Practicing Gratitude

Wow, January 31st.  ALREADY!!

Can you believe it??  Christmas is already over a month in the past!!  Guess it might be almost time to take down the Christmas cards, eh?!  ;)  I cleaned up all the other decor at the beginning of the month, but I purposely leave the Christmas cards a little longer.  They ride along the chair rail all around the dining room, and I love the feeling of being encircled by friends and family.

But I'm thankful this winter seems to be passing so quickly! Of course, I'm a little concerned that means summer will fly more swiftly than normal, too, but I'm trying not to borrow worries like that!

I'm ALSO grateful that despite the WICKED cold we've been experiencing, it was a balmy -12C/10F the day the girls had their ski trip with the school.  We had a beautiful 3-day break from the frigidity, and now that we're right back in it (it's -45/-49F today with the windchill!!!), we're tucked away in a cozy hotel room in a town a couple hours from home, enjoying the pool, the hot tub, and late-night pizza delivery.

We had a fair bit of spending money at Christmas that didn't get spent for whatever strange reason, so we thought we'd take the opportunity to go on our first little family get-away.  We've never done this before with the girls, and I'm thankful they happened to have today and tomorrow off school.  And again, so grateful my employer was okay with me working a shorter week, too!

Paintchip bookmarks

I'm thankful Mack's sleepover birthday party last weekend was a success... and that as the kids get older and more self-sufficient, the parties require less and less supervision and assistance from me!  I pretty much just served food and washed dishes this year.  They did do a simple craft, but I bascially just provided the supplies and a bit of initial direction and away they went.  I'm grateful she's got a good little group of friends and that they all enjoy coming here.

And I'm thankful for my very sweet and thoughtful best friend who invited us over Saturday evening for supper once I was all cooked- and dish-washed-out!

And now, since my husband and youngest daughter are off somewhere (probably in the hotel restaurant eating breakfast) and my older, sleepier daughter is awake, I am off to begin the day.  Looking forward to hitting the big second-hand clothing store for some wardrobe additions!  Wish me luck!!


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