Random Things I'm Grateful For

I've been thinking about some of the daily things in my life that I am so grateful for. In no particular order:


I love it when my house it tidy and the kitchen is clean and the laundry in some state of having been started. I can put off dealing with dust and dog hair on the wood floor and less than sparkling bathrooms if I feel like the kitchen and laundry are where they should be.

I love being home alone. After twenty years with a preschooler by my side, even though my baby is sixteen and now drives himself to school, I'm still not used to being alone and I love it! I have long said that being a mother means that the only way to be "off duty" is to be alone. I love my peeps, but I also love being alone, especially in my very own home.

I love puttering, which is related to being home alone. Puttering while alone is optimal, but it can be done quite well on a Saturday when others are home, if they also are puttering and not requiring your attention. Puttering may consist of the following, but of course, is not limited to: entering receipts into Quicken and balancing the checkbook - which generally leads to checking email and blogs, changing light bulbs that you have noticed were out, same for battery-operated devices, manicure and pedicures and face masks and tweezing eyebrows, any general grooming acts are fair game for puttering. There's also cleaning out the pantry, doing a little laundry, but not taking it too seriously - ironing may also be involved, but not those week-high piles, just a few items! Cleaning out your wallet, purse, and playing with your planner are always welcome putterings. You can do any or all of these while enjoying episodes of "Clean Sweep," "Take Home Handyman" or "What Not To Wear" episodes on TLC. Yeah for Saturday mornings!

Last, but definitely not least for this post is the fact that my husband cooks his own breakfast everyday (Korean Ramen noodles with added veggies) and as part of this ritual of his, he empties/loads the dishwasher and tidies up the kitchen. Did you know that an empty dishwasher is an aphrodisiac!

Note: I had four more things with pictures, no less, then when I hit publish I somehow lost them!#@? - so frustrating. I'll try again later