With thanks...
JULY 2009
I am grateful for the flowing of creativity and the meeting of deadlines...
With thanks... July 1...
Today I am grateful for a very productive day - I got my story finished in perfect time (or just in time, depending on your view), and the editor loved it, hooray! (Look out for the next issue of Spellcraft, out next month...)
I am grateful for migraine drugs – the main ones didn't work, but the back up ones dulled the pain. I'll feel hungover tomorrow, but at least I should be able to sleep...
I am grateful for my beautiful love and our cute night cuddled up on the couch, that he made dinner, patted my head soothingly, and that we could just chill out...
I'm grateful that ACP finally paid a backlog of invoices, it being July 1 :-)
And now I am grateful for bed...
With thanks... July 2...
Today I am grateful for me and Cutes's one-day "weekend". It's our only day off this week, but we made the most of it :-)
I am grateful for bright winter sunshine, and pots of tea and Alice in Wonderland tea pots, and chips and dips, and Law & Order, and little fairy friends watering my garden.
I am grateful that my love had such a brilliant time at rehearsal, and that I was super productive while he was gone and have nearly finished the next article...
And I am grateful for bed, and the fact that we don't have to set the alarm tomorrow (although not so thrilled by the late shift, but hey...).
With thanks... July 3...
Today I am grateful for the stunningly beautiful winter day, the sunlight streaming through my window, the cool breeze when I stood on the balcony, the blue sky overhead, the re-surging life coursing through my little elder tree and the new green shoots sprouting...
I am grateful that I finished my next story (Harry Potter's London, for Spheres magazine), despite a painful head, queasy stomach and desire for bed...
I am grateful and very touched by Cynthia's kind offer to help with research if I need it, although in a few hours it will all be sent off and I will be free for a while...
I am grateful that Cutes and I had such a sweet morning, watching Harry Potter, in preparation for my writing frenzy this afternoon, and the release of the new movie in two weeks. Can't wait!
And now I am very much grateful that my love is home from work and we can go to sleep...
With thanks...
July 4...
Today I am grateful for another beautiful sunshiney winter day, although it's pretty chilly now :-) But I am grateful for the chance to snuggle up in big jumpers with hoods and little tiger ears :-)
I am grateful for a day to relax after my deadline stresses - I sent off the photos to go with the story, and practised my website building skills...
I am grateful to sweet Anita for taking a photo of my book in a Brisbane book shop - can't wait to see it! Thank you so much :-)
I am grateful for the stolen moments when Cutes got home from work just before midnight, and the beginning of Harry Potter 2...
And I am grateful, and so excited, for a new chapter in the adventures of PB! Hooray!
With thanks... July 5...
Today I am grateful for a long, lazy and luxurious Sunday afternoon, lunch with a lovely friend, wandering through bookstores and incense shops, sampling exotic teas and drinking chai, and walking home in the pretty twilight...
I am grateful to my beautiful love, and for our fun morning, and the little bit of time we snatched between his pesky work and bed time...
I am grateful for a new book, which I'll start tomorrow, and the Twilight fan fiction I'm reading online, and finding cute creatures in the fairy gardens, and for old friends getting in touch...
And I am grateful for a day without a migraine. Bliss...
With thanks... July 6...
Today I am feeling sick, but I am grateful that it was a working from home day, so I had the luxury of spending the day on the couch, reading, drinking hot tea and staying warm.
I am grateful that my love brought home dinner, and that we could snuggle up together before he had to go to rehearsal.
I am grateful for the (other) Twilight story - thanks Alexia!
And I am grateful for bed, which I went to without writing this, hence its tardiness :-)
With thanks... July 7...
Today I am grateful that I could spend the whole day on the couch, reading my book, having the odd nap, drinking hot soup and, when my love got home from work, watching Harry Potter 4.
I am grateful to my boss, who let me switch my days so I could rest up and get better.
I am grateful for all the sweet get well messages.
And I am grateful for the beautiful full moon, which hid for some time behind Batman-style clouds, then sailed across a clear sky for a while, then was swallowed up by rain clouds for a bit, before re-emerging to smile down on us.
With thanks... July 8...
Today I am grateful for Harry Potter movies and Elinor Gill books, for inspiring words and practical magic, for full moons sailing across a cloudless sky and sparkling little sunshowers chased away by gentle grey skies...
I am grateful for book orders from South Australia and phone calls from France...
And I am grateful for a day with my love, and squirrels in my garden...
With thanks... July 9...
Today I am grateful for the beautiful walk I took in our park, up hills and around lakes, through a sunshower, under a shimmering rainbow and past a massive black swan and a tiny little duckling that kept diving under and staying there for ages (very cute, once I stopped thinking something had eaten it!). There were even swamp hens, red beaked ones and white, pecking around in the grass or floating on the sparkling water, and junior magpies that stood right next to the path and watched me pass without fear, and a wolf-dog, chasing a bunch of miniscule flittering birds, leaping up at them and so frustrated that he couldn't catch one. Such a beautiful day, even with the occasional threatening black cloud that covered the sky then floated away, leaving vivid blue and sunshine...
I am grateful for a snuggly night, and Law & Order, and Harry Potter books. And, having almost passed out from unexpected exhaustion, I am grateful I stayed up with my love instead of falling asleep at 6pm :-) But now to bed, perchance to dream...
With thanks... July 10...
Today I am grateful for a beautiful, brisk and slightly chilly walk to work this morning, under a beautiful sky, with a chill in the air that kept me from getting too hot...
I am grateful for a productive day at work, and a fun lunch break (yes Martini, I finally took one!). Even though i didn't find the computer book I wanted, I did buy some DVDs :-)
And I am grateful for a few hours curled up on the couch reading Harry Potter while I wanted for Cutes to come home, then our time, drinking tea, chatting, laughing, cosying up under a blanket and watching Lawsie...
And I am grateful for late shift tomorrow, so we don't have to set the alarm!
With thanks... July 11...
Today I am grateful for a cute morning with my love, drinking chai and wandering through bookstores in search (unsuccessfully) of a particular dreamweaver book... And I am grateful for my ability to turn annoying things around, and see the humour in life. I traipsed over to North Sydney to get it, since I knew it was in stock there. But it wasn't ("sorry, must be something wrong with our system..."), so I got a different one, which was on special at least :-) After some chaos with the bridge tolls, I finally got home, although I missed yoga after spending so long at the computer shop, which made me sad... but I hooped instead, which was fun! And there was a cute Harry Potter show on TV as I hooped, which was cool...
I'm also grateful for having been quite productive (albeit very frustrated!) in my attempts to create a website... And grateful for the time I snatched to continue reading HP6...
With thanks... July 12...
Today I am grateful for a very productive day - I created a website for Mum, and will try to work out how to put it online tomorrow. I even worked out how to add a favicon (and what a favicon is!), and found an environmentally-friendly, carbon-neutral host that's cheaper and quite possibly easier to understand than the one I have now...
I am grateful for a cute morning with my love - drinking tea, making cheesies, snuggling on the couch, before he had to go to work - and a couple of hours when he returned...
And I am grateful for the little breaks I took to continue plowing through HP6 again, and her message that we create our own destiny, and fulfil prophecies simply by believing in them...
With thanks... July 13...
Today I am grateful for a cute morning with my love, before he had to go to work at lunchtime.
I am grateful for a fun lunch and lots of laughs with Anita and Gavin and their cutie-pie Phoebe, and gingerbread cookies and pots of tea and balcony waves...
I am grateful that I made it to yoga, and unfroze my membership, and got to really stretch for the first time in what feels like ages, even if my new yoga mat was a little slippery, and all my downdogs became flatter the longer we stayed in the pose :-)
And I am grateful for the beauty of the half moon, which smiled down so brightly from a clear, cold sky tonight...
With thanks... July 14...
Today I am grateful for a beautiful walk into the city through the crisp winter morning air, pale sunlight and bare trees.
I am grateful for a fun day at work, Care Bears, Mutant Ninja Turtles and a lovely boss...
I am grateful for a gorgeous night with sweet goddess friends, intriguing scents and mysterious oils, shimmering memories and linked arms...
And I am grateful for Anita's generosity, cups of tea and bikkies with Cutes and Skye, and interesting things to ponder in my dreams tonight...
With thanks... July 15...
Today I am grateful for my *almost* successful attempt to get my website online :-)
I am grateful for a fun afternoon with my love, watching Harry Potter 6 (it rocks! super dark!) and drinking chai and wandering through book stores.
I am grateful that I made it to pilates, even though it was much harder and hurt far more than any yoga class I've ever done. Interesting!
And I am grateful for the beauty of our world, and the all the gorgeous creatures in it, and the strength and commitment of those who dedicate their lives to exploring the bounds of what it possible and true. We watched the first half of a David Attenborough doco on Charles Darwin, and his enthusiasm for the magic of nature and the earth was so sweet, and the gorgeous little lion cubs and baby elephants he hangs out with so cute... It's a beautiful world!
With thanks... July 16...
Today I am grateful for all the lovely comments - and the constructive ones! - about Mum's website, which I finally got up late last night. I am grateful that she loves it, so I can put it up on her domain soon, and get on to making mine...
I am grateful for a cosy, cute day with my love, for snuggling on the couch and time to read a friend's book, and for a little bar of chocolate (well, it *is* called The Chocolate Run!)...
And I am grateful for rain outside, pots of tea and expanding my mind in a new direction. I haven't quite got my head around forms on the website, but I'm getting there!
With thanks... July 17
Today I am grateful for a cute morning with my love, for good books and chai tea, for the cute creatures I found in Fairyland, for catching up on emails, and for yummy salads :-)
With thanks... July 18...
Today I am grateful for a beautiful day, pale winter sunshine, blue skies and a chill-free zone as I walked to yoga in the falling twilight.
I am grateful that the yoga teacher from my old gym was filling in - I've missed her classes...
I am grateful for a beautiful morning with my love, and our favourite chai at a cafe in Enmore...
And I am grateful for a full fridge, warm, clean clothes, and a wonderful book, Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran, a touching story of three sisters who escaped Iran on the eve of the revolution, and via refugee camps and bitter violence, ended up in Ireland, still facing man's evil, but full of hope and love and delicious food... There's even a migraine remedy in it, along with other aromatic recipes, that I might try :-)
With thanks... July 19...
Today I am grateful that I allowed myself a real Sunday. Sunshine warming me on the balcony, a good book on the couch, pots of tea to lift the spirits, and crunchy, crisp green apples...
I am grateful for a phone call from New Zealand, chattering with the egg fairies and hearing of all their exploits - guitar lessons, trophies in singing and dance, and snow on the mountains...
And I am grateful for the hours I spent with my love, this morning before he went to work, and tonight, the midnight hour snatched together...
With thanks... July 20...
Today I am grateful for the beautiful midnight dark sky as Cutes and I walked home from dinner...
I am grateful that I went to yoga, despite the after-effects of a migraine, and stre-e-etched...
I am grateful that the pain finally receded, and I didn't lose the whole day - managed to do a bit more finetuning on Mum's website :-)
I am grateful for my first sponsor for the 40 Hour Famine (thanks Cynthia!)...
I am grateful for episodes of House (I know, we discovered it late, but that's half the fun!), and forensic case solving - a twist on L&O :-)
And now I am grateful for bed...
With thanks... July 21...
Today I am grateful for the beautiful winter sunrise...
I am grateful for a long but productive day at work, cupcakes with the WotWots team (preschool mags are fun!) and learning about how animals sleep :-)
I am grateful that I could buy back the domain for Mum and transfer it (well, will be able to once I work it all out, ha ha)...
I am grateful for the brisk hour-long walk home in the cool night air, the beautiful sky and the approaching dark moon.
I am grateful for a high school friend getting in touch after all these years, and a few hours with my love after he got home from work...
With thanks... July 22...
Today I am grateful for the dark moon. While some people take the dark moon as a day off from magic, others use it to go within, using the introspective energies to examine their feelings and thoughts and delve deep within their psyche. This is also a time to rest and renew your strength, and to evaluate your life and your progress. I went mostly for resting and renewing, snuggling on the couch with my love and drinking lots of tea and making hot soup.
I am grateful that while Cutes wasn't feeling well, he got better not worse as the day progressed.
And I am grateful for the seeming magic of the eclipse, and intrigued by the contrast between superstition and science...
With thanks... July 23...
Today I am grateful for a lovely dinner with lovely friends, great conversation - from Star Wars to the Elegant Universe and everywhere in between - and lots of laughs...
I am grateful for a long, cool walk to dinner, and the even brisker stroll home in the beautiful midnight dark, a clear sky and the energy of the new moon...
I am grateful that I finished Mum's site, sorted out the domain transfer and put it up (www.riveresque.com)... And that they love it :-)
And I am grateful for a cosy, cuddly day off with my love...
With thanks... July 24...
Today I am grateful that, after being up all night with a migraine, I got through the day. Nauseous and achey and weird, but through :-)
I am grateful for an *interesting* day at work...
For chai and dinner with a friend, a long, chatty walk home in the soothing darkness, and our own goddess playshop, which was more laughter than anything else - as it should be :-)
With thanks... July 25...
Today I am grateful for winter sunshine and beautiful skies.
I am grateful for the beautiful little smiling crescent moon...
I am grateful for a morning with my love, before he went to work and I started working on my next website...
I am grateful that I made it to yoga and it was a great class...
And I am grateful for a new book begun when I took a quick dinner break :-)
With thanks... July 26...
Today I am grateful for all my sweet Fairyland friends...
I am grateful for my walk through the light cleansing rain and the skipping through puddles...
I am grateful for a tiny bit of morning with my love, before the in-laws arrived for coffee and Cutes had to go to work...
I am grateful for lunch with a friend, for a bit of time spent reading on the couch, and a bit of work (it is Sunday after all :-)
With thanks... July 27...
Today I am grateful for the beautiful sunrise, which made it so beautiful when I walked to work - golden sunshine, crisp air, sparkles of light everywhere...
I am grateful for a super productive (slightly frantic!) day at work...
I am grateful for remembering where I saw Felicity Pulman's book the other day, after reading about her today and signing up for one of her mini courses, and wanting to dive in to one of her stories. Kind of weird that I noticed it then, and remembered, but nice :-)
I am grateful that my love came in to meet me after work, and we had a yummy dinner under the gothic clock tower, then wandered for a while, hand in hand in the thick dark night, then drank tea until his guitarist got here to rehearse and I started designing business cards and postcards and stuff for Mum...
But now it's time for a hot chai, a hot shower and bed (with perhaps an episode of House thrown in, if we are able), all of which I will be very grateful for...
With thanks... July 28...
Today I am grateful that we got the magazine finished in time to send tomorrow morning, despite a few last minute pages we had to create from scratch, and lots of changes. It's always satisfying to make a deadline :-)
I am grateful for a long walk home in the gentle darkness, the smiling moon and the crisp night air...
And I am grateful that my love got home from work at 10pm, and we got to snuggle up on the couch, crunch on crisp green apples (hmm, I've got a crisp theme going on!) and talk about our days...
With thanks... July 29...
Today I am grateful for a day off with my love...
I am grateful for a fun book (Rosemary for Remembrance)...
I am grateful Cutes's rehearsal went so well - first gig in three weeks, and outfits on their way...
I am grateful for a snuggly night on the couch, House on DVD, and yummy chai tea in our Alice in Wonderland tea pot...
With thanks... July 30...
Today I am grateful for the beautiful sunny day, the blue skies and sunshine and the chill in the air as I walked into town with my love...
I am grateful for our day off together, and a cute morning watching House and making tea for each other before we set off on our adventure...
I am grateful for the fun astronomy course we did, and the beauty of the sunset from Observatory Hill, and the huge bats arcing overhead, and the huge trees, and the amazing 3D presentation, and looking through a massive telescope at the intriguing moon surface, and watching Jupiter with the naked eye.
And I am grateful for this beautiful universe, and the magic of the earth, and the fascinating discoveries that continue to be made...
After comments about my "perfect life" on Facebook, I added this...
It would also be true if I'd written:
Woke up feeling tired and a bit nauseous. We missed the bus so had to walk into town in the afternoon, which made me really overheated, sweaty and short of breath - some of the effects of my migraine medication. Which didn't work anyway, so I got a migraine at the astronomy ... Read Moreclass, which put a dampener on things. Second lot of painkillers did help the shooting pain, but made me wake up groggy today. When we went outside to look at the sky it was so cold I just wanted to go inside. Got home to a message that the course I was really looking forward to on Sunday was cancelled, and won't be rescheduled. Tired and bleurgh...
Both are true, I just choose to write about and remember the *other* list :-) xx
With thanks... July 31...
Today I am grateful for the soothing pats on the head from my love, as I lay my silly migrainey head in his lap. (And I am amused by the funny puffy hairdo I ended up with, like the women in Oprah's religious cult special...)
I am grateful for my very first sponsor for the 40 Hour Famine (thanks Sabina!)...
I am grateful for the little bit of work I did...
And I am grateful that I let myself relax for most of the day, with a hot bubble bath, and reading on the couch (I got through all of Rue For Repentance by Felicity Pulman, which was very sweet), and now, to bed...
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