gratitude

yesterday i flew to michigan for a few days to see my good friend daphne and to meet her new little two month old son. we stayed up late talking last night & then since i was sans child, i slept in this morning until 8. so good.

this morning i am lounging on her livingroom couch, playing with cooing ishmael whose sweet head smells of wonderful new baby, listening to bon iver, drinking tea, just savoring a morning of no plans, no lists, no to do's

and full of gratitude for friendship,

for seasons of life,

for the time to be here.

funny how being grateful for one thing reminds you of another thing to celebrate...

and on and on...

a recognition of the points of joy and goodness in one's life leads to spotting additional reasons to be thankful.

at the same time, it's so easy to downward spiral (at least for me)

and once i start dwelling on one or two things that aren't exactly going according to plan,

i begin to wallow in all of the things that i think are difficult, or frustrating, or discouraging, or plain hard about life.

and then i just feel sucky

and none of those circumstances have changed.

my friend hannah is someone who consistently reminds me of this-and she makes me want to be more like her-because she lives with gratitude and appreciation and hope for life's points of joy (whether her life is feeling awesome or not).

so.

i am grateful

for

*old friends who you can sit in silence with & waste the day away with

*newer friends who open new worlds & conversations

*the amazing aunts & uncles that my daughter has: to see her developing independent relationships with them & to hear her say their names and light up with joy when she sees them makes my heart so happy. they rock. i love love love you guys-you make being a mom so much more great.

*and along those lines...super great grandparents who send our daughter fun mail, go on adventures with her, play the piano with her, and delight in her. i didn't have that, and it gives me so much joy.

*our little niece sadie. i love her. and so does little m-she adores her new cousin.

*the blossoming trees all over oakland in cream and pink and all other shades of loveliness

*this new baby growing inside of me who does a whole lotta moving and shaking

*the sound of my daughter's voice as she says new words and begins to speak in sentences!

(and a whole lot more, but now daphne and i are going to hang out)

what are you grateful for?