Grateful

Christmas is a fairly insulated time in our lives.  Curled up at home with family and children who can't wait to open their presents, Poppa makes Christmas Breakfast with the boys, and then later we get those first whiffs of Christmas Turkey and then, even later, we gather at the table to delight in a feast together....ummmmmmmmmm, does it get any better than this?  I find myself very reflective this time of year.  Winter adds to this insulating effect.  So, I thought I'd list some of the things that I am grateful for.  I invite you to share what you are grateful for too.

Family and Friends, who accept you, warts n'all, for who you are, in your current incarnation and are willing to grow with your changes.  You know who you are.  I love you.

Family and Friends, who I accept, warts n'all, for all they are, in their current incarnations and in their ever growing changes.  You know who you are.  I love you.

An amazing, thoughtful, encouraging and strong man in my life.  Thank you for choosing me.  I love you.

Two incredible, delightful, talented and beautiful children in my life.  Thanks for choosing me to be your Mum.  I love you.

My Parents.  Thanks for having me.  Thanks for giving me life and helping me to become the woman I am.  I love you.

My Inlaws.  Thanks for having me...in a different sort of 'have'.  Thank you for bringing me into your fold and your lives, and for being such amazing role models of parenting, love, support and guidance.  You are dream Grandparents to these children that we love.  I love you.

Systemic Mastocytosis...which, despite all of it's drawbacks, has brought some INCREDIBLE people into my life, all over the globe, from all walks of life and created some wonderful support networks, constant sources of strength and encouragement...AND they let me do this for them too.  Soooooooooo good.  You know who you are.   Ok, I can't really say that I love SM...but if you have to have it, I can't think of a better bunch of folks to have it with.  I love you.

The Farm.  While we haven't managed to acheive all of our goals in living and learning on this little piece of heaven, we have made some magic and I've learned some valuable lessons in limitations and in living.  Without this experience, growing food, loving our land, fixing up this old farmhouse, raising our children in the middle of nowhere, tending to and losing more chickens than I care to think about and learning to live as part of Nature's life cycles (prey/predator), I have a greater appreciation and passion for food that we 'know' and for doing whatever little bit of whatever it is that we can do to live a bit more simply.  Convenience is costing us all our health and our families.  The price on convenience is too high.  So I am grateful for these valuable lessons.

The pile of garbage on my back porch.  This pile of blag bags and recycling has taught me that we purchase waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much crud with waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much packaging.  It's not until you actually HAVE to wrap up your rubbish and take it to the dump or disposal centre that you realize that we must do something about HOW much garbage we produce in the world, and the purchasing choices that we make.  I don't love you.  But appreciate the lesson.

Charlotte, our dog.  There are a few simple life lessons to be learned from the family dog:  there's no such thing as too many cuddles; fresh air and a morning walk daily soothes the soul; carrots taste great, raw; spending the afternoon in the river/lake is one of the best things in the world to do and NOT to give it a second thought; sitting up front in the canoe, listening to the stillness of the river is one of life's most beautiful and precious ways to spend some time with someone you love.

Family Guy.  I feel soooooooooo guilty everytime I laugh, but I laugh.  And laughing is medicine for the soul.

Sleep.  A necessary evil, but my God, what an amazing thing sleep is.  I never appreciated it fully until I wasn't getting enough of it anymore.  It's amazing HOW much grief lack of sleep causes my body (and others...)  So sleep, I love you.

Abba.  I'm still a Dancing Queen at heart.  Moves my soul.

Seguin Fire Services and Parry Sound EMS...they've responded to my house sooooo many times this past 2 years.  While I often feel better by the time they get here (thanks Epi!), I'm never out of the woods when they get here, and they have saved my life numerous times.  Empathic and wonderfully warm, this amazing group of people always approach me with dignity, care and warmth...and even make me laugh in the face of emergency.  Incredible.

I know there are many more things that will come to mind, as I sit here feeling grateful.  So, perhaps I will add them as they pop up too.  For now though, thank you for sharing this time with me, and I look forward to reading some of the things for which you are grateful.