At the end of the day

It really doesn't matter what kind of day I've had, what kind of mood I'm in or how tired I am.

At the end of the day I am grateful for three huge hugs, plus a small furry, purry one.

If it's been one of THOSE days, all fights are forgotten and all arguments forgiven. I always go to bed knowing that I am loved, and I hope that my cuddlers all know how much they are loved too.

At the end of the day, that's what matters.

I'm wrapping my arms round YOU, in spirit, if not in the flesh. So I hope you can feel the love too.

Gratefully yours.
xx

Comfy cosy

It's half past eight on a freezing cold, wintry night. I am in the only sensible place to be on a night like this...in my bed. I am cuddled up here with my book, my baby girl, her book, her teddy George and my laptop.

The boys, being the less sensible gender, are out at a table quiz in aid of Thomas's school. We were all going to go, but Meggie has had toothache all week after loosing a filing, and is feeling a bit out of sorts. I won't even go into my excuse...suffice it to say, we decided that an early bed was the best option for the girls!

So today I am grateful for early nights, and the chance they give for cuddles and cosy chats.

Gratefully yours.
xx

The sky at night

I had to wait till the sun went down today for my "aaah" moment.

Driving Thomas to his singing. The sun was going down and the sky was a mixture of pink, purple and red. Gorgeous enough, you may say...and you'd be right. But then two swans flew across the road ahead of us! Talk about special. Thomas was delighted too!

And then, of course, there's the full moon! Never gets old!

Today I am grateful for the sky at night.

Gratefully yours.
xx

Take it easy

Today I am grateful for an easy, relaxed feeling I seem to have developed over the day today!

Don't know where it's come from, how it got here or how long it plans staying.....so I'm going to enjoy it while it's here!

Normal kind of day...walk, work, walk, lunch, kids, homework, ballet, dinner, It takes Two, dishes....relaxed, easy feeling!!!

You tell me!!!

Gratefully yours.
xx

Small mercies

Today I am grateful for small mercies.....

Like a broken light in the loo that give you time to close your eyes and take a couple of deep breaths before you get down to business.(In other words it's dark in there until the light gets going and you can't find the loo!!)

Like an amazing sky for 5 minutes as the sun shone rays in all directions from behind a big black cloud....the famed silver lining??

Like a fox running across the road in front of me on the way home. And I mean in the city suburbs!!

Like a warm welcome home after a long day at work followed by a very cold 3 hours at choir!

Like half a pot of Ambrosia creamed rice as I sit here typing!!!

What more can I say??

Gratefully yours.
xx

Shop till you drop

Well, Christmas has officially started.

I started my Christmas shopping today and d'ye know what??? I think I enjoy shopping for other people even more than I enjoy shopping for myself!!!

It give one a certain satisfaction to think that what you have just bought will make someone else smile.

I've a lot on this coming week and won't be able to get much shopping done....but look out the following week!!!

Today I am grateful for the opportunity to make someone else smile!!

Gratefully yours.
xx

King size

Today I am grateful for my King sized bed!!!

Plenty room for a mammy plus lap-top, two smallish children with books, one very fluffy cat, and room to spare for a daddy, should he choose to join the fun!!

How did Mam and Dad ever manage with four kids and only a double bed?

I love my bed....and all who sail in her!!

Gratefully yours.
xx

Long day

After a long day at work, at the end of a long, busy week, it's nice to come home and chill, feet up, in front of the fire.

What's not to be grateful for??

The only thing better is the thought of my bed!!!

I hope all my loyal readers are doing likewise, and relaxing after a week of hard work.

It's all about balance. Work, rest and play. It could actually be as simple as that!

The work and the rest seem to be sorted.....now who wants to go out and play???

Gratefully yours.
xx

Computer rage

Tonight I am grateful that I have a lap-top!

It has just taken me 20minutes to log out of K and Thomas and on to my settings on this computer. It is so slow...it's doing my heid in!!!!!

So, I think that from now on I will write my blog using the lap-top....see, K, I knew it would come in handy at some stage!! Best Christmas pressie ever!

Gratefully yours.
xx

Something small

What is there to be grateful for after 320 days???

The first cuddles of the morning.
Getting out the door on time for school and work.
A job I enjoy.
A quick visit to K in the middle of the day, totally un-planned!
A purry furry pussycat waiting to welcome me home.
Not having to go out after tea, so being able to have a wee brandy.
A lovely hot shower to warm me up.
Last cuddles and capers at bed-time.

Today I am grateful for all of the above....and so much more that goes into an ordinary day.

Gratefully yours.
xx

Us time

Christmas is coming.....and the diary is getting fat!!

Today I am grateful that for just over an hour this evening, we had something we all had to attend together!!

I feel like we are all living separate lives at the moment! We never have time together as a family!

Tonight we had a special mass for Thomas, for his upcoming confirmation.

Forgetting about the religious significance...it was just nice to be together for an hour!!!

Time to start reshuffling, I think! Time to get the priorities straight!!!!!

Gratefully yours.
xx

No tantrums please

I'm trying to stick with my less-stress approach to parenting.

Life in general was getting a bit hectic and it had to slow down or I was heading for melt-down.

As I suspected, it was a vicious circle, and now that I have broken it, everything is slowing down and chilling out.

I didn't shout at the kids to get ready this morning (well, not repeatedly anyway!), and, even though we were much later leaving the house than normal, no-one was late for school....just!

I didn't shout at the kids at all to do their homework. I just calmly explained that it had been creeping later and later (give them an inch!!!) and that I had to be firm about it. Homework had to be done. So it was, with very little fuss or palaver, and in half the usual time!

So, stress free mum equals stress free everything else!!! Why didn't I work that one out sooner?????

Gratefully yours.
xx

Great day

I like Sunday!

K was golfing and Maggie fancied going to the cinema. We went to see Hotel Transylvania at the Sunday kids club!!

Why do we not do this more often??? Half the price of normal cinema, free tea and coffee for the adults and complimentary lolly-pops for the kids!! Just what was needed after a freezing cold walk to the cinema - well, the tea...not so much the lolly-pops!

We had a lovely couple of hours, and finished it off with a browse in Smyths (toy shop!) and a wet walk home in the rain!!!

Must watch what's coming to the cinema in the next few weeks!!! Great fun!

Gratefully yours.
xx

Pure and simple

I was working today. So, Megan agreed to go with her Dad and brother to the big stadium in Limerick to watch the rugby!!!

It was a freezing cold, damp day, and I worried that she would hate it! I knew K had both the kids well wrapped up, and that they had seats under cover, but I really thought Meg would be bored to tears.

I came home from work to an empty house - they weren't due back till towards the end of Strictly. I lit the fire and put my feet up.

Well....today I am grateful for the three red faces that came in to me at 8 o'clock! Flushed with the cold and the excitement of it!

Meggie enjoyed her "boys day"!

Just the wee red, cold face brightened my whole day!

Come on the boys!!!

Gratefully yours.
xx

The LBD 2012

I had an idea in my head of the perfect little black dress for the coming Christmas season...although why I need it, I don't know!! I might get a couple of nights out if I'm lucky! I just like the idea of having something new and sparkly for the season.

So, I headed off to the shopping centre this morning, with this idea in my head, and the desire to get the job done.

Now, I'm sure you know, that the law states that when you know exactly what it is you are looking for, there is no way you are going to find it. Well....today I was the exception that proves the rule!!!

I found the perfect dress, well within the budget I'd set myself (yes, K, I did say that I'd set myself a budget!! And, more importantly...I did say that I stuck to it!!). Job done. Happy camper!

Today I am grateful that sometimes, just sometimes, you CAN find what you're looking for!!

Gratefully yours.
xx

Unsprung hero

I've come to the conclusion that I operate like a clockwork toy.

I get more and more wound up, working away, but getting faster and faster, until all hell breaks loose and I explode, springs flying everywhere.

Today I realised that I could actually feel that happening. I've been getting wound up a little bit more each day, and I was getting close to explosion point. So, I decided to slow down! To not let things wind me up any tighter.

Life is going to carry on around me, whether I am wound up or not. So why let myself get overwound?

Not worth it. And in the end, if I'm not so wound up then things don't seem to wind me up so much!! A bit confusing!! A vicious circle really.

Anyway, today I am grateful to be unwound, springs just hanging loose!!

Gratefully yours.
zz

Christmas 24

Okay....last month we has Sky 007 - a whole month of James Bond. I was addicted!

Now we have Christmas 24 - 24 hours of Christmas films every day till Christmas!!!

How can you not get into the Christmas spirit with that?? Even if they do repeat the films interminably and show all the same films they did last year!!! Perversely, I enjoy that!! You can have the film on, listen to all the jingle bells and Christmas songs, but not have to actually sit and watch the film!!! Win/win, I think!!!

Today I am grateful for re-runs that I don't have to sit and watch, but can have on in the background while I do stuff!!!

I know...I could just switch the telly off....but where would be the fun in that??

Gratefully yours.
xx

Patchwork

It really is hard to be depressed, when you're walking on a patchwork blanket of orange, yellow and red leaves, that are falling like snow at the moment.

It was a very mild day today, although it was very wet and windy, and I had a lovely walk into work. I even saw Mr Heron, standing very regally on the rocks just at the edge of the slipway down onto the river. He looked as he was surveying his kingdom, with his neck stretched up and his nose in the air. The ducks and gulls were his loyal subjects, floating about at his feet.

Yes, I have to say that the walk makes it worthwhile going to work!!

Today I am grateful to Mother Nature, for surpassing herself, yet again, and giving me a boost of energy and a smile on my face, ready to face the day!

Gratefully yours.
xx

Perfect harmony

OMG!

Today I am grateful for the recording feature on my phone! Without it, I would be snookered!

We are learning a song at choir at the moment that splits into 7 part harmony in one verse!

That's descant and mezzo soprano, tenor, bass, baritone and first and second alto! And I have just spent two and a half hours at choir learning 4 lines!

By the time he had taught each part just one line, the first couple of groups had lost it again!

On the plus side....by the end of the two and a half hours it was starting, only in places, to sound amazing!

So, I will have to spend the next week glued to my phone, listening to the mezzo part over and over again, and singing it, of course, in the hopes that by next week it will have stuck!!!

We have a concert in 5 weeks, and have several songs that we have only started to learn!!! Oh, the pressure!!! (I love it!!)

Gratefully yours.
xx

Time traveller

I had a revelation today (yes, another one!).

I was sitting on the loo, minding my own business, when the thought struck me. It didn't hurt, but it did give me a bit of a shock, as revelations usually do!

You know how holidays seem to go along nicely till the last few days and then they just disappear, and before you have time to say "Costa del Sunshine", you're home in the cold and rain? Well, it occurred to me that this is because you spend so much of the last few days thinking that this is your last few days, that you are not present enough to actually be aware of the time passing. Blink and you miss it, as it were.

So, thought  for the day is....enjoy every moment! Do not wish it away, or forget about it. Live it!

Today I am grateful that I have such a wonderful sanctuary of peace and contemplation in my own house, that I didn't realise I had!!!

I must spend time in peaceful contemplation more often. Note to self....buy an "Engaged" sign for bathroom door!

Gratefully yours.
xx

Reminiscing

Mam and I did a wee bit of reminiscing this evening (only a little bit, mind you, squished in between Merlin and bed!!), and I've come to the conclusion that it can be a good thing. A reminder, if you like, of how you got to where you are, even if it isn't where you thought you'd be when you were trying to get there!!!!!

Now don't get me wrong...I don't think there is any place for regrets, or dwelling on the past, but it can be nice to realise that if some of the yucky stuff hadn't happened, you would not be the you you are, in the place you are. And, if some of the stuff you thought you wanted to happen had happened, you'd be in a very different, and not so enjoyable place as you are thanks to the fact that they didn't happen! Confused? I am!!!!

And if you believe in fate, then it's nice to follow all the twists and turns on the way and see that you were really heading in the right direction all along!!

So today I am grateful for who I am, where I came from, and how I got here!!!

And now I will take a few deep breaths and be grateful for right now.

Gratefully yours.
xx

Two more sleeps

Unfortunately Mam's visit is nearly over. Only two more sleeps, and I'm very, very sorry that I have to work tomorrow!

So, today I am grateful that we managed to slip in one more coffee at Costa.

News headlines for next week are sure to include the sudden and unexplained slump in coffee sales. Maybe even a worldwide crash in coffee prices...devastation!

I will, of course, try may hardest to keep sales up, but it won't be the same all on my own!!!

We do still have one more Strictly experience together though, before Mam goes home. I should be home from work just in time to fall into my chair, be handed a glass of wine and on with the show!!! No need to worry about texting after every dance!!!

Gratefully yours.
xx

The mindful cuddle

It doesn't matter what kind of day I've had. It doesn't matter how many times I've been rowing with the kids. It only matters that it's bed-time, and cuddle time.

It's an instant lift to a drooping spirit. An instant reminder that there are things in life more important than clothes under the bed or towels all over the bathroom floor.

The mindful bell is a useful reminder through the day to breathe and be present, but I think a mindful cuddle every hour should be mandatory!!

Today I am grateful for bed-time and mindful cuddles.

Gratefully yours.

xx

You know when you're getting old....

I got two new things today. A dress, and a frying pan.

The sad fact is, I think I got more thrill, and, so far, more pleasure from the frying pan!!!

I did have some fun though, trying on the dress with various colours of tights, different shoes and jewellery, but I'm afraid I have to say that the pan was the better buy!!!

That's it.....I must be getting old!!

Today I am grateful for my shiny new all singing, all dancing, steel bottomed, oven and dishwasher-safe, non-stick, deep sided frying pan!!

Just think of all the delicious dinners!!!

Gratefully yours.
xx

Keep an eye on your geese

I'm sorry if it's too early....but the truth is Christmas IS coming and the geese will start getting fat very soon!!

I know this because I got the urge today.....the urge to make Christmas cards!!! Dun, dun, duuuun!!!

Three down, forty seven to go!!!

The first of many!

Today I am grateful for the creative urge. It gives me such pleasure!

At the rate of three a day, I should have enough by the time last postings come round!!!

Now....if only I could find my address book!!!!!

Gratefully yours.

xx

The Buddy System

Now, you may think that living in a different country would make me homesick...and you'd be right. But, just think about it for a minute....I reckon that I see just about as much of Mam as the rest of the family does. And I get to keep her for longer!

As well as the obvious advantage of cuddles on tap, there is also the marvellous Buddy System that I have mentioned in previous posts.

Now, my Mam is a great ironing buddy, a brilliant shopping buddy, and her coffee buddying skills are second to none, but today she added yet another string to her buddying bow!!!

I had to go out to the doctor this morning....nothing serious, just organising an MOT really. And when I came home, I was met by the most wonderful smell....you guessed it....there was a pan of gorgeous lentil soup on the stove, waiting for my return. Now, how good a buddy is that???

Nobody in the world makes soup as good as my Mam...not even me!!!

So today, obviously, I am grateful for my souper best buddy!

Is there no end to this woman's buddying talent???

Gratefully yours.
xx

What? Where? Why?

I still find that some nights I sit here for ages staring at the computer, no clue what I'm going to be grateful for, no idea what I'm going to write.

I've been sitting wondering what I'm going to do when the year is up! Will I keep going? Will I just do it when I feel like it?

The only thing is, when it's difficult to decide what to write, I don't feel like it at all! So if I was only doing it when I felt like it...

It's the commitment to do it that keeps me going.

Today I am grateful for all of you reading this, and commenting on it. It give me purpose and motivation..

I'm actually dreading the year being up!

On to bigger and better things!!! Any ideas???

Gratefully yours.
xx

The other side

Today I am just grateful for the way my life has turned out.

At work, I often get glimpses into a different world. The other side of the tracks, if you like. And it is scary.

It often seems like, thanks to drugs, alcohol and general abuse, life is just a pit of misery, and fear, with little or no chance of crawling your way out.

I am so grateful to have escaped that kind of life.

I know that it is possible to raise yourself higher. To dream big and reach for the stars. But some of the people I come into contact with seem to have little chance of that. I don't think that they even know they have that option!

It is sad and it is depressing...but it makes me value what I have, even more.

Gratefully yours.
xx

Easy pleased

Useful morning.

I booked Mam into my hairdressers for a wee cut, 'cos her hair was buggin' her since she got here....the water here makes her hair really soft and she can't do a thing with it!

While she was there I took the opportunity to take the kids shopping for shoes.

This usually involves several visits to several shops, with several huffs, temper tantrums and screeching....and that's just me!!!

Well, today, while mam was getting pampered, we visited two shops, got three pairs of footwear (unfortunately that was one for Thomas and two for Megan...none for me!), and all managed to stay calm and smiling.

I told the kids I was delighted that they were both happy with their new shoes, and Grandma didn't have to traipse with us, but wasn't left at home alone, so she was also happy!

Thomas said "But what about you?"

Well, two happy kids and a happy Mammy....what do you think???

Today I am grateful for cunning solutions and happy outcomes!!!

Gratefully yours.
xx

Complimentary

I can't remember what the conversation was about, but someone told me today that I was a "glass half full" kind of person!

I was absolutely delighted! And very proud of myself! That someone else should think that about me is just great!

My blog, my quest to find a more positive outlook on life, must be working!

I'm so pleased!

But, d'ye know what??? Whether it is working or not, I am so glad I started to do this. I feel more in touch with you all than I have in a long time!

I know we talk on the phone, but no-one ever just talks about the dreary day-to-day stuff, and really, it's not dreary at all! It's my life, or your life. The ins and outs, the nitty-gritty. I feel that I am sharing more of me than I have ever done before, and it feels good!!

So, today I am grateful for that half full glass!

Mind you....glasses don't tend to stay half full very long when I'm around!!!

Gratefully yours.
xx