7-30-2012 Possibilities

I am grateful for possibilities.  We don't always know what is going to happen, and sometimes things just seem to stay the same.  But you never know when someone will call, or you will run into an old friend, or something that you never imagined before will happen.  It is these possibilities that exist that can give us hope.

For all of the possibilities, I am grateful.

7-29-2012 Snowball Effect (the good one)

This morning, I was feeling a little bit lazy but I knew there was stuff I needed to do, although I wasn't sure what.  It can feel overwhelming sometimes when you have that feeling.
I went to use the bathroom, then thought to myself, ok, I'll just clean the toilet (I know, not everyone's favorite job, but it's pretty easy).  Cleaned the inside and outside, then decided, why not mop the floor?  Then since the mop was out, why not mop the kitchen floor, and then the foyer.  Then I was on a roll and took out the vacuum cleaner, picked up some things, and wiped down the counters.

Yay, snowball effect at its best, and a good part of the house cleaned! (as well as the dread of needing to get stuff done but not knowing where to start).
I'm grateful for that.

7-27-2012 Days With Lots to be Grateful For

There are some days which don't seem so good, days that you really have to remind yourself that there are things to be grateful for (because there always are each day we wake up), and think about what those things are.  Maybe it can be something that went wrong and you could be grateful that it wasn't worse.

But today, I ran with a friend, we ran into some old friends, work was quiet, the weather was nice, it was easy and less expensive than thought to get the AC fixed, then I walked into the pool store with a broken piece of equipment, they looked at it, knew what was wrong, and fixed it on the spot for free under warranty.

There were lots of little things like that, we should be grateful for days like that.

7-23-2012 My Dog's ACL Repair

Late last fall sometime, our dog Sammy injured his ACL.  There was a chance it would get better on it's own, but it did not, it got worse.  Finally, at the beginning of June we found a vet nearby that did quite a few of these surgeries.  He had the surgery and slowly got better.

Tonight I took him for a walk just like I used to all the time.  Of course, he loves walks as almost all dogs do.

This time last year we had three dogs and life was a lot different in many ways.  Some things you can't fix and some things you can.  Fortunately, this was one of those things.

It was a good weekend, with some hanging out, some getting things done, some swimming.  The weekend is over and the house is quiet now, so it was really nice to take Sammy out for his walk, and I'm grateful for being able to get his ACL repaired.

7-22-2012 Getting Caught in the Rain

I took the two boys and one of their friends mini golfing today at our favorite place.  The place reminds me of Shangri-La for some reason.  They have a scavenger hunt of things to look for and get scratch off prizes, there are live alligators to feed, a small arcade and various other things.  We made it to about the 11th hole when a sprinkle started, then it got heavier.  It started to pour and the wind blew the rain sideways.  We went under a cabana but was getting wet from the slanted rain, so we ran for the arcade and watched the rain and some lightning.

I think everyone thought that the storm was more fun than finishing the game.  It will be a day to remember.

So, for this I'm grateful for getting caught in the rain.

7-15-2012 Nifty Products

I went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to buy a pillow.  I saw something that could help me with a problem I was having.  I sometimes put my phone down on the arm rest in my truck but it slides around too much.  There was a rubber sticky mat you could buy so it wouldn't slide around.

It's just a little thing and I could have lived without it, but now my phone no longer slides around.

Sometimes is those little things that make you grateful, like these nifty products.

7-9-2012 Soap

Between the drive up, the drive back and the different places we went, I can remember washing my hands a lot.  I thought about all the times you stop some place and the place isn't the cleanest.  Definitely grateful for soap!

7-8-2012 Knowing Where You're Going to Stay

Driving home from New York, with 23 hours of driving, the dog and two kids, it was nice to know we had a good place to stop and stay for the night - clean, takes dogs, and we know exactly what's there. Nothing fancy but a good place to stop, so one less thing to worry about.

Even Sammy seemed relaxed, as if maybe he remembered the place.

Spur of the moment decisions can be fun, but I was grateful this time for knowing where we were going to stay.

7-7-2012 Sailing

A lot of fun things happened today.  Toward the end of the day I ended up on a small sailboat by myself and had to sail it back home.  It wasn't very far but it was directly into the wind.  It had been years since I last sailed, maybe not since I took a sailing course sometime during college.  I knew some of the theory but had little practiced.

I wanted to tack into the wind.  I made some progress away from the dock but after 10 minutes I seemed to have made no forward progress in the direction I wanted  (the words forward progress were now stuck in my head).   Think, think, think... what to do?

If I took too long to get back, someone would have to come and get me and tow me back, I was determined to not let that happen.

Eventually, I caught some wind, the sails filled, the little boat tilted and I made some progress.  I cut across the water, against the wind at an angle, then made a turn and successfully filled the sail again, lather, rinse repeat.

One more try, then I was heading right toward the dock at a perfect angle.

I had done it.

Sailing taught me something about relearning things that someone once taught you.

I am grateful for sailing.

7-6-2012 Magical Places

There is a park on an island, next to a bigger island where I have spent many summers.  At this park, there is a good sized rock sticking out of the water, it is big enough to fit several kids on it.  So, we called it kid island.  Kid island is a magical place.  There are other such magical places.  All it really takes is some imagination and some memories and a place can become magical.

Once you find one of those places, go back there when you can, you will be glad you did.

I am grateful for those magical places.

7-5-2012 Swimming in a Lake

Today I went swimming from a boat to shore, maybe 200 meters.  I did this same swim about one year ago.  I went with my brother and my son.  About 27 years ago I was swimming across the corner of a lake in the Adirondacks, it was the summer before the start of college.  Halfway across I was overcome by a feeling of dread, not like I was going to drown, just a feeling of dread.  I refrained from swimming in lakes for a long time, until last year.  I felt like I conquered a demon.

So, I did it again this year.  Maybe I will swim farther next time, or not wait another year.

It was a good reminder to conquer fears, and just swim.

Grateful for swimming in a lake.

7-4-2012 Fireworks

Tonight, my kids, my brother and I got in the boat and went to Boldt Castle on the St. Lawrence river to watch the fire works display.  I've always looked forward to watching the fireworks.  It's always felt special and this year was no exception, maybe even extra special.

So, something that is so exciting to watch and look forward to is truly something to be grateful for.

7-3-2012 Perfect Weather for a Water Park

It's a little tricky in that you want it to be warm enough so you don't feel cold but not so hot that you are miserable while waiting in line.

We went to a place called Sea Breeze in Rochester, enjoyed some time at their water park then hit the rides.  We did the same thing last year.  And although a lot has changed in one year it was nice to be able to repeat some things.  I was grateful that the weather cooperated.

7-1-2012 Yes, We take Pets

As usual, there were many things to be grateful about, and what I'm about to write may in some ways seem to be the least of them, but at the time I immediately thought of the grateful blog.

I had been driving for about 12 hours with my two boys and one dog, had just narrowly missed a severe thunderstorm and I was having some doubts on how well things would work out.  I had done a little bit of research and knew that Choice hotel group was generally known to be pet friendly.   There was a Sleep Inn coming up in a few miles, then a couple more Choice hotels 8 miles after that.  I figured we would stop at this first one and if they were full or did not take dogs, then go down the road or ask them to call.

But, no extra miles were necessary.  The hotel was nice, reasonably priced, took dogs, had free breakfast and a nice field in back to walk the dogs.  Cable and internet were out but that actually worked out nicely since we had other things to do like read, talk to each other, and look at old home videos on my laptop.

I think this was the part of the trip were I knew that things would work out, when the lady at the desk said "yes, we take pets", and I decided I would write about it.