Home again!

After ten days in Minnesota on my family's farm, I have plenty to say about our trip...but I'm not sure I could hold your attention all THAT long.  So, I'm taking a note out of Kari Patterson's book and doing a "thankful-for" post (inspired by her "Week's end with thanks" posts that show sweet snippets of her week and the blessings in it).

So, without further ado, I am so grateful for...

• Safe travel.
• Room to run and space to breathe.
• Not cooking or cleaning.
• Being back in the barn.
• Visiting family and old friends.
• Our first overnight getaway together since Pookie was born.
• Health and recovery after looooooooong colds.
• Air conditioning.
• Celebrating Pookie's birthday with ones we love.
• Lunch at the best Chinese place in the world.
• Best gas station breakfast sandwiches...twice.
• Rice Krispie bars made just for my birthday (if you're sensing a food pattern here, bear in mind that I am pregnant).
• Brunch at an elegant restaurant, knowing my little brother {all-grown up} was behind the kitchen door making our food.
• Long naps and restful nights.
• Watching Pookie blossom and thrive on the farm.
• Experiencing all my favorite things...and watching them happen through her eyes.
• Picking raspberries.
• Crying for the first five miles home...because it's always tough to see tears in your big, strong father's eyes.

And I think Pookie would have her own separate list:

• Skipping breakfast until Grandpa comes in from the barn and makes eggs.
• Going out to the barn.
• My Curious George birthday party.
• Two bouquets of birthday balloons.
• Watermelon nearly every day.
• The cows.
• The new baby calf, Meg.
• Red, the dog.
• Charlie, the cat.
• Chocolate always waiting for me in the barn fridge.
• Shouting "Happy Birthday!" and reminding everybody we had cupcakes.
• My own pool.
• Freezies after swimming.
• A parade...with horses and tractors and princesses and clowns and candy.  Lots of candy.
• Fireworks.
• Waking up with Mama and Papa in the same room as me.
• Going to the zoo.
• Having lots of extra people to love on me.

So, that was our trip in a nutshell.  We're mostly unpacked and I'm sure I could dig out the camera and share some more photos...but my brain hasn't quite gotten out of vacation mode yet.  Maybe soon...

Grumbles and Gratefuls

photo source

Upon releasing Regardless, I reached a dream, a lifelong goal.  And though I didn't expect to rush to the top of the bestseller's lists or get interview requests from major networks, I did somehow have some preconceived notions.  And when life went on as usual, I got a case of the grumbles.

But is that the attitude of someone resting in Christ?  It shouldn't be.  So here's an honest list of my grumbles of late and the matching "gratefuls," the turning of those grumbles into praise and thanksgiving.

1. Emergency root canal.  It ate my time, it ate my money, it ate my tooth.
2. Pookie is growing...an attitude.  She can be cranky, whiny, and selfish in completely new ways.
3. I've been behind on word count for NaNo this year and fear my story won't even be long enough to cross the 50,000 word finish line.
4. My house is always messy.  Always.  Messy.  After I clean, I'm afraid to blink because the Mess Fairies will move in the nanosecond my eyes are shut.

Phew.  That's enough grumbling.  How about some thanking?

1. I found a new dentist's office and love it: Christian music the moment I walked in, friendly people, fancy goody bag as I left, affordable pricing.  And my tooth feels waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better.
2. Pookie is becoming more of herself; we are seeing more of her own personality.  I need to lean more on the Lord for guidance in training and bringing her up--which I didn't notice as much when she just cooed and ate and filled her diaper.
3. I caught up on my word count!  I genuinely like the direction my story is taking!  I have major editing in my future, but unlike last year, I can already see how to fix the major holes and how much stronger the narrative will be for it.  Plus, my characters are developing, so it's fun getting to meet them.
4.  I have dishes to watch because tummies are full.  I have laundry to wash because we are clothed.  I have rooms to tidy and floors to scrub/vacuum and tchotchkes to dust because God has given to us so abundantly.

Pookie says "ah-muh" (amen) at the end of prayers, meals, stories, and so on.  As I take time to be thankful for what I have, instead of the things that gnaw at my soul and make me grumble, I want to say it with her.

"Ah-muh" to you and yours.  Happy Thanksgiving.