Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

I've had the following quote on my facebook page for quite a while... minus the last line. I guess when I first found it, that line didn't resonate with me, but today I am inspired by the whole quote:

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. ~ Melody Beattie

After a long road trip with my husband and little ones, spending a few days with my parents, celebrating a birthday, and enjoying Thanksgiving with dear family and friends, I feel like spending some time letting my thankfulness create a vision for my near future. I'm excited to see what goals will rise up out of my gratefulness.

When Life Gives You Lemons

Gratitude Challenge Day Four: Write a short message of thanks for some of the "negative" things in your life.

Dear First Job,

I used to cry every morning on my commute to work. I had dreamed of a long-term relationship with you, but that was before I knew about your back-stabbing colleagues, passive-aggressive supervisor and the micro-management of my day. I began to doubt my self-worth and you nearly broke my spirit. Fortunately, I was able to find a new job behind your back. My next job was so much better for me and soon I realized that I had loads of abilities and contributions -- you were the unhealthy one. I even felt a little sorry for you when I heard that two co-workers left you soon after I did. You didn't know a great thing when you had it! One of those co-workers is still one of my dearest friends. We shared the suffering you doled out and it forged an unshakable friendship. I am so thankful to have her in my life, so despite everything else, I am grateful for you.

Regards,

Sunni

Dear Painful, Humiliating Church Experience,

When you hurt my family, I wasn't sure I would live beyond the trauma, but I quickly realized that God was with me all along. Despite the way "God's people" behaved, I felt the presence, peace and comfort of the Creator. The injury caused me to question the religion I had trusted since birth and shoved me (against my will at first) into a fellowship of spiritual seekers much bigger and broader than I had ever imagined. Looking back, I am truly grateful to have come through the fire of fundamentalist rejection into the glory of God's transforming grace. So, humbly, I say thank you.

Sincerely,

Sunni

Ere I Forget All the Joy

Day Three of the Gratitude Challenge: Write about something you feel grateful for in your life today.

I'm home from a wonderful dinner out and trying to quickly finish my gratitude update and get into bed. Today I am grateful for:

my husband
his parents
our wonderful babysitter
red wine, steak salad and creme brulee (yum!)

I've been humming a song all day and it feels like the soundtrack for this post. It is a folk song that I learned from my dad called "Today" that was originally sung by The New Christy Minstrels. The words seem perfect for this assignment:

"Today while the blossoms still cling to the vine
I'll taste your strawberries, I'll drink your sweet wine
A million tomorrows shall all pass away
Ere I forget all the joy that is mine today."

My Gralphabet

Day Two of the Gratitude Challenge: Use the alphabet as a fun and quick format for making a list of things for which you feel grateful. Share this list through email, a blog post or a Facebook page.

A  The Artisanal Table - a new Pizzeria and Enoteca (Italian Wine Shop) in downtown Bellevue with truly wonderful pizzas and wines.  My new favorite place.

B  Billings - a fine place to grow up.  And filled with many, many friends who are coming alongside my parents as my dad recovers from a stroke.  I am so, so grateful.

C  California Baby Calming Shampoo and Bodywash - makes my darlings smell even more delicious.

D  Daughter - I am thrilled to be Mama to my sweet baby girl.

E  Elsa Peretti - thank you for designing such beautiful jewelry.  Every time I catch a glimpse of the lovely necklace my husband gave to me, I feel like a princess.

F  Foster School of Business - I experienced invigorating work, amazing colleagues and inspirational students during my eight years at UW.  Even now, many of my dearest friends share business school roots. 

G  Grace - God's unmerited favor.

H  Husband - 10 years of marriage to one handsome hunk.

I  In-laws - or "in-loves" as my mom says.  I love the people that marriage added to my family: father-in-law, mother-in-law, three sisters-in-law, and two brothers-in-law.  Dear to me, all.

J  Japan - my first and favorite international experience.

K  Kim - who inspired me to take this challenge. And who has been a bosom buddy for 15 years.

L  Lihue - "the Gateway to Kauai."  We flew into Lihue for our honeymoon 10 years ago and we'll fly into Lihue next spring to spend a week relaxing with some of our favorite friends.  Can't wait!

M  Motorcycle - the one I want to own someday.  Glad for the dream.

N  Nuclear family - both my childhood and my current.  I have lots of love for Papa, Mom and my brothers.  And I adore my hubby, my Jeeper and my CeCe.

O  Orange (but not oranges) - Orange is a long-time favorite color.  So bright and fun.

P  my Pals/Peeps/People - Super grateful for my friends.  If this list wasn't alphabetical you all would be at the top.  I love every one of you.

Q  Quilts - My mom just got excited when she read that.  But sadly for her, I wrote quilts, not quilting.  You see, my mom is a quilter and I love the beautiful works of art she makes for my family.  Maybe someday it will say quilting, Mom.  But not today.

R  Red Tano handbag - I'm grateful that it is beautifully crafted and just the perfect style and color, but my favorite part is that my husband picked it out for me when he was on a business trip in NYC.  Awww, what a guy!

S  Son - He is my angel.

T  Triple Thanks - Trader Joes.  TiVo.  Tea (lots of ice, no sweetener and a slice of lemon.)

U  U2 - thanks to my friend Wolm for the U2 intro and to my husband for the U2 enthusiasm and education over the years.

V  the View out my kitchen window - so green, cool and comforting.

W  Wedding in the UK - thank you Sonja and Dan for the opportunity to be part of such a warm and wonderful event!  It was the trip of a lifetime.

X  XoXo - kisses from my kiddos.

Y  Yoga - even though it has been way too long since I've practiced... it really changed my life when I did.

Z  Zoom, zoom, zoom - LOVE my Mazda.  So zippy, easy and fun.  I want the CX-9 next!  Whoops, that isn't gratitude.  Well, I AM grateful for my current Mazda even as I covet my next one.  Heh, heh, heh.

Gratitude Schmatitude

Since returning from Montana, I've been "down in the grumps." I called Bea and asked her to meet me at Frost Doughnuts thinking maybe a bacon maple bar would get out of my funk. We are going tomorrow so I'll let you know.  In the meantime I went to see my therapist and we discussed my dad's stroke, my mom's stress, my kid's whining and my disappointment over not being selected as a Verity Mom finalist.  Her recommendation?  Keep up with "self-care."  Umm, oooh-kay.  Easier said than done when you are a busy mom of little ones.  Does a really delicious gourmet doughnut count?  

So, I made plans for my husband and in-laws to give me some time off this weekend, found a babysitter for a grown-ups only dinner on Sunday and scheduled a massage for a week from now.  Still felt grumpy.  Called Moe, our angelic mother's helper and she came over and played with the little ones for a while.  She even picked up all the toys while she was here.  I was beginning to feel a little better.  Met my husband at the door and told him HE was taking the kids to dinner.  Hmm... this self-care business just might work!  I feel less grumpy already.  

A bowl of cold cereal and a half-hour of peace and quiet later, I found the final piece in my grump-banishment plan.  The Tiny Prints Gratitude Challenge.  I learned about it from my friend Kim, over at gratitude365.  She had already started the 21-day challenge and I felt encouraged when I read her posts.  And not only because I am included on one of her gratitude lists.  So I'm going to do it.  And today is my day #1.  The assignment for the first day is to write about why I accepted this challenge and what I hope to achieve.

I accepted this challenge because most of my thoughts today are about why I am NOT grateful:  There are dirty dishes in the sink.  A friend's father passed away yesterday after a long fight with cancer.  The kids broke our laptop this morning.  I could go ON and ON.  But it isn't helping to make a list of what stinks.  I need to shift my perspective.  I know there are hundreds of things that I can celebrate right now, even though it feels like an effort to come up with a list.  Thankfully, I don't need to make a list until tomorrow's assignment!  And what I hope to achieve is the strength to choose grateful.  Maybe not every single time, but more of the time and even when times are rough. I know the benefits will be worth the challenge.

Celebration Saturday

Happy tenth wedding anniversary to us!  We had a lovely evening out at Cinebarre and Preservation Kitchen.  One of my favorite parts of the whole day was my husband's facebook status update: "Loving the Sunni side of life for 10 years and counting."  Awwwwww.  Just one of the thousands of reasons he is the one for me.

Rock Star

We've were hit hard with the January flu bugs at our house. I got up one day after a morning of throwing up and sleeping to find my hubby sitting in my floral "mama-chair" glider holding a sleeping Jeeper who had been incredibly fussy without his mama around. Daddy had been holding and rocking Jeep for over two hours because it was the only way the little guy would sleep. It melted my heart and filled me with gratitude for a spouse who is such loving father.

Power Struggle

I recently called BlogMama to propose a topic for her personal blog gratitude365… electricity.

Probably not at the top of your thanksgiving list, but I know over one million people here in the Pacific Northwest have a newfound appreciation for the juice that fuels our overhead lights, garage door openers and furnaces (and a whole slew of other luxuries). While many homes in the greater Seattle area had power restored one, two or three days after the wild wind storm the night of December 14th, we were among the unfortunate few who waited eight days in the dark and cold. Okay, we didn't exactly wait all eight days - the last two nights we stayed in a hotel, but even during those two days the trips home to pick up necessities were chilly and dim.

Living without power has many similarities to camping so the first day or two it was almost fun. During our "camping adventure" we relied heavily on our small woodstove. We used it for heat (the uneven temperatures were frustrating at times), for cooking necessities such as grilled cheese sandwiches and cowboy coffee (water and grounds thrown together into a saucepan and heated to almost boiling), and for entertainment ("Dancing Flames: the Mini-series").

But while I imagined I was Laura Ingalls-Wilder at first, I quickly tired of hauling wood and stoking fires. Those oh-so-important daily toddler routines became impossible and Jeep's moods swung wildly. We tried to be grateful knowing there are so many tougher challenges in life, but patience ran thin all around. The hard-to-penetrate-darkness was the hardest blow for me personally and I felt completely exhausted by 7:30 or 8:00 each night.

This brief challenge brought great respect for pioneers and people who suffer through disasters with losses much greater than the food in a fridge. I am ever so slightly more aware of what is truly important in life (the answer is people, not clean laundry - although clean laundry is very, very nice) and also a tiny bit more aware of all that we take for granted in our easy, electric lives. That being said, the moment the electricity came back on I ran around the house, flipped on every light, turned on the TV, played the radio, cranked up the heat, started the laundry and ran the dishwasher. Ah, the power of power!