Feeling Thankful...in a nutshell

Felling VERY thankful for...

1) Friday.....and I'm not on call this weekend...need I say more :-)

2) A recent wonderful email from my lovely Grandparents, 80 years young and going strong. My Grandma Sheila has gotten wonderful news from Stanford that the carcinoid, (a form of cancer) she has been fighting is under control! Still a daily battle for her, but such great news for the best Grandma you could ask for!
3)These two lovely boys. Forrest with his smiles, growing vocabulary which is primarily positive and loving, and crazy spirit, (takes some getting used to, but still wonderful!)  Having a conversation with Forrest is wonderful. Sure there are still aggression issues, obedience issues, etc, but he is becoming a person. A person full of ideas, mostly good, nice, and thoughtful ones. When he will converse with you, he is a small amazing human being. We read books together every night and he LOVES this. He snuggles in your lap and we read and read until bedtime sneaks past us. Very thankful for these moments!

And Talin, my wonderful blue-eyed baby. I NEED him to stay a baby just for a while longer! I love his little baby feet and toes, his joyous expressions at the simplest things, (a spoon sends him over the moon!) Life is wonderful when so simple. I have had several of my wiser patients tell me I should hug him extra hard, as their babies are all grown up and have babies and grand babies of their own and there is "truly nothing like a baby to make you smile". I agree. He is really amazing. To hear this from an 80 year old who has fought breast cancer, an invasive belly surgery, and a broken hip all in the same year....well....you tend to listen. Savoring these moments as much as I can as he is now a mobile baby, scooting around, and full of smiles, laughs, baby language, and "mamamamamamamamamamamamaaaaaaa"   :-) :-) :-) 



4) My hubby, hard working, fish catching, wonderful partner. He is also a happy camper as his steelehead have shown face and he has been catching dozens of the fishies down at our beach and up river, (as witnessed by the last post...) A break in the grueling firewood routine by a few hours of fishing can really lift the spirits!!! He has been amazing in picking up the loose ends, be it dishes, laundry, or kiddie detail, he is there!!! I love him SO much!

5) For my body. I'm working on it....trying to mold it back into decent shape after two babies and lots of physical inactivity have left it pretty weak. I truly believe if I had never been a rower in college, and therefore not known what good shape our human body could be in, I wouldn't be so motivated to try and make it STRONG again. Maybe not college rower strong, but strong enough for this mama to chase after her boys, for her to keep up with a good garden, to kayak the river, to run or ride a race if she felt so inclined, and, most importantly, for her to feel truly happy. I do now completely realize that my happiness and therefore my thankfulness, really does stem from a strong body...
So therefore, it's in the works, a few workouts at a time, (the goal is 4 a week), and a LOT of sore muscles, ( and I mean a lot....I kind of doubt my abs will ever get back to the way they were! Sculling crunches...what is that? I would be happy to do 10) I hope we will get there one day. I'm just happy for the opportunity at the moment. Opportunity means goals get achieved. It will happen....

"Worry less. Smile more. Accept criticism & failure. Appreciate. Listen. Don't hate. Love deeply. Embrace change. Take chances. Be thankful."

                                                                                    -unknown