With thanks...
AUGUST 2009
I am grateful for the beauty and wonder of the world, and the amazing sky overhead...
With thanks... August 1...
Today I am grateful for the morning with my love, before he had to go to work...
I am grateful for a very productive afternoon/night working on my website...
I am grateful it was still the fill in yoga teacher, cos it's harder and more flowing than the usual class...
And I am grateful for the tiny, fragile snowdrops I saw as I walked home in the cool twilight breeze, for their beauty and their sense of promise, for their heralding of the spring and their message of Imbolc blessings...
With thanks... August 2...
Tonight I am grateful that Cutes is lying on my side of the bed while he waits for me, warming it up while i finish watering my fairy garden :-)
I am grateful for a fun morning with him before he headed off to work...
I am grateful for a phone call with my sister...
I am grateful for a super productive eight hours working on my website...
And I am grateful for the beautiful day, the energy in the air and the awakening of the earth... Happy Imbolc!
With thanks... August 3...
Today I am grateful the red squirrel finally visited - but sad no one spotted him :-) Still, at least I know he exists now!
I am grateful that I found the third book in Jules Watson's Dalriada trilogy, by accident and on special, which I've been searching for for ages (hmm, is there a theme here?)...
I am grateful for a brisk walk on my way to work, and the beauty of the amazing sunset, seen from the floor to ceiling windows in the kitchen at work. Reds and oranges and golds and all manner of shades in between...
With thanks... August 4...
Today I am grateful for the beautiful walk to the station, as the almost-full moon sailed up into the sky and the heavens turned a twilight lavender then darkened to deepest night...
I am grateful for the sight of the golden orb peeking out from Batman-style clouds, and the breathtaking view of Sydney Harbour, all lit up and sparkling, with the reflection of the coloured buildings glittering in the dark waters and Luna Park all happy and smiley.
I am grateful for the mini course I did in an office in Lavender Bay, and especially for their balcony overlooking the harbour...
I am grateful for a productive afternoon working on my website...
And I am grateful for a cute morning with my love, before he had to leave for work, and the few hours tonight when we were reunited in our paradisical realm, the precious time between work and bed...
With thanks... August 5...
Today I am grateful for a day off with my love, and lots of time spent together, snuggling on the couch, recharging our batteries for another week at work, watching House and making each other cups of tea...
I am grateful for the work I got done while Cutes was at rehearsal, and how well the rehearsal went. First gig with the new line-up in a few weeks!
And I am grateful for the beautiful shining almost-full moon, which right now is sailing overhead, weaving between the clouds and the midnight sky and surrounded by a golden shining ring of light... So pretty...
With thanks... August 6...
Today I am grateful for a productive and kinda cute day at Disney Princess mag, writing about Snow White, and Tiana the cute new New Orleans princess!
I am grateful for the very brisk walk through the city as the sun set, beneath a sky streaked pinky, rose, red and purple, and through a twilight breeze that cooled my cheeks.
I am grateful for the amazing time my love and I are having with our astronomy course at Sydney Observatory, and the fascinating discussions we have with the teacher (I even ask him questions, out loud, in front of people. Who'd have thought!). I know some of it, from my book research, but I'm learning heaps too! It's fascinating!
I am grateful for the beautiful, awe-inspiring full moon, and being able to watch it rise slowly over the swirling harbour, all big and golden and warm and honey-bright, stunning against the skyscrapers and the red-blue lights of the city.
I am grateful for being able to see Jupiter twinkling just below the moon, then look through the telescopes at it and see it so close up, with the streaks of dark cloud on its surface and three of its orbiting moons. I am grateful for our watching of Alpha Centauri too, the brightest star in our sky - really two stars! - and the sparkling net of other stars that made such a pretty backdrop.
I am grateful for the practical demonstrations too, as we sat outside under the velvet sky and acted out the universe. Juz was the sun, the first to volunteer, and I ended up being Virgo :-)
And I am grateful for our romantic walk back through the city, hand in hand, staring in wonder at the sky and at our beautiful city... Such a beautiful night!
With thanks... August 7...
Today I am grateful for a beautiful morning with my love, our adventure to the book store, and to buy mascara for his photo shoot, and a cute lunch before we both went to work...
I am grateful for the beautiful almost-stormy sky, all black and gold and filled with ominous hints of thunder that never came, and a beautiful double rainbow that arched across the whole sky, and pinky-rose clouds...
I am grateful for the funny birthday chat I had with my little niece, who turned six today (Happy Birthday Lily!), and the amount of work I got done on my website, and a new order for books from a store in WA, who have been doing a roaring trade, and a naughty (but nice!) book order. I'm not sure why I couldn't find L is for Lilies in store, but it (and a few others :-) were available online, so... The wonders of technology. I won't even have to lug them home now :-)
With thanks... August 8...
Today I am grateful for my beautiful love, for everything, but also for the beautiful card and present he snuck onto my pillow when he got home from work, just in case I'd momentarily forgotten how much he loves me (I hadn't :-)...
I am grateful for the hours we snatched together, even though he had to work a weird shift that didn't leave much of a morning or a night...
I am grateful for my productive work day, and that I have almost finished my new website. Launch day is imminent!
And I am grateful for new friends making contact and old friends getting in touch, and blasts from the past :-)
With thanks... August 9...
Today I am grateful for the beautiful sunny blue-skied day, the scent of freshly cut grass, the cute crested pigeons doing their jaunty little dance in the park, and the sound of their wings as they take off - it's like a musical instrument, or a whole song. Amazing :-)
I am grateful for a funny morning with my love, doing his hair and make-up for the first photo shoot with the new Platinum Brunette line-up, and a brilliant shoot. Finally he's found some guys who understand his vision, and have brought his concept to life!
I am grateful to Anita for getting my full moon photo off my phone for me (I have iPhone envy!)...
And I am grateful for a productive day of work - I've put my site online - and although I still have to finish the blog section and will probably need to make a few final tweaks, it's pretty much done!
With thanks... August 10...
Today I am grateful that I figured out how to upload my website! I had a few teething problems, but through trial and error I got it finished and up :-) And I am grateful for all the kind, encouraging feedback (www.SereneConneeley.com)...
I am grateful for a new chiropractor, or I will be anyway, when the soreness subsides :-) I haven't been for months, cos I used to go to one around the corner from my old work, so it was a relief (of sorts) to be cracked back into place. This one is lovely, so very sweet and gentle, yet completely brutal here and there. Which is good, I think :-)
I am grateful that I walked home, head still floaty and a bit weird from the funny vibrating machine thing he put on it, and kept my body moving...
And I am grateful for a cosy night in with my love, writing mini press things for his band, lashing out with little pizzas, reading together and drinking tea, and watching House (so sad!)...
With thanks... August 11...
Today I am grateful to Nigie and Daniella for sponsoring me in the 40 Hour Famine - it's nearly here (yikes!), so it's nice to know my hunger pains will be worth it!
I am grateful for a fun day at work, in the land of princesses and Dora the Explorer...
I am grateful to Jess for the beautiful flowers - they look gorgeous in a big tall vase, and make me smile when I look at them...
I am grateful to Laneth and Cynthia for their advice and encouragement with my website...
And I am grateful to my beautiful love, for meeting me in town after work so we could walk home together, hand in hand, smiling up at the lightly falling rain, talking about our day, planning future fun, stopping for dinner in a cute little restaurant, and coming home to our paradisical realm that we love so much...
With thanks... August 12...
Today I am grateful that my love and I have a day off together, although he had to rehearse for a few hours, so I worked hard on my website while he was out...
I am grateful for the time we spent this afternoon sorting through the photos from our trip to England, so we can print some out (finally!). It was so much fun seeing them all again, remembering all our funny moments (falling in the bog), all the breathtaking moments (Tintagel at sunset, the Tor in a storm), every moment really!
And I am grateful for our beautiful night, snuggled up on the couch together watching the first three episodes of Merlin (we taped Law and Order), seeing the magic plant its seeds and the friendships starting to grow...
With thanks... August 13...
Today I am grateful for the brilliant night my love and I had at our astronomy course at the observatory. The 3D presentations are amazing and so very beautiful, the subject matter is fascinating, and the universe is such a magical, intriguing, incredible place...
I am grateful for our walk into town, hand in hand, and the beauty of the sunset sky and the falling twilight...
I am grateful to Trudie for sponsoring me in the 40 Hour Famine (yikes, it's next weekend! If you'd like to sponsor me go to 40hourfamine.com and put in my participant number, 670881341. Many thanks!)...
I am grateful that I managed to tweak my website and hopefully iron out a few of the unfinished wrinkles...
And I am grateful to Cutes for buying me Merlin as a sweet present, cos we're loving it!
With thanks... August 14...
Today I am grateful for the sweet little ducks in the pond in our favourite park, and the sunshine sparkling on the water as I fed bread rolls to them. (And I am grateful to the little old man who gave us the bag of stale rolls, because he had hurt his leg and couldn't get down the hill to the pond, and he was grateful to us...) Our little late autumn swamp hen babies have grown up, and are gawky adolescents now, while the earlier born ones are teenagers, squawking and a little stand offish. But the adult swamp hens were keen to say hello, as were the beautiful ducks with their amazing iridescent feathers, and a flock of seagulls who swooped in and caught bits of bread in mid-air, and the pigeons who were standing on my feet because they were pecking up all the crumbs as I broke off bit of bread...
I am grateful for the extremely gentle yet momentarily brutal chiropractor, and the many different shades of pain there are...
I am grateful that Cutes and I had a nice morning together before he had to go to work, although not grateful that he had to be there from three til midnight. (And would you walk into a record store, go up to the counter and demand "Forest Whitaker!" ? What kind of a question is that? How about a clue? Sigh...)
And I am grateful that I have finished my website, and sorted out our holiday photos so we can get them printed and put in albums, and that my love has returned and it's time to snuggle under the doona. Sweet dreams!
With thanks... August 15...
Today I am grateful for a day spent luxuriously reading, snuggled up on the couch and transported to ancient Britain (so Alanis's Couch is my favourite mode of transport!) and the magic, myth and mystery of the goddess meets a modern-day martial arts queen (Traci Harding's The Ancient Future: The Dark Age). Funnily enough I'd had the book for ages, but only started reading it yesterday, coincidentally *after* looking through the photos of our time at the Rollright Stones near Oxford, from whence the action commences...
I am also grateful that my love had a rare day shift, so we got to spend the night together, having a fun picnic in the realm, and watching the magic of Merlin. An enchanted day indeed...
With thanks... August 16...
Today I am grateful that I went to yoga, hard though it was and str-e-e-tched though I feel...
I am grateful for the beautiful sunny day, the fragile snowdrops and the scent of jasmine...
I am grateful for hot chai and reading on the couch...
For the payment of invoices, and the sending out of more...
And I am grateful for a beautiful night with my love, so rare because of his work times...
With thanks... August 17...
Today I am super grateful to Skye, Martine and Jessika for sponsoring me in the 40 Hour Famine...
I am grateful for my quick visit to the duck pond, for the sunshine sparkling on the water, the generosity of the ibises sharing their island with the big white geese, the fun I had feeding them, and the reappearance of the eels (we were a bit worried about them!)... I am also bemused by the behaviour of the swamp hens - when they have babies around they are so sweet and protective and generous to each other, but today they were chasing each other across the water and squawking at each other in an angry (yet slightly comical) manner, which was kinda cute, but odd...
I am grateful for Traci Harding's book The Ancient Future: the Dark Age, full of love, magic, myth and mysticism...
I am grateful that Cutes and I finally sorted out the photos from our trip, burned them to disc and dropped them off to get printed...
And I am grateful for a beautiful night in with my love – I made us tacos and now I'm off to enjoy the rest of our evening...
With thanks... August 18...
Today I am grateful for a beautiful walk into the city with my bee-loved this morning, and a little chai before I had to start work...
It was a long day in the office, but I am grateful that I managed to beat the chaos into some kind of submission... A new mag will be out soon :-)
I am grateful that someone bought my book, and for sweet messages and kind fairies...
And now that I am feeling a little unwell, I am grateful that my love is warming up my side of the bed for me, and telling me to hurry up and come to bed so I can be cradled...
With thanks... August 19...
Today I am grateful that the work day is over :-) It was a chaotic day in the Princess office (odd, I know!), with many a crisis, but by the end of the day it was kinda under control :-)
I am grateful (I think) for the chiropractor, although I am aching now, and my head is hurting. But that's a good thing right?
I am grateful for a fun night with my love, who came into town to meet me after work, and walked with me through the deepening twilight to Broadway to pick up our photos, and buy some albums (and a new series of Numbers!), and have dinner, then come home to our beautiful realm and start putting all the photos from our trip into order. It was wonderful to be looking through all the pictures again, remembering all the funny moments, the breathtaking moments, the incredible beauty of the places we visited... Can't wait to continue tomorrow...
With thanks... August 20...
Today I am grateful for the introspective energy of the dark moon, and the light and happy vitality of the new...
I am grateful for the time we spent putting more photos in albums, remembering the magic of Cornwall, Glastonbury and Stonehenge and Avebury...
And I am grateful for the fun my love and I have at our astronomy course, and the walking in together, dinner in the city and buying of tea and comics on the way there. Tonight we saw Jupiter and four of its moons through the telescope (we could only see three last time), plus Alpha Crux, the brightest star in the Southern Cross constellation, which is actually three stars orbiting around each other! Plus a section of the sky that was much further away, which was like an amazing jewelled web of stars, floating so beautifully in space, all twinkling and tiny and full of mystery and intrigue. And we learned about stars, and star formation and star death, and galaxies and black holes, and the elegant universe. And we saw the most incredible 3D presentations - simply amazing! Juz wants to do the next course now too, which is cool :-)
With thanks... August 21...
Tonight, as I embark on the 40 Hour Famine, I am grateful to everyone who has sponsored me, and especially to Daniella and Sabina, who sponsored Juz too! (If you'd like to sponsor me go to 40hourfamine.com and put in my participant number, 670881341, any time before September 30. Many thanks!)
I am grateful that the problems at work have pretty much been resolved, and next week will be much smoother. And I am grateful to Viv for her thoughtful (and tasty!) gesture.
I am grateful for a fun night with Cynthia, and that despite the thing we were going to not being on (unbeknown to us), we made the most of the visit to Bondi, admiring the dark waters and twinkling lights reflected therein, and the salty air, and the cab that returned us to Newtown and a pot of chai tea...
And I am so grateful to my love, who does the 40 Hour Famine with me each year so it won't be as hard, and to support me. Our pots of tea will have added significance this weekend as it's all we can have!
With thanks... August 22...
Today I am grateful that it is bedtime, and I can hopefully sleep through a big chunk of being hungry :-) I'm 28 hours down from the 40 Hour Famine, which is pretty good, although right now I'm having a bit of a grumbling tummy wave...
I am grateful to everyone who has sponsored me, many many thanks...
I am grateful for the long night I have had with my love - it's amazing how much time it takes up to buy food, prepare it, cook it, eat it, wash up afterwards. We had so much more time to snuggle together, chatting, reading, watching Numbers, smiling when Larry mentioned things about the cosmos that we learned in our astronomy course...
I am very grateful that my love is doing the famine with me, because it's so much easier when food isn't in your face to tempt you :-)
I am grateful for a phone call from the place where I did my dreamweaver course, offering for me to do it again for free, with a new instructor, since there were so many complaints about ours. Interesting!
I am grateful for the work I got done on my website...
I am grateful for a long and interesting conversation with a new friend...
And now I am grateful for bed...
With thanks... August 23...
Today I am grateful that I completed the 40 Hour Famine, and survived without *too* many hungry bits. I am grateful that Juz did it with me, to support me, even though he had to work all day. And I am grateful to everyone who sponsored us, because there would have been no point in us doing it if not for them!
I am grateful for our cute night, for the little pizzas and salad we allowed ourselves as a reward of sorts, and time together before we are parted again tomorrow by pesky work...
I am grateful for Jules Watson's book The Boar Stone, a passionate, enchanted story of the Dalriadan (modern-day Scotland and Ireland) priestesses and warriors, and their resistance against the Romans, and herb lore and love and war and magic.
And I am grateful for the thought of my warm bed, and resting my pesky head, and (hopefully) dreaming sweet dreams...
With thanks... August 24...
Today I am grateful that I write these notes, because this was one of those less than sparkling days, where I will be challenged to find things to write about. But I will dig deep, as this exercise requires, until I do find some things to list. (I am a writer after all - perhaps my imagination and wishful thinking will come in handy...)
I am grateful that, although walking to work made me feel sicker and weirdly overheated, I saw some beautiful birds in the park, pink and grey ones that I'd never seen there before, and yet which Michele-lee posted photos of yesterday on her page. I do like serendipity :-)
I am grateful that work wasn't too stressful, as I was plagued with a migraine and nausea all day...
I am grateful that, while I missed the bus home, I soon decided to splurge on a cab so I could collapse in a heap that much sooner...
I am grateful for the cool air as I walked up to find one, which cooled my cheeks and soothed my head a little...
And I am grateful to my beautiful love, who had dinner ready for me, and afterwards stroked my head gently...
So, still several things to be grateful for :-)
With thanks... August 25...
Today I am grateful for the beautiful sunny day. So warm and still and peaceful, although apparently it was howling with wild winds and dancing trees not so far from us...
I am grateful that I'm getting quicker at updating my website :-)
I am grateful that I made a good, big start on cleaning my office and sorting myself out so I can have a clear head to begin anew...
And I am grateful for a fun night with my love - the first gig back with the new line-up of Platinum Brunette, which rocked :-)
With thanks... August 26...
Today I am grateful for a beautiful day off with my love, for sunshine and sparkles, and lunch at our favourite cafe...
I am grateful for a lovely night in, reading on the couch, cooking dinner, watching Numbers and marvelling at the way some people's minds work...
I am grateful that my package of books arrived - Dreamweaver for Dummies (ha!), and the next Felicity Pulman ones...
I am grateful for more book orders :-)
I am grateful to my sweet Avalonian fairy friend for the pots of gold she sends my way :-)
And now I am grateful that it is time to snuggle up and dream sweet dreams...
With thanks... August 27...
Today I am grateful for a day off with my beloved, which we enjoyed every luxurious, magical moment of.
I am grateful for a relaxing morning making each other cups of tea and reading books together...
I am grateful for our perfect afternoon, walking through the sparkly sunshine up to the post office to post off book orders, wandering through the city hand in hand, admiring the gorgeous, mysterious things in the Australian Geographic store (perfect for Father's Day!), sharing a little dinner, then racing down to the Observatory as the sun set for our final astronomy class. It was so beautiful up there, the clouds a fiery red/orange/gold, the huge old fig trees casting long shadows and dancing silhouettes, and the bats swooping and soaring above us...
I am grateful for all the information in the course, which has been so much fun, and for all the time we spent outside tonight gazing up at the sky, admiring Jupiter and its four moons through a new outdoor telescope, then through binoculars, as well as several large stars, some beautiful swirling constellations and the stunning half moon, with its craters and depressions and gentle curves.
I am grateful for the amazing *free* astronomy program, Stellarium, which shows you the sky and all the stars and planets in it, from wherever you are! It's downloading now (rather slowly as we've reached our broadband limit for the month), from www.stellarium.org...
I am grateful for our beautiful walk around The Rocks after the course, along the glittering, inky black harbour, through the dark night lit up with twinkling lights, smiling at Luna Park and the Opera House all lit up, the quarter moon shining down on us...
And I am grateful that the night's not over yet, and that when Juz gets home from his quick hike around the park opposite, where he's singing at the top of his voice to keep in shape for Saturday night's gig, we will have more time together to enjoy :-)
With thanks.. August 28...
Today I am grateful that I missed the first bus, and as a result got to sit in the sunshine under the big fig tree downstairs, and read a little... and still make it to work with one minute to spare...
While not grateful for a migraine, and the feeling that I was trying to walk through the day underwater, slow and vague and a little apart from everything, I am grateful for painkillers that dulled the pain...
I am grateful that today's work wasn't too taxing, and I got through the day, squinting and pained looking though I was...
I *think* I am grateful for this new chiropractor, who I saw in my lunch break, although I will reserve judgement :-)
And I am grateful to my beautiful bee-loved, who came into town to meet me after walk, and was so patient with my vagueness, and for our cute dinner, and our walk home in the soothing cool night air...
With thanks... August 29...
Today I am grateful for a fun night at the Platinum Brunette gig. The band rocked, no one would have guessed Juz was sick cos he was on fire and even funnier than usual, and everyone loved it!
I am grateful for a sweet message from Dad, who's setting out at dawn for three weeks of surfing and camping out around Gnarloo...
I am grateful for book four in Felicity Pulman's series...
And I am grateful I could help my beloved pursue his dreams, as he does for me...
With thanks... August 30...
Today I am grateful for the beautiful Sunday sunshine...
I am grateful that I got my head around all my website updates, and that it's getting a bit quicker...
I am grateful for a fun afternoon drinking tea, eating bikkies and catching up on news with a friend before he goes away on a great adventure...
And I am grateful that I was able to look after my poor cutes, who isn't well, and make him dinner and tea and beroccas, and rub his feet and wrap him in blankets, and do all I could to help (sadly not much that was helpful though, sigh)...
With thanks... August 31...
Today I am grateful that I sold another four books, and four on Friday, so things are looking up...
I am grateful that Spheres magazine finally came out, with my story in it, and appreciate them sending me a copy...
I am grateful that I was working from home today, so I could drive poor sick Cutes to work (no sick days for him, hmph!), and pick him up, and make him dinner, and look after him...
And I am grateful for new friends and old, for staying in touch and making contact, and the beauty and kindness of the people in my life...
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