Friday’s Fave Five and more …

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Sky Watch, Midweek Blues,
Pink Saturday, Today’s Flowers, and Mosaic Monday

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1. The first four days of tennis at Wimbledon have been most memorable …
(FYI – I shared my thoughts about Day 3 at Small Reflections on Thursday and more photos at Sacred Ruminations on Saturday in Windows & Reflections at Wimbledon)… especially the first round ‘marathon match’ between John Isner of the USA and Nicolas Mahut of France that lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes over a three-day period. Because I’m in Los Angeles (not in England), I’m grateful for the excellent coverage by ESPN though it’s been challenging setting the DVR to switch back and forth from ESPN2 and ESPNU.  Amazingly Mahut (who lost the epic match 68-70) was back on court 18 just about an hour after it ended … playing doubles with his friend Arnaud Clement and that match was suspended for darkness (after the they lost the first set), so play will continue Friday.  They’re 4th up, so it’s possible play could be suspended yet again if they take the second set.  In addition on court 5, Isner will take on his 2nd round opponent Thiemo de Bakker of Holland (who played a shorter 5-setter over two days but had Thursday off to rest) finally on Friday.  If he makes it through this match (and the next against Xavier Malisse) he could come up against Rafa Nadal in the 4th round for one more hurdle in his second Wimbledon appearance ever.

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2. I’m relieved that Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Leyton Hewitt, and Rafa Nadal have survived the early rounds and hope things continue ‘on track’ for them. On the women’s side, Venus and Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Justine Henin, and Kim Clijsters are all off to an excellent start and I’m hopeful all my favorite players will make it to the Quarter Finals. In addition, I’ve enjoyed using my Nikon D60 to take photos of ESPN’s television coverage and Photoshop Elements to ‘crop & edit’ them to share … just because. Here are a few more from the Isner-Mahut match … and (although a totally accidental capture), the first is my personal favorite.

3. Once the morning low clouds (otherwise known as ‘June gloom’) disappears here at the beach in Southern California, skies have been blue for the most part this week with a few wispy white clouds.

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4. While eating breakfast out with a friend at Coco’s recently we happened upon pink impatiens in parking lot planters. Below I’ve shared the mosaic I made with images straight out of the camera, then with the palette knife, watercolor, and finally poster edges filters … just because.

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participating in Pink Saturday, Today’s Flowers,
and Mosaic Monday

5. My sister called twice from the road this past week … we talked for more than an hour each time. It’s good to catch up with their travels this way. Her husband sent photos in email and I enjoyed seeing them in the midst of their travels too. This one is my favorite because I remember how much my sister loved to sit in trees and watch from above when we were kids.

Thought for Today

“Be an experimental person. Break up fixed routines. Expose yourself to new restaurants, new books, new theatres, new friends; take a different route to work someday, take a different vacation this year, do something new and different this weekend.” David J. Schwartz

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FaveFive … Miscellaneous Memes

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Sky Watch, Midweek Blues,
Pink Saturday, Today’s Flowers,
Weekend Reflections, Window Views, Just for Joy,
Camera Critters, Pet Pride, Mosaic and Macro Monday

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1. I’ve enjoyed watching the skies change from ‘drizzily grey’ in the morning to pretty blues with wispy clouds drifting by in the afternoon … and capturing views with my camera to share here today and at Sacred Ruminations yesterday.

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2. My struggling Endless Summer Hydrangea remains small but is finally producing some lovely pink blossoms … and I’ve enjoyed creating and experimenting with filters on this mosaic … the first is straight out of the camera, in the middle is Paint Daubs (with the mosaic flipped horizontally) and at the bottom I used the Watercolor filter.

3. After enjoying and sharing photos of African Lily blossoms from around my neighborhood a couple of week ago, I was delighted to discover two buds on my own potted African Lily … and photographed them over the three day period they lasted.

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participating in Pink Saturday, Today’s Flowers,
Mosaic Monday, and Macro Monday

4. With tendonitis in my elbow, it’s been quite some time since I’ve been able to toss a toy for Molly to fetch … but this past week my elbow felt better and we played several days. I love trying to capture her catching the toy in the air and returning it joyfully (with her ears flying) … just for the JOY of it!

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sharing Camera Critters, Pet Pride and Just for the JOY of it!

5. I enjoyed a tasty breakfast at Mimi’s Cafe on a drizzily Wednesday morning this week and took these photos for Window Views & Weekend Reflections.

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participating in Weekend Reflections and Window Views

Thought for Today

“Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful, and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Pink Blossoms-Shadows-Blue Skies with Variable Clouds-May Gratitude List from Small Reflections

Scroll down for Shadow Shots,
Sky Watch, Midweek Blues, Yard Art,
Weekend Reflections & my May Gratitude List

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Today’s Flowers, and Macro Monday

Straight out of the camera above & Poster Edges below

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others sharing Shadow Shots on Sunday

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for others sharing Yard Art

Straight out of the camera

Palette Knife Filter

Watercolor Filter

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for others sharing Weekend Reflections

“Smile, breathe and go slowly.” Thich Nhat Hanh

South Breeze Farm hosted the Giving Thanks Challenge and I participated at Small Reflections in November of 2008 and decided to continue indefinitely … generating the following list one day at a time throughout the month of August. I’ve decided to transfer the lists at the end of each month from Small Reflections to Happily Retired Gal … just because. Click to see previous lists already published here.

1. I’m glad to have transferred my April Gratitude List to Happily Retired Gal at WordPress this morning along with my post with miscellaneous weekend memes so I can begin my May list this afternoon.2. to have Internet access (with help this morning from Time Warner Cable Tech Support) after my D-Link router failed yesterday leaving me w/o access when I returned home from the ‘Eagles’ matinee performance at the Blue Moon Theatre and dinner at Knott’s Berry Farm.

3. for pleasant ‘gardening’ weather over the last couple of days … making the time pulling weeds, cleaning up my yard, and tilling the soil for new planting all the more enjoyable.

4. my $30 refund check from Staples (for recycling old printer cartridges) arrived in a timely manner to help defray the cost of a new wireless router … the Home Valet Plus from Cisco, an easy to use system.

5. one Gladiola shoot survived ‘doggie play’ and is beginning to produce lovely pink blossoms from the bottom up. I’ll share photos soon.

6. I remembered to celebrate (belatedly) my 500th post at Sacred Ruminations and plan to celebrate my 250th post at Happily Retired Gal tomorrow when I share my Fave Five on Friday (and possibly a few weekend memes) there.

7. for the folks at SimpleTruths.com and the resources they make available … like this brief inspirational video Dreams are Whispers from the Soul …

8. to hear from my sister (after more than a week w/o contact) and catch up on travel adventures in the Southwest …

9. for those who send me occasional emails that remind me of what I know, but tend to forget in the busy day-to-day activities of my life.

10. for the monthly opportunity to connect & catch up with retired friends over lunch today …

11. that I decided to cut myself some slack and skip this session at the local Adult School because it’s given me time to do other things with my mornings.

12. the small market a few blocks from home carries ‘half & half’ so that I can walk to replenish my supply when I run low rather than drive to the supermarket.

13. for the $20 I saved at Petco today (using my card along with coupons) when I stocked up on treats & chews for Molly.

14. to be able to help a friend with email issues by setting up a ‘gmail’ account for her that imports her verizon.net email and replies as if she was actually using the Verizon account without having to put up with its ‘quirks’ … pretty nifty.

15. to have finally found time to create and publish ‘a catch up post’ here at Small Reflections and to share lovely pink gladiola blossoms at Happily Retired Gal (after about a week of non-computer related activities kept me away from this virtual world). I appreciate continued your visits & supportive comments … thanks so much!

16. for delightful phone connections with friends & family during this weekend and a fun visit to a local nursery with a friend during which I picked up a variety of colorful bedding plants for my yard.

17. I saved almost $43 on my grocery shopping bill today using coupons!

18. to have fresh produce and food in the fridge this morning with numerous ‘options’ from which to choose for breakfast 😉

19. to get half of the new bedding plants in the ground this afternoon when the drizzles cleared.

20. for a lovely afternoon at the Laguna Playhouse followed by an early dinner at the Beachcomber on the beach in Crystal Cove … an absolutely delightful outing!

21. the remaining bedding plants are in the ground and everything seems to be surviving just fine.

22. that the French Open begins tomorrow so there will be TENNIS to watch for two weeks 😉

23. I won those free tickets to the three Pacific Chorale concerts … the 3rd concert is tonight: Rachmaninov Vespers.

24. for my DVR capturing matches so I’ve had TENNIS to watch today.

25. it rained in Paris so I could catch up on yesterday’s matches before the DVR dumped them to record new matches.

26. for a new perm … I love wash & wear ‘care-free- hair!

27. we’ve had warmer sunnier weather here in So Cal at the beach this week.

28. I learned about Google Docs in an Adult School class this morning.

29. the gal at Time Warner Cable ‘tech support’ got the Tennis Channel to work again fairly quickly this morning so I can record matches to watch later on today.

30. my neighbor picked up milk for me & BowWow Beanie toys for Molly at the market today … saving me a trip.

31. for an hour-long ‘catch up’ phone call from my sister who’s currently on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon after spending a week at Lake Powell without cell service.

FYI – My previous Gratitude Lists can be found at Happily Retired Gal, my new WordPress site. It is my intention to keep this ‘Daily Gratitude List’ in my sidebar indefinitely because I believe it makes sense to focus on what’s right in our lives regularly. Click for:
2010 Lists –May, April, March, February, January
2009 Lists – December, November,
October, September, August, July, June, May, April, March, February, January
2008 Lists – December, November

Thought for Today

“God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today.  Have you used one to say ‘thank you?'” William A. Ward

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Playful Potpourri …

Scroll down for Thursday Thirteen, Haiku Friday Sky Watch,
Camera Critters, Midweek Blues, Window Views
and Weekend Reflections

Mary the teach at Work of the Poet
has asked bloggers to share Yard Art on Thursdays …
Lots of people who live near the beach
in Southern California ‘decorate’ their yards
(often in unique ways) so I’ll have a steady supply!

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and for others participating in Yard Art

Thirteen photographs
of a sparrow hanging out
in local palm trees

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others participating in Thursday Thirteen,
Haiku Friday, Sky Watch,
and Camera Critters

Window Reflections
near Long Beach Marina with
beautiful blue skies

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others participating in Window Views, Weekend Reflections,
and Midweek Blues

Thought for Today

“”Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.”
Albert Einstein

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Ruby Blossoms in My Outdoor World

I happened upon
RUBY blossoms in these trees
on a recent walk

“Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.” Confucius

“The mind is everything; what you think, you become.”
Gautama Buddha

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and for others participating in Ruby Tuesday, My World,
Outdoor Wednesday, Midweek Blues, and Wordful Wednesday

Thought for Today

“So, like a forgotten fire, a childhood can always flare up again within us.”
Gaston Bachelard

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Outdoor RUBIES in My Watery World

Scroll down for Wordful Wednesday & Midweek Blues too

Warmer weather brings
people to the beach and pier
also the Street Fair

Do you see the seagull in the picture below?

How about in the next photo?
If you missed the one above, look up again 😉

If walking to the end of the pier and back is more exercise that one wants, there are folks who will give you a ride in one of these.

Kids can play in these colorful contraptions and people enjoy a variety of foods while enjoying the Street Fair on Tuesday evenings from 5-9pm.
Click to see more views and entertainment shared previously

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Outdoor Wednesday, Watery Wednesday,
Midweek Blues and Wordful Wednesday

Thought for Today

“Live out of your imagination, not your history.” Stephen R. Covey

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Friday’s FAVES – Blue Skies – Pink Blossoms

This week’s Yard Art
and Earth Hour information
are in the next post …
Scroll down for Looking at the Sky, (belated) Midweek Blues
Pink Saturday and Today’s Flowers herein with my FAVES

1. Although he arrived very late (and by himself without his usual two helpers) on Wednesday, my gardener took time to plant my birthday ‘Veteran’s Honor’ rose bush as promised. I’m hoping it will do as well as the other roses I have growing in my yard.

2. My parkway is awash with color, brightening the neighborhood and my spirits. I feel so blessed to live here in Southern California near the Pacific Ocean where Spring arrives early, and it’s a joy to share such views on my blog for those in colder climates still waiting for the weather to warm up.

3. Our skies have been variable as clouds drift through the area but there have plenty of beautiful BLUES above like these:

4. I happened upon these lovely pink blossoms at Bella Terra in Huntington Beach while hanging out with my sister this past week. I’m not sure what they are but wonder if they might be Rhododendron. What do you think?

5. Finally … my 18-55mm lens for my Nikon D60 is back in my possession and working the way it’s supposed to! More than a month ago the Vibration Reduction went ‘wonky’ (shortly after I had it cleaned at my local ‘repair’ shop under the Ritz Camera warranty). They sent it to Nikon and when it was returned with the VR fixed, the lens wouldn’t take photos at the ‘infinity’ setting … so the repair shop sent it back to Nikon (with a ‘rush’ order). When it was returned in a couple of week with a note that nothing was done to it … my local guy sent it back once again with the instructions highlighted. All this took considerable time. Of course I’ve had my camera with the Tamron 28-300mm lens, but I’ve missed the smaller lens and am glad to have it back.

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and for others participating in Friday’s FAVE Five,
Midweek Blues, Looking at the Sky, Pink Saturday, and Today’s Flowers

Thought for Today

“And in the end it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”
Abraham Lincoln

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Outdoor Watery Wednesday & Window Views

ALMOST

Beach town … Surf City
shares it’s history in this
Surfing Museum

today’s temp’ratures
will reach the low 80s and
draw more people here

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others participating in Almost Wordless Wednesday,
Watery Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday, Window Views,
Midweek Blues and Wordful Wednesday

Thought for Today

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.” Albert Einstein

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Shades of Hitchcock …

ALMOST

Last week I shared a goose
from Cerritos Regional Park …

… and today I share some interesting bird activity.

occasionally
these pigeons took flight ‘en masse’
in sweeping circles

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Outdoor Wednesday, Watery Wednesday, Wordful Wednesday,
Midweek Blues, and Camera Critters too

Thought for Today

“People learn something every day, and a lot of times it’s that what they learned the day before was wrong.” Bill Vaughan

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A bit of RUBY in my Watery Outdoor World

stormy skies above
as we walked out on the pier …
surveying the scene

very different
from the ones I shared last week
at this local beach

just a few people
brave enough to swim, walk, and
lay upon the sand

For Ruby Tuesday
here’s the bright Barefoot Bar sign
and menu outside

My sister likes her fish tacos ‘battered’ …

I prefer mine Cajun style

and THIS is Hula Pie … delicious!

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My World, Ruby Tuesday,
Outdoor Wednesday, Watery Wednesday, and Midweek Blues

Thought for Today

“Because time itself is like a spiral, something special happens on your birthday each year: The same energy that God invested in you at birth is present once again.”
Menachem Mendel Schneerson

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I guess that’s why they call it the blues …

13 photographs
puffy clouds on lovely blue
skies between rainstorms

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and for others participating in Midweek Blues,
Thursday Thirteen, Haiku Friday, and Sky Watch

Thought for Today

“Nature is a mutable cloud which is always and never the same.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Dramatic Skies and Reflections

13 photographs
Dramatic skies … Window
Views and Reflections

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others participating in Thursday Thirteen, Midweek Blues,
Sky Watch, and Haiku Friday

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for others participating in Window Views and Weekend Reflections

A playful bonus … just because
cropped then ‘screened with exclusion’ and lightened

Thought for Today

“To repeat what others have said requires education; to challenge it requires brains.” Mary Pettibone Poole

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Rainy views while driving home …

muted blues from my
drive in the rain yesterday …
captured through windows

of my Explorer
wet and wildly windy
I’m glad to be home

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and for others participating in Thursday Thirteen,
Midweek Blues, Window Views, Haiku Friday, Sky Watch

Bonus … three shifting views from this morning
snapped through my French Doors looking East …

Thought for Today

“All was silent as before –
All silent save the dripping rain.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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Outdoor Watery Wednesday at the Beach

ALMOST

Each day at the beach
just a wee bit different …
always beautiful

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and for others participating in Outdoor Wednesday,
Watery Wednesday, Midweek Blues, (Almost) Wordless Wednesday
and Wordful Wednesday at Seven Clown Circus

Thought for Today

“By all means use some times to be alone.  Salute thyself; see what thy soul doth wear.” George Herbert

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My Watery Outdoor World in Southern California November’s Gratitude List from Small Reflections

Thirteen photographs
of my world here at the beach
… click to embiggen

Original – Straight out of the camera

Poster Edges – lightened

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and for others participating in My World, Outdoor Wednesday,
Watery Wednesday, Midweek Blues,
and Thursday Thirteen

“Smile, breathe and go slowly.” Thich Nhat Hanh

South Breeze Farm hosted the Giving Thanks Challenge and I participated at Small Reflections in November of 2008 and decided to continue indefinitely … generating the following list one day at a time throughout the month of August. I’ve decided to transfer the lists at the end of each month from Small Reflections to Happily Retired Gal … just because. Click to see previous lists already published here.

1. for the pair of season’s tickets to the Pacific Chorale concerts that I won in a drawing. The first concert on Sunday evening was magnificent 😉

2. I was home with ‘L’ called this morning to let me know she was going to be in the area and wanted to meet for breakfast. We had a wonderful visit and a tasty meal.

3. I had time & opportunity to REST today when I realized I wasn’t feeling top-notch … and that the Vitamin C, chicken soup, extra water and rest seemed to stave off whatever bug was trying to take hold.

4. I managed to finish creating Peace Globes and posts for each of my blogs in time to post before I went to class tonight.

5. for all those participating in today’s Blog Blast for Peace: Dona Nobis Pacem.

6. for wonderful ‘catch up’ cell phone visits with ‘C’ and my sister … both of whom are traveling in RVs with their husbands.

7. I’ve managed to stay ‘functional’ …(if not totally healthy)… by mindfully limiting my activities the past week or so.

8. the folks (vacationing from New York) renting the house next door for a month seem friendly and have two standard poodles — Katie, the elder white one, is standoffish but Molly likes to play with Ned, the young black male 😉

9. I managed to visit the grocery store today so I’ve got fresh produce in the house again … finally!

10. for what I learned in my first ‘Fix Your Own Computer’ class tonight … and for the lessons to follow. Hopefully I’ll figure out what causes my Dell 1720 laptop to crash so regularly and get it fixed … finally 😉

11. Service Champions checked out my furnace this morning so I can turn it on to take the ‘edge off’ on chilly mornings again.

12. for my DVR so I can fast- forward through commercials when I do watch televised programs … saving about 20 minutes out of every 60 to use for other endeavors.

13. Stephen King has written and published a new book … I’m looking forward to reading it 😉

14. for a fun catch up phone visit with my writing buddy from Taos this morning and a beautiful warm sunny day outside as I watered my overly dry yard.

15. my sister called last night after having no cell signal for the several days.

16. to reconnect with a former student in the Jury Pool yesterday … we had a nice chat before getting sent to a court room for Jury selection that will continue tomorrow morning at 9am. So far I’m still in the audience watching and listening … so I guess we’ll see what happens next.

17. that even though I was selected for a jury, we were released in time for me to drop by home to feed the fur-kids and still make it to my my evening Adult School class by 6pm. It was a LONG day, but I managed to stay focused until 9pm and drive home safely.

18. California courts are ‘dark’ on Wednesdays giving me the day off because tomorrow will be another LONG day starting with Jury Duty and ending with an Adult School class from 6-9pm again. Hopefully I’ll have time to drop by home to feed the fur-kids between the two activities.

19. after coming down with the flu yesterday morning and coping with nasty symptoms throughout the night, I was able to keep a few soda crackers and a bit of chicken soup down … then sleep this afternoon … finally.

20. that (although not totally healthy yet) I’m feeling much improved this morning and even managed to create a Haiku Sky Watch Friday post at Sacred Ruminations using a mosaic I created last week … though I don’t know how much energy I’ll have to visit blogs today because my head hurts. I’m hopeful the trial continued yesterday without me since there was an alternate juror, but no one called me back after I called in sick.

21. to be feeling MUCH better today!

22. my sister called and we had a nice catch up visit on the phone … they’re visiting with friends in Northern California and will spend Thanksgiving in McKinleyville.

23. I had energy enough to take Molly to Dog Beach in the morning and to the groomer in the afternoon … so she’s clean, soft & sweet smelling for the holidays 😉

24. I went to the Water Store today because it will be closed tomorrow through the weekend. I also did my grocery shopping today and saved almost $50 with coupons!

25. to be celebrating my 1st Blogoversary at Happily Retired Gal, my WordPress blog.

26. for phone calls from family & friends today.

27. I walked down to the beach to watch and photograph this afternoon’s glorious sun set over the ocean.

28. the laptop didn’t crash during the 6 hours it took to make a full backup of my PSE6 catalog.

29. my sister and her husband are finally headed for home and should arrive in a couple of weeks so we’ll spend Christmas together this year. Hopefully they’ll stay here for a while before hitting the road again.

30. I’ve kept this daily gratitude list for 13 months. I’m trying to decide whether or not to continue the practice. Guess I’ll see what I do tomorrow 😉

FYI – My previous Gratitude Lists can be found here at Happily Retired Gal, my WordPress site. It is my intention to keep this ‘Daily Gratitude List’ in my sidebar indefinitely because I believe it makes sense to focus on what’s right in our lives regularly. Click for:
2009 Lists – October, September, August, July, June, May, April, March, February, January
2008 Lists – December, November

Thought for Today

“The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.” B.B. King

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