My Top Ten Gratitude List

10. A long walk with my dog from my aunt’s house to downtown and back.
9. Time to do the exercises my personal trainer gave me for the road.
8. A serene view of perfectly painted old houses with swirling smoke from their chimneys in front of the hills during my morning meditations.
7. Time to shop at an uncrowded, friendly Safeway while eating a cranberry scone.
6. A dry, uncrowded freeway getting here – not bad for November in the Rockies.
5. Time alone driving and eating and reading and sleeping, enough time to miss my hubby so I was glad to see him when he got here last night.
4. A laptop he gave me and fixed so I can use it for work and program.
3. Time to sit at a Starbucks with my laptop and a Peppermint Mocha – tastes just like a Snowshoe without the effect. (Yes, I do drink peppermint schnapps in hot chocolate sometimes – whenever I’m getting a cold or a sore throat. But I’m not an alcoholic and I can only have one J )
2. A very short Al-Anon meeting last night because nobody else showed up. Perhaps the meeting time and place had changed but it was a good reminder to me why I show up to my meetings back home, for others as well as myself and for the newcomers. What would I have done without the longtimers who were there for me?!?
1. Time with my grandma who is 101-years-young! She still lives in her house by herself, although my aunt built a house on her extra lot so she could take care of her. That’s why I’m here, to grannysit so my aunt could go to her grandson’s wedding. It is so peaceful, serene, to be at my Grandma’s where I spent the happiest days of my childhood. She has always loved me unconditionally and is my role model for such. Her secret to longevity and health (she takes no medication!) she told me a few years ago is not to hold grudges. What a lesson! Thank you, God, for Grandma! Thank you that she has lived long enough for me to truly appreciate her and now to spend time with her, even if it is sitting in silence while we eat or she sleeps a lot while I do a few chores or watch TV. And especially for her gratitude when I make her a cup of coffee. Every time she says, “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoox