Appreciations 4.293-4.295

293

  • Decent sleep and no nightmares.
  • Morning coffee with Debb… just like the old days. πŸ˜€
  • Silver linings — like getting an additional 2500 steps in while looking for what we needed (including someone to help us find what we needed) at Menards.

294

  • Yummy dinner and reminiscing with Debb. Oh, what a fun visit!
  • Good hand lotion.
  • Raspberries.

295

  • Side steps demolition complete! Hot, sweaty work (done mostly by Mckenzie!), but satisfying, too. Lots of work for my right tricep! πŸ˜‰
  • Levers of all kinds, especially pry bars, hammer heads, and arms!
  • WD40.
  • Ice water.
  • Air conditioning!
  • Cool showers.

Appreciations 4.292

Gorgeous weather.

Walk to Royal Grounds and coffee with Katie.

Delicious dinner with Debb & Katie.

IMG_4431Sweet after-dinner walk with Katie — and the friendliest cat in the neighborhood! This little kitty has come with us on several walks and purrs and purrs and purrs…and comes really close to me every time I try to take a photo.

Appreciations 4.291 – back on the grid

Getting back up after a few down days.

The joy of preparing Pillsbury Plaza for Debb’s visit. So. Much. Fun. Thanks for the help and inspiration, Mckenzie, Katie, and Cina!

Last night’s side-splitting giggle fest with Debb when we took a selfie to share with Libby for her birthday. Happy birthday, cuz!! We even channeled Aunt Barb’s silent laugh and Ivan’s foot-stomping, knee-slapping laugh! It’s all in the family. πŸ˜‰

Appreciations 4.288-290

sunglasses-squadBeing part of the sunglasses squad. I like these people so much!

The way the air smells outside after a rain.

Walking.

Amazing gardens near me. I love that so many neighbors’ front yards are all or mostly garden! 42nd garden.JPG

Breathing.

Finding pools of calm and joy even during darker days.

Beautiful friends reaching out to see how I’m doing.

funky treeThe cool variety of trees the city’s planted to replace the lost elms. Hooray biodiversity.

Sunshine.

Rain.

Wind.

Appreciations 4.287 – magnificent human beings

Oh my wonderful, darling clients. I am continually amazed at my good fortune to get to work with such magnificent human beings. πŸ˜€

Debb's giftDennis’s sweet, funny card, and Debb’s sweet surprise gift that came in the mail today! Remember those magnificent human beings I told you about?! It’s not just my clients. ❀

Great gullywashing rain. What fun to sit on my couch and watch it come down!

Appreciations 4.286 – dinosaurs!

Coffee and cats in the morning. ❀

TinosaurAll the sense-treats from a walk through my neighborhood. So many delicious smells and sounds and sights. In one little walk this evening I passed a butterfly habitat in progress, people riding a tandem bike, kids playing catch, someone practicing saxophone, about a dozen little free libraries, and, of course, a tiny dinosaur (the dreaded tinosaur). πŸ˜€ I also love the fun mix of single-family homes, apartments, and cool independent shops. I love my neighborhood!

Tea and tabbies at bedtime. ❀

Appreciations 4.285 – dreamy sleep

7+ hours of sleep! Hooray! As I was in that dreamy, just-about-to-sleep state, I giggled to myself, thinking, “Oh, yay! I’m falling asleep!!” Haha!

Luna and her non-existent sense of personal space. Eeek! πŸ˜€

Past Diana who made a whole bunch of chicken stock and put it in the freezer — so today’s Diana could just throw in a bunch of veggies for a quick and tasty soup. Thanks, smartie!

Switching out my old habit of calling myself mean names for my new habit of calling myself fun names like smartie, sweetie, and hot stuff. Hahaha!

Appreciations 4.284 – garden therapy

Aha, sleep you funny, fickle friend. Got to sleep before 5 am, at least!Β Sticking Tongue Out Smiley Sure is interesting being up in the middle of the night. I like the stillness of it…though I’m willing to miss out on that most of the time. πŸ˜‰

NiceΒ  chat with Laura during our drive today (thank you!). She’s so much fun! I always learn something new (like using recycled concrete for landscaping projects!) and we always find stuff to laugh about. Today’s topics included all the projects we have going – native plants, paths, and patios. πŸ™‚

I am really loving the time Mckenzie and I spend working on the yard every night. Today’s cooler temps were a welcome switch from last night’s buggy mugginess. ❀ Front yard is really starting to shape up… We have 4 big bags of weeds from just the past two days alone. Yowsa!

Garden maniGarden therapy=garden hands. Very satisfying on all levels. πŸ˜€

Appreciations 4.283

9 hours of sleep! Woohoo! Doesn’t quite get me caught up from the previous night, but sure felt like a little miracle. πŸ™‚

Nicely balanced day with work work, errands, and yard work.

Working with Mckenzie to take plants from Sarah’s yard (thank you, Sarah!!) and plant them in ours. We are finding that we can get so much done in just an hour or two of work each night. Our yard looks better and better each day!

Appreciations 4.282 – surreal night, sunny day

All the many, many nights when I get to sleep before 6:30 am (and therefore get more than 2 1/2 hours of sleep)! What a surreal, strange night. It was nice to get some cleaning done during the middle of the night… and wake up having already logged more than 2,000 steps for the day. Hahaha!

Are You Sure?Today’s mindfulness reminder sign. It will be fun to play with this question and see how that affects things.

Lovely visit this morning with Sarah and Ida. Our first walk up to the farmer’s market for the season, and then chatting with neighbors and introducing them to the Duncan girls on our way home.

Another nice visit with my folks and Jeni and Jeff. We (and by we, I mean my dad and Jeff. I am too short for this project.) fixed my outside light and the guys also talked logistics of repairing (and by repairing, I mean rebuilding) my side steps. I’ll help with the labor, but I’ll leave the planning up to the engineering experts. πŸ™‚

Okay, this one was from last year’s appreciations for today, but I am super appreciating it again! How fun in the first place, and how fun to remember it today: The guy directing traffic in the liquor store parking lot who was dressed up in pantaloons and a plumed hat, and did awesome fancy-dancy moves to direct the cars. ❀