thirty days of grace...

I know, two blog posts published in one day.  I must be on a roll.

I just found a blog.  And it set an idea in motion.  Bear with me while I explain the thinking behind this one.

My life -- as many are -- is crazy-hard right now.  It has been for the last 7 years.  Yes, there have been good amazing times.  Marrying the love of my life, for one...patching my long-term relationship with my best friend of 20 years...Mending the much torn relationship with my mom -- love you so much, mom.  And there have been heart-aches and breaks along the way.  Many of which, I just do not talk about for fear of completely breaking down in front of other people.  And they may -- at this point, at least -- make me a little too vulnerable to mention here.  Plus, I honestly choose to focus on the positive.  So...

For the next 30 days -- until the 3rd of January -- I will publish one post a day which focuses on the positive aspects of my life.  This will not be easy for me.  This will be a huge stretch.  I am not practiced at keeping commitments I make to myself.  Something "better" always comes up.  And by "better" I actually mean pain and fatigue.  And with this in mind -- and I will be "tested" -- I am going to keep this  commitment to myself, and you.  Every day.  And on those days where I just do not feel up to doing this...I will still manage to.

My mom always said, as I was growing up, that "I can do this miserably or gracefully".  Taking this into consideration as an adult, I can either take life, and all it's hardships and wonders miserably or gracefully.  I choose grace.

 *  Today, I am grateful for...

*  Our first fire in our fire-place, even though we smoked out our upstairs and set off the smoke-detector.  Hell, at least we know it works now.

*  Going on a nice long walk with Jon.  It was bright and sunny and crisp outside.  A true late fall day.  It reminded me of living with my grandmother when I was 18.  That was a long time ago.

*  Being able to work on my granny-stripe blanket today, until I noticed a tiny little paper cut exactly where I hold the yarn in my right hand!  (I am left-handed, by the way)

one more...

*  Curling up in the afghan my grandmother (different one) made for my parents nearly 40 years ago when they were first married.  My mom gave it to me last week, and it is a lovely gift.

Alright...I think this is a good start.  I will "see" you tomorrow.  Possibly in the morning, but definitely tomorrow. 

A Graceful Saturday-night to all,
~j.b.