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Appreciations
Appreciations March 26th: Shelter-in-place day 13 (Cannon balls and hot springs don’t mix)
Here is today’s round of goodness.
Playing pretend with Ida. We are the superhero team Aquamarine (me) and the Horse (Ida). Fortunately, all the villains in the world (our next mission per the president of superhero high) were all eating. It was lunch o’clock. AND we were joined by our faithful sideback, Luna. Phew! 😊
Rubber band that just happens to fall in a treble-cleffy sort of way.
Playing Catan with the family.
Sitting here typing this list and listening to Ida sing a song whose refrain is: “Cannon balls and hot springs don’t mix!”
Appreciations March 23rd: Shelter-in-place day 10
I didn’t post yesterday because it was my turn to be sad and scared and cry and stare at the wall for awhile. You get to do that, too, if you want or need to.
Today I’m okay again, so will post some goodies that keep me going. Sending love out to you all. This is a weird and scary time and we need all the kindness, care, and consideration we can get. And give. ❤️
Here are a few things I appreciate from the past couple days.
• Yesterday’s “Chalk Walk” and leaving messages of love and encouragement as we walked.
• Playing pretty much ALL the games with Ida while her mom was in a meeting.
• FaceTime walk with Ellis. Staying connected even though we’re miles apart. 😄
• Katie and Cina’s generous delivery service…Target order, co-op (we were out of fruit!!) AND coffee.
• Socially distanced walk wherein the girls did all the complicated backward walking so we could easily talk. So good to stay connected and safe at the same time. 💚
• Talking with my folks… I am so proud of them for learning to use FaceTime!!
Appreciations 4.161 – short and sweet
Some days I like to wax poetic when I do my appreciations. I never lack for people, experiences, and things to appreciate and it can be so fun to roll them around in my brain and see which pretty things float to the top. (Well, I think that’s how it works. I can’t actually see inside my head, so it might be a different sort of process…) Some days it is 9:15 and I am ready for sleep, so I just make a little list and go to bed. 😉
Snow.
My brothers.
A newly swept floor.
Appreciations 4.160 – BELIEVE
I love reading through last year’s appreciations. It’s so fun to remember last year’s fun — and to NOT remember it, sometimes! Last year, I appreciated Rufus. NO idea what that means! Hahaha! 😀
Longer days, warmer days, snowy days. How sweet to be able to taste the edges of spring while walking through a downy fluff of new snow.
Believe. I like the intentionality of it, the hint of hope and possibility. It reminds me of the quote (which is often attributed to Henry Ford, but versions of which date back to Virgil), “Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you are right.” So much of how we experience each day, each moment, is colored by our beliefs. I like that I can choose what I believe.
I also super like reading the history of quotes! quoteinvestigator.com
Appreciations 4.159 – good, good, good
Good work. Good friends. Good visits. Good night.
After a nice, solid day of work, I got to spend the evening with the Delaneys. So lovely! First dinner with Ellis and Ruby, then coloring, reading and cuddling with Ruby at bedtime.
After Ruby went to sleep, I had time to do Qi Gong, finish re-reading The Tao of Pooh and start reading The Journal of Best Practices: A Memoir of Marriage, Asperger Syndrome, and One Man’s Quest to Be a Better Husband, which seems like it’s going to be a great read.
Then, I got to enjoy a wonderful visit with Terri. Even got a few minutes to visit with Katie at the end of the day! What a brilliant night. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Appreciations 4.158 – lots of stuff!
Lots of sleeping in the past 24 hours – naps and waking up after 9 am this morning (which is practically unheard of for me!). I wonder if it has anything to do with starting Qi Gong. Interesting!
A nice unscheduled day yesterday. I only did 30 minutes of work work, so it was just like a day off. How nice to sleep, read, draw and relax. I also started batch #3 of soup. After talking with Pam, I decided to try adding mire poix to the soup this time. How fun to experiment with making food to see what I like. Isn’t it funny that I’ve never done this before?! I do love the way the house smells while I’m making soup. 🙂
Once the soup was going, I cooked sweet potatoes to eat with leftover chicken and made GF chocolate cake. It’s nice to have food and treats all set for the week!
Today’s word: whimsy. It makes me feel happy to think about it.
Wodehouse words, phrases, and sentences – some just for fun, a couple I had to look up:
cachexia
poltroon
bally
blighter
paroxysm
a beefy blow
…became involved in a bush
“Those oily-looking depths suggested the presence of frogs, newts, and other slimy things that work their way down a man’s back and behave clammily around his spine…”
Behave clammily. Ah hahahaha!
Spent more time than usual on FB yesterday. What funny, interesting, dear people you all are. I especially enjoyed Corinna’s conversation with her friends about the “Be like Bill” meme that’s going around. Her reactions we so much like mine (I find some of them funny and celebrate everyone who is enjoying them, but mostly they feel too narrow (m/f only for gender) and shaming for my taste.) I love the interesting, inspiring, thought-provoking things my friends post!
Here’s my version for today!
Appreciations 4.157 – luxury
Luxurious morning! Woke up at 5:30 and did Qi Gong. I love how it feels in the moment and I’m so excited to see what the long term effects will be when I’ve been doing it for awhile. Snuggled back under the covers, savoring thoughts of my sweet Saturday and pondering possibilities for today.
Got up and drew and wrote and colored while sipping delicious coffee. I love quiet time like this, with no time pressure, no deadlines or meetings or schedules to consider.
New rainbow piano socks from Pam. I love love love them! 😀
The openness of today. It’s been a long while since I’ve had a whole unscheduled day. I wonder what I’ll do!
Appreciations 4.156 – so many things (mostly people)
Ah ha ha – last year’s appreciation for this date – I don’t even know what it means! 100 bonus points if you read this AND know what the heck I was talking about!:
“…Most excellent game of the wolf/panda/bunny/telephone operator, the loving hand, and the tent. Hahaha!”
It’s probably some improv thing, but I seriously don’t remember. 😛
The excellent chart for choosing book titles posted by the Toronto Public Library. I LOVE that my book’s title is “Tender is the Ha Ha Ha (book one)”! Don’t you think I really should write that book? I kinda do!
Such a wonderful day of connecting with people! Started out with a short, but super sweet coffee time with Sara. So so so great to see her again!
Then, my first Qi Gong lesson. It was fantastic! So amazing and fun! I am excited to make this part of my days. So so so good. 😀
Then, a lovely visit with Pam. Oh, we have so much fun and talk about such wonderful things. My heart feels so full and happy after we visit!
I love the people in my life so very much. I am unbelievably lucky. 
Appreciations 4.155
Planning plans rather than outcomes. Oh, it makes things so easy. 😀
Really long, but productive work day. So many interesting projects to play with!!
Two great visits in one little day – time with Debb and Katie! Super fun!
Little multi-channel technochat with darling Pamela. Lucky me!
seriouslyhappy2.com 