30 Days of Gratitude - Day 13 - Take a note

It's really important to me to have notebooks and pens around in case I need to write something down. I remember once when Bob and I went to the State Fair, I had put my wallet in a really small bag so I wouldn't have to lug something large around, but once we got there, I started worrying because I didn't have a notebook a pen. It made me really nervous. So one of the first stops we made was the conservation hall, were I found a giveaway pencil and a brochure. So, whew. If I needed to write something down, I had a way to do that.

Now that I have the iPhone, it isn't really quite as important, since I can always write something down in that, but that isn't always convenient. So I try to always have an alternate form of note-taking supplies.

I'm really picky about notebooks and pens; Bob will attest to that. For ballpoint pens, I love Bic "Velocity," and my favorite notebooks are Miquelrius. There's just something about their paper that feels right to me. It's smooth and thick, and I just like it better than anything I've ever found.

Except for Moleskine, I guess, which is another favorite. However, the Miquelrius notebooks are spiral bound, so they open flat, and Moleskines aren't. But they are nice. Right now I'm using a purple ("Simply Violet") Vera Bradley "Hipster" bag, and at Target I found some tiny Moleskine notebooks in purple, and I already had a Pilot "Precise" pen in purple, so that's my current notebook and pen combo. It's small and light, and doesn't take up much room at all, but I have something to jot down lists and ideas when it isn't convenient to type them out on the iPhone. The notebook is actually tiny enough to fit inside my (purple) wallet when I don't carry the whole purse.

I know it's OCD, but it is what it is. I am what I am. I have my quirks, like anyone (maybe more than most), but I really do love things like this. And it's something that's fairly easy to take care of.

I'm so thankful for the wonderful variety of things like this--notebooks with beautiful paper, pens in every color, the seemingly endless array of ways to fulfill an admittedly somewhat silly "need." Again, so grateful for the abundance that I have access to, and the ability to acquire the small things that make my life easier and happier.

Photo: 9/13: Take a note

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 12 - Green

This photo symbolizes something green, and also regeneration. I bought this diffenbachia several years ago, and it was a beautiful plant. Then it got some kind of mites, and started dying, and looked awful. I tried to save it, but it got to looking so dreadful that I ended up cutting it completely off at the ground. In a few months, though, it had regrown to be more beautiful than before. I'm thankful for that, and for all the greenery in my office.

I used to have a lot of houseplants at home, but as they died, I didn't replace them. For one thing, the cats found them too interesting, and I never wanted to risk having them eat something poisonous. And even if the plants weren't poisonous, I wasn't crazy about the cats eating them anyway. So it became less of a priority.

When I got my office at work, though, with its big windows, plants became a priority again. I have the diffenbachia, a big ficus, an old corn plant that came from a previous office, the leftover greenery from some kind of a big flowering bulb that I don't remember the name of, and a couple of mixed pots of plants from funerals.

The theme of my office, if there is one, is plants and birds. I have several decorative bird houses and bird cages, and a few ceramic and metal birds. I feel like my office is an oasis, and the plants and birds (and fish) enhance that feeling. I'm thankful for that.


Photo: 9/12: Green

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 11 - Beautiful

It isn't really that beautiful now -- the rose is about four days old -- but the sentiment is. Bob came home with it on Saturday night. He said, "I realized that I hadn't brought you a flower in a long time, and that's unacceptable!" So, a single red rose in a bud vase. It has to sit in the kitchen or bathroom since Dinah would knock it over if it was on a table, but that's okay. It's fine in the kitchen.

I'm very grateful for Bob and for our marriage. I don't talk about it a lot, because I don't want to brag, but we really do have a great marriage. It takes work, of course, we don't take it for granted. We thank each other for the little things that we do every day -- I thank him for taking out the trash, and he thanks me for cooking dinner, things like that. It may sound silly, but it really does make a difference.

Going out to dinner is kind of a rare occurrence lately, given the state of the economy, but we do things like go out for ice cream, or go for a drive, or make a late-night run to the grocery store together, or just watch a movie. It's something we can do together. We don't actually spend a lot of time together at home--I'm usually either downstairs watching television or in the bedroom reading, and he spends most of his free time t home in his office on the computer or watching television (since we seldom want to watch the same things), but we've always said that that was one of the keys to the longevity of our relationship. We always say it jokingly, but it's probably true. We don't want TOO much togetherness, but I guess we have enough.

Photo: 9/11: Beautiful

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 10 - Work

I came back from a meeting this afternoon to find three dogs waiting for me. I know it wasn't for love (except maybe for Jojo), it was for treats, and the two inside the office were actually probably trapped and afraid to try to get by Jojo, but it did make a nice welcome. She doesn't ever do anything except growl, but she is the old grumpy lady of the office (like me!), and she is very intimidating, apparently.

I'm very grateful for work, for the fact that both Bob and I have good, well-paying jobs that we enjoy. It's a terrible time to be out of a job, and to be looking for work, so I'm very thankful that we have jobs to go to. And obviously, mine has the added bonus of dogs!

It also comes with the bonus of working with friends--people I actually like to spend time with, many of whom have been my friends for over a decade--and of doing work that I love. Not everyone gets that advantage, and it's one that I'm very grateful for.

Photo: 9/10 - Work. Waiting for me.

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 9 - Reading

I read an entire book today, not in one sitting, but in three or four. I read for awhile in the morning, then got dressed and went to the grocery store, came home and read some more, had dinner, read through the evening until I went to sleep. The book doesn't really matter (although it was "The Survivor," by Greg Hurwitz), just the fact that I was able to spend so much time reading, and how enjoyable it was.

I had this book on my Amazon wish list, but it just came out, and was a little expensive ($12.99), so when I heard it was coming out, I got on the hold list at the library, and my number came up this weekend.

I don't get a lot of books from the library any more, since I prefer to read on the iPad--it's more comfortable, I can read in the dark with minimal light, etc., but I still do love the library. I enjoy going there on the weekends and browsing through the new books, and I love being able to reserve books that I want to read, but may not want to buy.

I'm grateful both for the library, and for the abundance of wonderful books that are available for me to read, in whatever format.

Photo: 9/9 - Lunch. (I forgot to take a photo of my lunch, so this is a picture of the view outside my office window. I'll do "lunch" later.)