type right now), but I've decided that I'm thankful that I can feel pain and I'm more grateful now for when I don't feel pain. And that is where this foundation for me will start. As you know, I miss my blog. I miss being able to spend a half hour a few times per week spilling out what I've noticed or become aware of. So, in keeping with my ideal not to settle for a life any less than great, I've decided that at the very least, as many times a week as I can, I will (again, at least) spew out what I have noticed to be grateful for that day. In doing so, it will be my full expectation that my heart will become more full, my eyes more open, and my mind more clear. In doing so, I may even remind someone else of what they are grateful for that day. And in doing so, another day will pass in my life's desire for great life.

And on the days when I can handle more than a day's quick observation, I shall write more...and on that day, I shall be grateful for being able to do so.

I Need a Disco Ball

"We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once." ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

I've decided that there's something missing in my life. A disco ball. I really, really think that if people made the day a little more silly, goofy, playful - that perhaps life would just be that much more incredible. So, I need a disco ball.

I would hang it in the bakery so that when the Jackson 5 come on or perhaps KC & the Sunshine Band or maybe a little Earth, Wind and Fire, well, I can be ready. I can dance my little fanny around my bakery and have a silly, fun moment.

I'm also thinking I need one in my house. Right above my kitchen island. Though, I would have to be careful not to think I have any talents at all that would allow me to dance with a large chef's knife. I thought about putting it in my Laundry Room, but honestly, when I was a little girl, I remember my Auntie Lisa saying that she was gonna put one in her laundry room someday to make laundry more fun. I didn't do laundry at the time, so I had no idea what she meant, but since I now love doing laundry, I think it best to put it out in the open (plus, I don't want to steal her idea). Maybe I need to buy three. One for her too.

Anyway you slice it, I need a disco ball.

I Know Awesome

"I know awesome" ~ My husband

I'm typing this literally as he is saying. "I know awesome." He cracks me up. And he has no idea that he just inspired this blog sitting next to me. That cracks me up too.

But really, he's wrong. Cuz I think I KNOW AWESOME! Afterall, there was no way I was marrying again. And then I found him. HE is Awesome. I know you already know that I think the world of him, but I don't think you know what he has done in the last two months (plus) to make my little "endeavor" successful.

My husband selflessly gives up every spare minute he has to helping me in the bakery. He measures ingredients for recipes for me so I can do more. He cleans the floors and does dishes so I can concentrate on baking more. Not to mention all the extra chores around the house he has picked up (like mopping our floors!). He manages all the bakery deposits for me. And he joyfully shows up to my/our customers in a sassy, loving manner as if to say "thanks for coming to our bakery and showing my wife how great she can be"!

All this while still being the world's best daddy, and working his own job, and being all the other things he is and does. What I do know is this, I couldn't do this without him and I don't think he knows that.

Well, "Buddy", I couldn't and I wouldn't want to do this without you. You are, as always, my Man o' Steel.