Gladitude Monday

So...How're you all doin'? Enjoying family and blogging/reading other blogs in fits and spurts as I am? I hope your Christmas was blessed. Ours was great. We're in the process of digging out from all our snow, getting ready for our annual New Year's Eve junk food sleep-over extravaganza, which we do with dear, dear friends of ours. And...just chillaxing. I give you, with a tear in my eye, the last Gladitude Monday list of 2008:



10. Glad our slush has almost melted away, and that I can see grass in the back yard. Since we have not seen plows on our streets since our foot+ of snow it's been terrible just trying to get out of one's driveway. I kid you not! I have been stuck in the street, 20 feet from home, doing the rock and roll drive, reverse, drive, swear under my breath deep breath, repeat.



9. Glad for trash removal! Yay! Dare I never take the sound of those loud trucks for granted again, as two weeks' worth of refuse and recycling have overtaken our home.



8. Glad for our neighborhood's Christmas party, which we moved to last night, rather than jamming it in before the 25th. We were all relaxed, and the kids were able to be mostly sequestered in a game/movie room whilst we had a cosmo or 2, played Catch Phrase (FUN! I hadn't played that before), and just caught up with each other.

7. Glad for an impromptu play date with some other neighbors. These 2 ladies and I are fond of each other, but aren't in each other's circles typically because of the ages of our children and their different schools. They have high schoolers, and I have an elemer and a jr higher. However, come December 23, and lots of snow and t.o.g.e.t.h.e.r.n.e.s.s. with our families before the holiday even began, we found ourselves a) running out of food, and b) running low on grace and good cheer. SO...we did what any other crazy folks do when desperate to get out of the house: we went to the mall. And then to the grocery store. And then to a Mexican place near home for frosty libations and spicy edibles. What should have been a "3 Hour Tour"--cue Gilligan music--took us over 5. But we didn't care a snap. Yeah, the grocery lines were Soviet Union Russia-esque, but we were thankful for the time to decompress, to giggle, and to survive all the traffic mishaps which came our way via icy parking lots and lumpy, bumpy streets.

6. Grateful for time to bake. I didn't make a whole ton of goodness, but since Drama Girl and I actually had the time, we took it. We made little mini loaves of orange-pumpkin bread, and orange zest shortbread cookies dipped in semi sweet chocolate to give to the neighbors (and to Santa). Apparently orange was a big baking theme for me...I think I had some extra clementines, so I zested them.

5. Glad for time to sew. I made a little table runner for my BFF, and liked it so much, I had to make myself one, too. :) Again, if the weather hadn't been prohibitive, I wouldn't have done this, so thank You, God, for the snow. And for the perspective that it's okay--and needed--to putter and to slow life down every now and then.

4. Glad for all the virtual and paper/photo Christmas greetings we received. I still haven't mailed all mine out. About 3/4 got sent, and then...the others...not. Oh, well. Neither our looks nor our news has changed that greatly since mid-December. :) They'll be mailed very soon.

3. Super glad I got to see Marley and Me. For a couple of reasons...first, I'm so happy to have been in a real theater, seeing a non-kid movie, that I could have jumped up and down. Not that I have anything against them--but for the last year, it's ALL I've seen in the theater (if and when I get to go). Secondly, I just loved that book so especially much, and wanted to see the movie. Of course the movie isn't as good, but they never are. It was very sweet and fun and I laughed and cried. Perfect for me.

2. My family very sweetly spoiled me for Christmas this year. While of course I enjoyed the gifts, what I loved most was the thoughtfulness which went into the shopping (especially by our leader: Drama Girl) for all my presents, down to the candy in my stocking. I showed Big Cheryl's post about what her hubby and she do for Christmas for each other, and I think he really took to heart that it doesn't matter what I get; I just want some thought and love to go into it.

1. Glad for a reboot for the New Year. Literally. We had a nasty virus in this computer. One that my information system techy-geek husband spent 8 hours fighting and then paid nearly $200 to be rid of with the help of another techy-geek. As we say around here...there's a special place in H-E-double hockey sticks for the person who did this. Glad for the reboot in attitude, too. While none of us likes to be w/o the computer, it's easy to see how addicted we are. I'd come into the office and sit down, ready to type, and only a blank screen would stare back. Very sobering. While I wouldn't call it idolatry...maybe I should...

What are you glad for today? I'm sure as heck glad that someone read to the end of this. :)

Blessings!!!! SDG!