Thanksgiving

While Thanksgiving is an American holiday and I'm not American or living in America, it is one of the holidays I almost wish we did celebrate as it's always good to be grateful. So today I'm thinking of all the things I am grateful for this year.

• Our beautiful baby girl and her safe arrival in the world.
• An amazing, patient husband.
• Wonderful family and friends.
• My job and fantastic colleagues.
• Good health.
• My gran making it to her 91st birthday this week.
• Our cat, Pete.
• So much time for crafting fun.
• Sunshine and trips we've made.
• Our car.

There are probably lots more things I can't think of right now but I am very grateful that we got through this very eventful year healthy and happy.

Gratitude

Reading one of my favourite blogs lately reminded me that it's all too easy to get down and forget to count our blessings at this time of year so today I wanted to count some of the things I am feeling grateful for at the moment.

• My health
• My wonderful, patient husband
• My family :-) (and their upcoming visits)
• That I have a job I love
• Cycling
• Our new heater
• My friends and colleagues
• That I live in a relatively safe and stable country
• Internet shopping
• That Christmas is coming!

52 Weeks of Grateful - Week 5

49. Lovely sunny balcony weather on Thursday evening.
50. My drawing book arriving in he post - more on that to come...
51. The bulbs on the balcony flowering.
52. A visit to the Anne Frank exhibition with my friend Taisiya.
53. Lovely lunch with the Spanish ladies and tips on Spanish grammar...

I can't believe I got to my 52 and beyond in just five weeks.  I know I am a lucky lady.  I'm going to keep this project up for myself but probably not on the blog as it feels a little bit like I'm bragging every Sunday!  We'll see...

52 Weeks of Grateful - Week 4

42.  Amazingly supportive colleagues who cheer me up no end on bad days.
43.  Our new tomato greenhouse!
44.  A lovely coffee with my English student Rita at Starbucks.
45.  That all three of my teams are through to the quarter finals of the European Cup.
46.  My aforementioned student Rita giving me the inspiration I needed to cycle to work and back on Friday.
47. A lovely lunch with the girls on Friday.
48. That my MA is finally confirmed and in the bag.

52 Weeks of Grateful - Week 3

32. The Hunger Games - I got through the first book in three days.  I was desperate to start the second but decided to delay the pleasure (I am running low on English books and there is a book ban in place people) by reading a looong German book.
33. Finally starting to sort the office out.I've been putting this off way too long but now that I have started it's easier to do a little every day.
34. That my Year 8s got back from London relatively unscathed.  I am extremely upset that one 'host' told the muslim kids staying with him that they should embrace English culture by eating pork... but that is a whole other story and I guess it's a good lesson for them that every country has less than kind people staying there.
35. The postcard from my lovely Russian friend who was in Paris and Versailles last week.
36. A lift home from a colleague.
37. That nobody was injured when a year nine threw a firework into my classroom this week.  (another long story)
38.  That my wonderful boyfriend knows just what to do when I arrive home in tears because of the aforementioned year nine and that he does all the shopping and cooking for me.
39. Post from England!!  (Thanks Dad)...including my Buddhist book which I really needed this week...
40.  A lovely family BBQ with Nico's family for his Grandads birthday and that the weather held out.  Sometimes it does make me feel more homesick but I love that we have some family relatively close by and I love how close and welcoming they are.
41.  My orchid blooming again!

52 Weeks of Grateful - Week 2

Things I've been grateful for this week...

16. Coming home to beautiful flowers and ready made lunch from Nico on Monday
17. A useful Olympic Games related teaching resource from a colleague
18. A nice coffee with my Russian friend leading to the possibility of starting up a language exchange evening.
19. Having Wednesday afternoon off, meaning I had time for an at home facial.
20. Knowing that my application for a new contract is getting somewhere (even if it is painstakingly slow going!)
21. A lovely Wednesday afternoon off with my other half.
22. A supportive boss during challenging times at work.
23. A lovely surprise balcony dinner with Nico.
24. A free and uneventful trip to the dentist.
25. Friday off work and how productive and yet relaxing it was!
26. A Skype catch up with my best friend.
27. Finishing the latest knitting project.
28. Nothing being seriously wrong with Pete at the vet.
29. Getting some rhyme and reason to my part of the office.
30. Not having gained this week.
31. Ticking another thing off my list by making jam.

52 Weeks of Grateful

I recently discovered this project through a favourite blog of mine - A Cat-Like Curiosity and decided that I'm going to take part.  As part of my attempt to lead a more Buddhist life, I have been taking the time to consciously think of the things that I am grateful for at the end of each day and this seems a really good way to make that more official!  I'm going to do this on a Sunday normally but so many things happened last week that I am grateful for that I felt it would make a better start.

Things I am grateful for this week:

1. Nico

2. Mum and Doug driving over to visit

3. Mum and Doug bringing a car full of my belongings from England - some of which I have had for a long time and have missed more than I knew.

4. My friend Loreto taking us to Fischerhude - a real German countryside gem - for the afternoon.

5. A short work week.

6. My friend Loreto being my friend.

7. My lovely pupils - year eight getting all engaged and excited as they are heading off to London this week and year ten being a pleasure to teach now that the exam is done.

8. My Dad calling to check in even though it's month end and a busy time at work for him.

9. Having an amazingly productive Saturday including fitting the balcony net so that we can sit out with Pete when the weather brightens up.

10. Losing two pounds.

11. My Mum teaching me some new knitting skills.

12. Finishing the latest Game of Thrones book.

13. Finding space for all the things Mum and Doug brought over from England.

14. Finding a nice present to send my Gran.

15. Having positive feedback and a new meeting about my new contract (fingers crossed!) which also led to a lovely reference from my old boss.

I know there are some more that I have forgotten already but I will be making more of an effort to note these down from now on.

What are you grateful for this week?