Grace in Small Things: 7 of 365

Oh it has been so long since I started this.  In the meantime, there have been many small things and many days and many friends, family and events I have appreciated and loved.  Too many to list.  But I'm starting again today.



Things I am appreciating today:

1.  Hot water and heat, after going more than 30 hours without natural gas, and the gas company who worked to restore service when every single home/business in our town was without. 
 
2.  The friendliness, love, acceptance and inclusion of extended family members, each of whom mean more to our little family than they know.  And they are wonderful cooks!  

3.  The generosity of various people around town who let us have pallets which allowed us to build a wonderful chicken coop for less money than we had planned on.

4.  Reconnecting with dear old friends from far away lands, and enabling further reconnection between them.

 

For this cowgirl's feelings about and inspiration for this, go here.
Here are all of this cowgirl's Grace in Small Things posts to date.
For more information, go here: Grace in Small Things: A Challenge for All of Us.

Grace in Small Things: 6 of 365

Things I am appreciating today:

1. My Dad, who taught me how to work with tools and wood, who is guiding me through installing drawer pulls and door knobs, whether he realizes it or not!

2. My Mom, who has enough faith in my sense of color to go with paint choices I recommended to her from 1600 miles away, and who actually likes the results!

3. My Dad (again), and Number One's Dad, who both contributed helpful information and long-distance tips to our successful installation of the island sink.

4. Catherine, who is an amazing artist and friend of the family, for coming to the ranch a day early to help get ready for H-Bomb's birthday party, bring sushi and wine and even washing the windows!

5. All of our friends who attended H-Bomb's party, making his day special and fun, and the family and friends who were with us in spirit.

For this cowgirl's feelings about and inspiration for this, go here.
Here are all of this cowgirl's Grace in Small Things posts to date.
For more information, go here: Grace in Small Things: A Challenge for All of Us.

Grace in Small Things: 5 of 365

I am forcing myself to do this today, because I am sad and concerned about four of my friends/relatives who are all going through serious health problems at the same time, and I am hoping they all come through okay. There isn't much I can do for any of them except send positive energy, so let's cultivate some of that, shall we?

Things I am appreciating today:

1. My health, both physical and mental, as well as the health of my boys, husband, and all of our parents.

2. The new swamp cooler that we installed along with the addition on our old house.

3. The knowledge that our days in this three-room bunkhouse are coming to an end.

4. Number One, who painted a second coat on the ceiling so I could paint the walls while he is on the mountain this weekend.

5. Our garden, which grows bigger by the day, and which very soon will have fresh, ripe tomatoes!

For this cowgirl's feelings about and inspiration for this, go here.
Here are all of this cowgirl's Grace in Small Things posts to date.
For more information, go here: Grace in Small Things: A Challenge for All of Us.

Grace in Small Things: 4 of 365

Man, it has been a long time, but I will keep my word and accomplish this. Eventually!

Things I am appreciating today:

1. My powerful, shiny orange lawn mower I got for my birthday last year.

2. My boys who are just old enough and quite responsible enough to play unattended and not get into trouble while I mow the lawn.

3. My father-in-law and step-mother-in-law who are wonderful and thoughtfully booked a trip for all of us to a luxury resort this weekend.

4. My husband who can make me laugh about things that bug me but really need to be laughed at.

5. A freshly-mowed, green oasis in the middle of the desert, and enough irrigation water to keep it that way.

For this cowgirl's feelings about and inspiration for this, go here.
Here are all of this cowgirl's Grace in Small Things posts to date.
For more information, go here: Grace in Small Things: A Challenge for All of Us.

Grace in Small Things: 3 of 365

Things I am appreciating today:

1. My mom, who used to make fabulous birthday cakes for me and my brother, and who taught/inspired me to make fabulous birthday cakes for my two boys.

2. Number One, who took both boys to school/town yesterday so I had time and peace and quiet enough to make a fabulous Curious George cake.

3. Sawed Off, The Three-Year-Old, who asked me late last night if his friends could come over and eat frosting with him. With spoons.

4. H-Bomb, the Big Brother who, after spending the day running around in capes and masks with his little brother, hung up his cape and neatly set aside his mask at bedtime when I told him that good superheros take care of their costumes.

5. Good friends and family who gather to celebrate a little boy's birthday with joy and excitement.

For this cowgirl's feelings about and inspiration for this, go here.
Here are all of this cowgirl's Grace in Small Things posts to date.
For more information, go here: Grace in Small Things: A Challenge for All of Us.

Grace in Small Things: 2 of 365

Day 2, taking a break from moving to accomplish some tasks.

These are what I am appreciating today:

1. A large, farm kitchen table on which to knead another batch of sourdough bread for 10 whole minutes.

2. A woman with the same name as my grandmother, who works at the Mercantile, who told me that some old ladies prefer to rip fabric as opposed to cut it. Ripping flannel is as therapeutic as kneading bread. And it's fast and fun! Thank you, Pauline.

3. The ability and the time to bake a good loaf of bread and make a nice flannel quilt, to nourish my family and bestow gifts on our dear friends.

4. The boys, again, who this afternoon were so anxious to go outside that they actually worked together and both got dressed, H-Bomb helping Sawed Off, all by themselves!

5. Little boys who truly believe that breaking open small egg-shaped rocks (one after another after another) will eventually lead to the hatching of a baby dinosaur.



For more information, go here: Grace in Small Things: A Challenge for All of Us.

Grace in Small Things: 1 of 365

A random person named Kelly commented on my recipe blog, The Bad Girl's Kitchen, the other day. I decided to check out her blog, where I found a post called "Grace in Small Things: part 24 of 365." There followed a list of 5 items.

Intrigued, I scrolled down to see what this "grace" thing was all about. And I found this link: "Grace in Small Things: A Challenge for All of Us." And I immediately identified (with discomfiture, I might add) with this blogger, this "Schmutzie" who wrote,

"I tend to bristle at the idea of imposing anything remotely pollyannaish on myself as a regular practice..."

I admit, I do try to be more positive than negative, and sometimes, it actually works. So perhaps the statement above is a bit, well, extreme, for me at least. Or at least it is extreme for the person I wish and try hard to be...now for the person I used to be, that is another story.

I, along with millions of you it seems, have found a great source of inspiration in Nie, but I must confess that I, personally, have lacked the initiative to implement her sense of joy and gratefulness on a daily basis, without some sort of extra push.

So anyway, I thought this would be a great idea, a daily reminder that there are many things for which one should be grateful. Just recognizing these things may bring more good things, and add to the positive energy and appreciation that is sometimes lacking in this cowgirl's life.

Schmutzie writes, "The world we live in is loud and harsh and bright and demanding, and it is easy to slide into a less than thoughtful survival mode in which we do what we have to do to make it through the day with the least amount of strife possible. This robs us of the time and energy to be mindful of ourselves and those we love and to recognize the grace that exists in small things.

It is with this thought that I am beginning one year of posts called "Grace In Small Things". Every day for 365 days, I will post a list of five things that have graced my life, either on that day or at any time in my life."

For me, with two young boys and a 70-mile round trip commute 5 days/week, I just can't commit to every single day. Thus, there may be some days with no "Grace" posts, but I will commit to 365 posts total. Eventually. I will get there.

And so it begins:

1. My boys: H-Bomb, who fried his very first breakfast egg this morning (basted it, no less), and Sawed Off, who just came in from outside and snuggled and fell asleep in my arms.

2. My husband, Number One, who just carved two horse head shelf brackets to hold H-Bomb's books in our temporary abode.

3. The bunkhouse itself, for being available and cozy and rustic, and encouraging us to downsize and purge and organize to fit our family within its walls.

4. A bedroom big enough to showcase our hand-carved king-size bed rather than confine and restrict it.

5. The sunshine today that, despite the cold temperatures, holds the promise of spring.