Christmas Eve Eve

1. I am grateful I was able to clean my room today. It looks a lot better.
2. I'm grateful my daughter wants to learn how to make Christmas Candy from me. We made toffee tonight. She likes it when it's grainy and soft. Most of the time i make it it doesn't turn out, but she likes it anyway.
3. I'm having fun listening to "The Robe" by Lloyd C. Douglas. This is is a good time of year to listen or read that story. I checked it out from the Pioneer Digital Library.
4. I'm grateful I've had a week off of work. Although, i can't say it was a take-it-easy week. I worked harder physically than I have for awhile. Now I'm very worn out which isn't a good thing. Sometimes it takes me longer to recuperate than I'd like.
5. Grateful I found some money today while cleaning...a substantial amount.
6. Grateful that Chris's heart slowed down today. He's having issues again. Also grateful for Dr. Hooker at Utah Valley who takes good care of the inmates ... and the ailing deputies too. Grateful I didn't have an ER visit today nor an ER visit co-pay.

1. I'm thankful I slept well last night. Some nights I don't.
2. I'm thankful that I only have two more days of work this week. But yesterday was busy. I hope I can keep up today. Why is it always like that right before a break?
3. Grateful for my nice warm house, especially on a cold night.
4. I'm thankful Jessica's project for ASL seemed to go together well. Even though she wanted to put ME into the video to. :-) She was "talking" about me in ASL and then had to have me show up on the video too.
5. I'm grateful I get paid today. Sweet!

1. I enjoyed driving through the neighborhood last night with Jessica. We enjoyed the lights and decorations. The frosty-the-snowmen reminded me of Grisham's "Skipping Christmas." It helps to remind ourselves once in awhile that Christmas is more than trying to keep up with the neighbors.

2. I'm glad that Chris has some overtime shifts this month. I miss having him around, but the extra money in December is always welcome.

3. I'm glad the county commissioners agreed to have no layoffs. That's always nice to hear right at Christmastime.

4. I enjoyed our work party yesterday. It was a mini-reunion of sorts with those I used to work more closely with who are now working in other groups. Thanks Angel for putting it together. The lasagna completely disappeared too.

5. I'm grateful I have a dependable vehicle to drive. I know it needs some attention, but it still runs. It does like the garage better than sitting in the driveway. Jessica calls the van "Vanessa."

6. Clam Chowder was yummy for dinner last night. I'm glad Chris enjoys it.

7. I had fun listening to FM 100.3 while making dinner. It plays Christmas music all the time. I usually get annoyed with all the repeats of the same ol' Christmas songs. This station plays a wider variety.

1. I am glad I didn't blog last night between 6:30 and 7pm. I was NOT happy. Jessica's call time at the school ended up being earlier than I expected...and traffic was bad on the freeway. I got her dropped off then went to the school at 7pm to pick her up...only to find her still performing. Mary, from the front office, let me in the front door and suggested I sit on the bench in the Commons area (even though it was a faculty party.) I had a great time listening to the choir sing. The acoustics were amazing .... and left my soul singing for joy! How I LOVE Christmas music!!

2. We hit our final milestone at work and will ship our product before Christmas. I'm grateful that we've reached our goal.

3. I'm glad that my batch of lasagna last night turned out ok (Sunday's batch didn't do so well). I hope mom and dad are home this morning so I can cook it in their oven before our party at work during lunch.

4. I'm glad all of Jessica's performances are complete for the year. She can now focus on homework and projects due before Friday.

5. There is snow on the ground, and although it was icy driving to work...it feels more like Christmas.

1. Spent the day making lasagna...only to have it turn out runny. It tasted good but just wasn't right. I'm grateful that Chris did the dishes for me. I'm also grateful that Jessica and Justin ate dinner.
2. Enjoyed choir practice this afternoon. We're singing one of my all-time favorites "What Child is This" next week. We're also singing a nice arrangement of We Three Kinds and Carol of the Bells called "Bell Carol of the Kings."
3. Enjoyed a nice visit with my mom on the phone tonight.
4. Have a pretty good idea for my sister's Christmas present. Mom thought it was a good idea too. I need to get busy now. My siblings decided that we'd exchange gifts, but we can't spend any money on it. It has to be made, re-gifted, or whatever from something we have on hand. That leaves it wide open if we have a lot of unfinished projects.

Can I be grateful for other people's blessings?
5. I'm grateful that Rachel is living with Mom and Dad and can help them out. Especially right now.
6. I'm also grateful that Mom can be at home to help take care of dad. Chemo was kind of rough on him this week.
7. I'm also grateful that they have insurance to help pay for all the medical treatments.
8. I'm grateful I don't live far from Mom and Dad. I can see them on a regular basis.

1. I'm tired. I did a lot today and I'll probably pay for it tomorrow. But I'm grateful I had a TON of help to clean the church this morning.
2. I had fun seeing the kids at the ward Christmas breakfast this morning. I had fun seeing the big kids too. (ie: adults.)
3. I had fun seeing the lunar eclipse this morning.
4. I'm grateful I have a good start on the three batches of Lasagna I need to make. I cooked sausage, grated the cheese, and made sauce. Tomorrow I can put them together. I think I did most of the work tonight. We'll eat one tomorrow for dinner, I need one on Tuesday for a work party, and one next week for Book Club.
5. I had fun watching the kids at Smith's Marketplace "Shop-with-a-Cop" this morning. The delight on their faces was worth the scare I had this morning when I heard the sirens.
6. I'm grateful Justin gets off work in a few minutes. Then I can go to bed.

FRIDAY!

1. I'm glad it's Friday.
2. I love the weather. Blue skies and no precipitation. No wind either.
3. I'm glad Chris was off work today so he could run the kids around.
4. I had a productive week.
5. Finished the book The Templar Legacy. I'm in the middle of reading The Secret Garden ... which is a much happier book to read. Both on the Kindle...the Templar Legacy as a digital library check out. The Secret Garden was a free download.
6. I'm glad I can get the employee discount with Justin's work. Today is a nice sale. :-) It sure helps with Christmas purchases!!
7. It's FRIDAY!! (oh, did I already say that?)

Dec 8

1. I'm glad yesterday was extra busy at work. It makes the time go by quickly.
2. I'm glad Justin likes pizza. It makes it easy to feed him.
3. I'm glad Jessica could sing with the ladies at Relief Society last night. We sang "Breath of Heaven" as a three part women's choir.
4. I enjoy seeing the lights around town.
5. I'm grateful that it's not quite as cold this morning. It's either that, or I'm getting used to it. My skin is terribly itchy though ... so maybe it's still adjusting to the weather changes.
6. I'm glad I have a paying job. There are so many who don't.
7. I'm glad that there are ladies in the ward who love to decorate for Christmas.... and invite us over to enjoy their home. Thank you!
8. I'm grateful Chris found my Volcano II storage bag. It has several items that I need. I bought a new book a few months ago about the Volcano II. Now I can give it a try...but maybe when the weather gets a little warmer.
9. I'm glad Chris is home for a few days. A week on graveyards each month makes us appreciate each other all the more.

Next Day

1. I'm glad that no one noticed the mis-matched pair of earrings I wore all day yesterday. Although, that might explain the funny look one of the development managers gave me at work.

2. I'm glad that my new coat FINALLY arrived. it's wool and warm! And it's been COLD outside!

3. I'm glad I got 8 hours of sleep.

4. I'm grateful I have paid vacation. I have two weeks off over the Christmas break.

5. I'm grateful Jeremy saved his receipts. His alternator went out and was able to get a replacement since it was still under warranty.

6. I'm grateful I work indoors especially on days when it's cold outside.

Gratitude Journal

I'm going to take this blog a different route. I've enjoyed reading "Gratitude Journals" in a blog and I will try to post something every day. I could split the blog off, but don't see why ... i don't write here much anyway.

1. I'm glad that I went to the Lehi Christmas Choir Concert last night. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was fun to see the show choir "Encore" and Jessica performing along with them.

2. I'm grateful my mom and sister Rachel made it to the concert too. I wish dad could have been there, but I'm grateful he was well enough to allow mom and Rachel to attend too.

3. I'm grateful that Jeremy is home this morning and can help get Justin to work at 9am. Chris can pick him up at 2pm. This means that I don't have to run home and transport him back and forth. I appreciate the help.

4. I'm thankful that Jessica is done with "Big." I get to see her a little bit more around home now.

5. I'm excited that Jessica's choir teacher wants to work with her a little more. Her voice is "big" but she wants to help it become "bigger." :-)

6. I'm amazed at the talent of Jessica's choir teacher. She is amazing with her musical talents. She can sight read piano music...which in itself amazes me.

7. Jessica amazes me with her musical abilities, talents, and knowledge. She has surpassed my musical knowledge and abilities.

8. I enjoyed seeing the snow-capped mountains last night as we drove to the high school. They nearly glowed in the lighting and brought joy to my heart.

9. I had fun watching Jessica and Brendon last night at Arctic Circle. I took them there after the concert. They are such good friends and enjoy being with each other. I asked Brendon if he was going to the boys-choice dance this weekend. He told me how he asked Ashley and how she replied. I also heard about Alex C. asking Rachel S. They're all in my ward and are all good kids.