Thanksgiving Challenge #7: A picture is worth...

Sometimes, words can not adequately convey gratitude. So I'm not even going to try.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone.

"Buddha"- Week 19

This is post is part of the October Thanksgiving Challenge. I will post a new Thank You blog post every day during the month of October. I encourage you to follow Kevin, the mastermind of this challenge at www.kevinolenick.wordpress.com and fellow blogger Natasha at www.naturalurbanmamas.com. And, if you're up to it, consider doing your own challenge, big or small, to remind yourself to focus on the many blessings in your life.  I've also added a slight 'writing' component to this month's challenge: No posts are to exceed 500 words.  

Thanksgiving Challenge #6: At your fingertips

Tonight, I would like to say thank you to the Internet. Though I typically have a love/hate relationship with all things technology, today I must really admit that the internet came through for me more times than not.

As a person who has a "need to know" personality, I am so glad that I only have distant and dim recollections of what life was like pre-google. And, while the hunting is a little more complex than it used to be, and requires a huge amount of sifting through the rubbish, the ability to access the most up to date research, knowledge, and expert opinions on any topic that strikes my fancy makes me unbelievably happy!

So while I may not always show it- or remember it- many thanks to the forefathers that brought us this beautiful worldwide playground web of information.  This knowledge seeker is truly grateful.

This is post is part of the October Thanksgiving Challenge. I will post a new Thank You blog post every day during the month of October. I encourage you to follow Kevin, the mastermind of this challenge at www.kevinolenick.wordpress.com and fellow blogger Natasha at www.naturalurbanmamas.com. And, if you're up to it, consider doing your own challenge, big or small, to remind yourself to focus on the many blessings in your life.  I've also added a slight 'writing' component to this month's challenge: No posts are to exceed 500 words.  

Thanksgiving Challenge #5: Rest for the weary

A bit of a break away from the "thank you" posts focusing on specific people, today's post is focusing on one very simple, but very real life luxury: The long weekend.

I've had one hell of a few months, and I feel like I haven't slept in years. My mind, my body and my soul need to relax and unwind...and while this may or may not happen this weekend, one thing is for sure: my house will finally get cleaned.

So tonight, I am grateful for having one extra day this weekend to catch up on some desperately needed housework and- if husband and child are so willing- maybe even an extra hour or two of sleep.

Government Of Canada- I salute you and your "holidays".

This is post is part of the October Thanksgiving Challenge. I will post a new Thank You blog post every day during the month of October. I encourage you to follow Kevin, the mastermind of this challenge at www.kevinolenick.wordpress.com and fellow blogger Natasha at www.naturalurbanmamas.com. And, if you're up to it, consider doing your own challenge, big or small, to remind yourself to focus on the many blessings in your life.  I've also added a slight 'writing' component to this month's challenge: No posts are to exceed 500 words.  

Thanksgiving Challenge #4: The Yin to my Yang

Balance. 

It's one of those words we talk about a lot, but most of us seem to always be seeking it in one way or another. 

Every day, in every way, we strive to find that perfect equilibrium where everything sits "just right".  

I am not a master of 'balance'.  I seem to always throw myself from one extreme to the other- and sometimes to both extremes at the same time. I take on too much, and then desperately struggle to get it all done. I spend weeks over exerting myself socially, only to take a month (or six) of hibernation to recover. Doing things in moderation has simply never been my strong suit. 

But there is one place in my life where I have struck a perfect chord; one area where I sit back, look at my "accomplishments" and think to myself "this is good". 

I have awesome friends. 

I know everyone thinks that they have awesome friends- and for their sakes, I hope that they are right. All I can say is that the little circle that I have stumbled into, either by luck or Divine Intervention, is pretty damn phenomenal. 

And they are all different from each other.  This is what makes it all work so well. 

From some I find humour, from others I find emotional/spiritual kinship. From some I find tremendous intellectual stimulation, and from others I am relieved that they offer me a pseudo escape from the "heavy thinking" and that we are able to just enjoy simplicity. 

Each and everyone is unique, and together, they form a perfect mix. 

But when it comes to balance, there is one friend that stands out the most in my mind.  She is that special breed of friend who doesn't only fulfill one or two of my 'social needs'.  No, instead- on any given day, and in every possible way- she finds a way to fulfill all of them. 

Every hour spent with her is spent sharing laughter, sharing deep conversation, sharing the 'fluffy stuff' and the deeply personal and intimate.  She is the perfect person to vent to, but also the perfect shoulder to cry on.  She is always ecstatic to hear good news, and seems to always have the perfect words to ease my troubled mind in times of fear or sadness. 

On the surface, many would say that we have nothing in common. And they would be right.  She's all "Backstreet Boys" and "Disneyland" and I'm all "Metallica" and political debates. Thankfully, our friendship extends far beyond 'the surface'.  In our hearts, we're too peas in a pod because we're both people who desperate need a sense of harmony. Together, we form a statis in which the world simply makes more sense. 

She's the yin to my yang. And believe me when I say that my yang needs a lot of yin.

For that, and so much more, I'll be forever thankful to my wonderful friend, Erie. 

*word count: 492

This is post is part of the October Thanksgiving Challenge. I will post a new Thank You blog post every day during the month of October. I encourage you to follow Kevin, the mastermind of this challenge at www.kevinolenick.wordpress.com and fellow blogger Natasha at www.naturalurbanmamas.com. And, if you're up to it, consider doing your own challenge, big or small, to remind yourself to focus on the many blessings in your life.  I've also added a slight 'writing' component to this month's challenge: No posts are to exceed 500 words.  

Catch Up Post: Thanksgiving Challenge #3: Conor

I know that I'm posting this a day late, so it'll be a double header for me tonight.

In my defense, I had a 16 hour work day yesterday, and was up for about 20 hours total. That's not easy to do when you're riding the Hyperemisis Gravidarum train in your 18th week of pregnancy. Also, I was away from an internet connection for the vast majority of the day and up to my arms making chili for 150 people the rest of it. So blogging was not at the top of my list!

That being said, I did think an awful lot about what I would write, if I were able to write my post.

It was a pretty obvious one.

As I wrap up my second season of the market, I owe a great big "Thank You" to my best friend, Conor.

I use the term best friend relatively loosely here. There are many people that I've used the term with, and each of them in their own way is deserving of the title.  But with Conor, the truth is that it just doesn't go far enough.

Conor is more than a best friend.

Conor has been- for the past seven years- like a sibling to me. In some ways, like a veritable part of who I am.

Through every life experience, for better or for worse, Conor has been there- the rock in my life who has never once given up on me.

I've had friends go out of their way for me. I've had friends sacrifice a lot. But I have NEVER known a person who gives of himself so willingly.

The Market is only one example of Conor's friendship and dedication.  For the past two summers (about 20 weeks each year), Conor has spent almost every Wednesday by my side.  He has weathered storms, gruelling winds, treacherous suns, hail and threats of tornadoes.  Every Wednesday, he drove from Spruce Grove to my Edmonton home, to baby sit my child until my mom got off work and relieved him. Then he would haul his butt over to the market grounds, where he would proceed to spend the next five hours volunteering by my side.

And when I started to feel like I was the only one who "understood" the operations of the market and wished that someone else at the Board had more direct, hands-on experience, he signed himself up for Board meetings and gave of his time and energy on that front too.

I estimate his total contribution over the past two years to be around 500 hours. That's a lot of unpaid labour. In work hours, we're talking about over $15,000.00.

Does he care about the market? Yes. It's hard not to after putting your blood, sweat and tears into a project for two years.

But did he do it because it was his passion?  No.

He did it for me.

And there's no thank you big enough for that kind of friendship.

*word count: 499

This is post is part of the October Thanksgiving Challenge. I will post a new Thank You blog post every day during the month of October. I encourage you to follow Kevin, the mastermind of this challenge at www.kevinolenick.wordpress.com and fellow blogger Natasha at www.naturalurbanmamas.com. And, if you're up to it, consider doing your own challenge, big or small, to remind yourself to focus on the many blessings in your life.  I've also added a slight 'writing' component to this month's challenge: No posts are to exceed 500 words.  

Thanksgiving Challenge #2: Silly Songs

There are about a hundred and fifty million thousand posts I could write about why I'm thankful for my husband, Jason.  I'm sure I could fill an entire library on this topic alone. But since I've committed myself to keeping my posts to 500 words or less, I'll have to stick to one reason at a time and keep the gushiness short and sweet.

Today, I want to thank my husband for his silly songs.

Anyone who has spent a lot of time with Jason and I knows that we are tad on the sentimental side. We're one of those couples who sincerely mean it when we say "I married my best friend". There is no one on the planet I would rather spend time with than Jason; through good times and through bad, he is my number one "go to" person.

But this morning, I'm feeling especially grateful for my husband. Nothing incredibly out of the ordinary happened, except that we both woke up unusually early and actually got some morning snuggles in before work.  Seeing as I was up already, I figured that I should get some work in before the little man woke up, so I got up, showered and got ready alongside my love.

What made this morning special wasn't the extra hugs. It wasn't even the warm cup of coffee that was brought to my bedside. What made it special was that, for the first time in a long time, we got to sing our silly songs to each other.  These songs used to form part of our everyday morning routine before our schedules changed dramatically. There's a half dozen of them, and we sing them throughout the day. But there was something ridiculously awesome about being able to start my morning off with my husband singing about his "shaking tooshie", and his "fuzzy belly", and our "silly Sammie".

I was reminded that, along with his kindness, his gentleness, his brilliance and his attractiveness, one of the things that most drew me to my husband has always been his humour. I'm so glad that, on the eve of celebrating 7 years together, we've kept a little bit of the 'silly' magic alive.

There's nothing like laughter to keep a marriage together.

*word count: 375

This is post is part of the October Thanksgiving Challenge. I will post a new Thank You blog post every day during the month of October. I encourage you to follow Kevin, the mastermind of this challenge at www.kevinolenick.wordpress.com and fellow blogger Natasha at www.naturalurbanmamas.com. And, if you're up to it, consider doing your own challenge, big or small, to remind yourself to focus on the many blessings in your life.  I've also added a slight 'writing' component to this month's challenge: No posts are to exceed 500 words.  

October Thanksgiving Challenge

I'm embarking on a new monthly challenge for the month of October.

After only encountering moderate success in my September challenge (I missed a few posts, not for lack of writing but because I lacked the courage to post what I had a written...I'm working on bringing those back up in the future, when I feel braver and more comfortable in my 'writer's skin'), I am ready to tackle the month of October with a renewed sense of positivity and humility.

October, being the month of Thanksgiving, has always been a time of love, family and friendship in my life.  Many of my dearest friends have their birthdays in October, including my brother, and I feel that it perfectly sets the tone for the Christmas season which is soon to fall upon us...(But not TOO SOON, Walmart...!)

Kevin Olenik, a Calgary-based blogger that I recently started following threw out this question to his readers last week: "Agree or Disagree: People Need To Say Thank You More". This post really struck a chord with me, as I have spent a great deal of time lately reflecting on the many blessings and joys in my life.  In this post, Kevin challenged himself to a "31 Days of Thankfulness" challenge, during which he will write a post of 'thanks' a day for the entire month of October.  After a particularly stressful September, I have decided to join him on this journey of gratefulness.

So today's post, my first of this challenge is a Thank You to Kevin, for the inspiration to start this journey as well and for having the courage to stand up and say that we all could use a little more Thank You in our lives.

This is post is part of the October Thanksgiving Challenge. I will post a new Thank You blog post every day during the month of October. I encourage you to follow Kevin, the mastermind of this challenge at www.kevinolenick.wordpress.com and to consider doing your own challenge, big or small, to remind yourself to focus on the many blessings in your life.  I've also added a slight 'writing' component to this month's challenge: No posts are to exceed 500 words.