To Life!

Happy Thanksgiving! A day of gratitude, remembrances, and wonderful food. We will be sharing our Thanksgiving with friends & family. This Thanksgiving we get to add our new Grandsons, Gavin Liam & Mason Nicholas, to our prayers. An added bonus for Christina & Jayson is that their son, Mason, will be discharged from NICU to their home. He is doing wonderfully! We were blessed that he did not need to be on oxygen ... thanks to the miracle of medicine.

I enjoy my Yogi tea (vanilla hazelnut and peach detox are my favorites). I especially look forward to the words on the tea bags. I use those words each day as my 'mantra' for the day. Whether I'm at work, home or practicing yoga -- I try to remember those words. On Monday the words were "An attitude of gratitude brings opportunities". How true. I find that in my own life by changing the way I speak, focusing on what I desire in life not what I don't want, be grateful of the opportunities & blessings I receive each and every day ... yes, all of this brings opportunities into my life. Some of these opportunities are not instantaneous. I know that some will be later and some may not come at all, but that is okay. Isn't that what life is about ... learning to be grateful for what we have today. Knowing that we can love today for today is what we have now. To be grateful for the people in our everyday life and not take them or their actions for granted.

This Thanksgiving I'm thankful for:

My beliefs
My children & grandchildren
The man I love & share my life with
The wonderful friends I have, near & far
The country that I live in and the men & women who protect us *especially my nephew, Adam, who is serving in Iraq & my sons'-in-law who have each served in Iraq twice*
My life

As they say in Hebrew "Lachiam" (sp?) TO LIFE!

The 3 Blessings in my Life

In my life I've been fortunate to go places, live places, experience different cultures ... many more things then other people my age have done. And for all this I'm grateful. Grateful to the people that have made these experiences possible.

There are so many more things I could list as part of my gratitude list. I want to share with you the top 3 and these will never change. They are Melissa, Christina and Jacob ... more affectionately known by me as Missy, Nina & Jake -- my 3 blessings. These three have grown up to be incredible young adults. Each has chosen different paths in life. Each has taken a few side roads to get where they are today. And I know that where they are today is not where they will be five years from now. The amazing thing about being a Mom, in my mind, is watching this little guy/gal grow into this young adult who becomes our friend, imagine that! I cherish the conversations and so much more that we share. Because we are apart in distance, I cherish the time together and conversations even more so. When I visit with Jake I listen to how hard he works and I want him to know I love him. I want to mother him and tell him to not work so hard, but we all make choices and this is his choice. And ... it is all good, right? I listen to Missy talk about her upcoming move to North Carolina. I so want to offer advice (and I do slip some in) as I've moved so many times in my past life as a sailor, military spouse & kid. Yet, this is an experience that she & her family must experience -- the good and not-so-good parts of moving. And then Nina ... my heart goes out to her right now. She is a new Mom yet her son is in the NICU. I want to be there to hug her, listen to her and just "be".

As much as this new Grandma part of life is wonderful, I must not forget the ones who have made it all possible to go onto to this next cycle in my life .... my children.

So Missy, Nina & Jake, if you are reading this please know that you three are the ultimate and 'bestest' blessings in my life and for each of you I'm eternally grateful. **Mom**

7 Random Facts about Me

Seven Random Facts About Me”
I read Carolyn's Blog ... so I'm playing along.

Rules:
Link to your Tagger and list these rules on your blog.
Share seven facts about yourself - some random, some weird.
Tag seven people at the end of your post and link their blogs.
Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

*My favorite colors are red, yellow & pink.
*I teach yoga.
*I have been listening to Christmas music since Halloween.
*I enjoy trying different micro-brews.
*I wanted to be a home ec teacher when I grew up.
*My favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner is .... leftovers!
*My friend and I 'borrowed' my parents Dolphin camper (stick shift) and cruised main street ... neither of us could drive a stick shift!!! LOL

I will not name 7 people, but if you have read my 7 answers, you have been officially tagged.

Scattered Thoughts on a Friday Afternoon

Thought #1: I'm sooooo thankful it is Friday. I guess I should not complain as I've only been in the office for three days this week. And next week is a short week ... so it is all good. Don't get me wrong, I don't want time to fly, but sometimes I just know that I've other things to do in my life besides work. Oh, I forgot ... work supports my habits (scrapbooking & traveling to see my kids). Guess I'd better keep on working or hit the lottery. I continually hope & pray that my main job will be teaching yoga only. Teaching people to become aware of their bodies through exercise, breathing techniques and being 'in the moment' is a joy. And it is not limited to just those things. Yoga is so much more.

Thought(s) #2:
My Friday Five
* On Sunday, my second grandchild -- Mason Nicholas -- was born.
* Got to see my sweetie on Monday
* Slept in my own bed (after being gone for 9 days) with my favorite red flannel sheets (with white snowflakes) -- can you say 'c.o.m.f.y'
* I 'heard' we had a few snowflakes yesterday **Think snow!**
* Homemade chocolate chip cookies I baked on Tuesday. Exquisite with a glass of cold milk --- especially if they are still warm. I hid some in the freezer for later.

Thought #3: Back to this Grandma business. It is pretty cool. My daughters continually update me with new photos. Gavin (GS#1) gets bigger each time I see him. Mason (GS#2) is still in NICU but gets stronger & closer to being discharged each day.

Thought #4: Holiday Music -- I've been playing it since Halloween. I love it. Downloaded the new Enya holiday album from ITunes yesterday -- beautiful. I absolutely love holiday music and do not limit myself to one genre. Found a pretty cool acapella group "Straight No Chaser" -- wonderful & strong male voices. What are your favorite holiday tunes/artists? Any new ones ones this year?

And so I could continue to ramble but really want to check out blogs from my friends at Create My Keepsake (www.createmykeepsake.com). If you have not checked out this scrapbooking site you are missing out on some incredible talent, wonderful chatter & great friends.

Happy Holidays!

And Mason Nicholas makes .... two

So many emotions & thoughts about our new grandbaby ... don't know where to start. How about this - Mason Nicholas was born on November 16 to my daughter, Christina & her husband, Jayson. Mason was 6 weeks early. What a little angel he is. He will be in NICU for abit until he is strong enough to go home. When I left yesterday, his oxygen level was 100% on room air. Christina delivered him via c-section after 51 hours of labor ... what a trooper she is. I was so lucky to be there. I had flown to NJ to keep her company while on bedrest, not expecting to be there when he was born. The Lord works in mysterious ways.

I was able to hold Mason. It felt awkward at first as I had been holding Gavin over the last week and he weighs over 9 lbs. So to hold a little one half that weight was different for the first moment and then the comfort level set in. How delicate he is. His features are fine chieseled and he looks so 'wise'. I'm so loving his strawberry blond hair. He has so many of his Mom's features ... most notably her nose (Sorry Steenameen!)

While I was in NJ I also got to meet Gavin, grandson #1. This Grandma business is great!!!!

Thank you 'all' for your prayers, words of assurance and kindness during Christina's pregnancy. **Bless**

Pictures: My daughter & her coach "Gavin" - Grandson #1; Mason Nicholas; Grandma & Mason