Grateful Friday

Today I give thanks for...

Eggs in the nest. Eggs in the nest in the wreath on the front door. A sweet little sparrow is waiting for her hatchlings and so are we.

Lunch with friends this week. It was great to see Rose and catch up on her life since she's moved to Sedona. She's happy and healthy and moving forward to bigger and better things.

The fried Brussel's sprout side that Candace and I shared at said lunch. It was our second time in a week enjoying this treat: Brussel sprouts flash fried and then topped with candied pecans and a drizzle of sriracha mayo.

Candace stopped by last minute late Sunday afternoon for a visit. She brought flowers and wine. I had a bottle of champs chilling so we shared that instead because it's her favorite. She's so good to me. We're lucky to have one another. Our friendship is one of my mom's best legacies.

Plans for dinner tonight with another friend. Just the two of us. We have much - so much - to talk about.

Naps. For the first 45 years of my life, I was not much of a day sleeper, but that has changed. When I come home from work, I often curl up in bed with a book and a cat and drift off for a bit before night begins. It's a reset. Kinda like hitting the refresh button. Purging the nonsense and making way for the goodness.

Hourglass. It's speaking directly to my heart. I'm feeling the format and appreciating the subtlety.

I successfully gave Lily French braids this morning and went up several notches in her book. I need some practice, but they were passable enough that she wore them to school. I see lots of YouTube videos in our future.

Summer plans are starting to come together. Lily has volunteer hours at the nature center and she's going to acting camp with a friend. She would also like to find a babysitting job. Teddy is working on a babysitting job too, he has to play baseball and he wants to play endless rounds of golf.

My step-mom is very much enjoying retirement. I'm so happy for her to bid adieu to corporate America. The common theme I'm hearing and experiencing these days is that it's not all it's cracked up to be. She's free!

I am enjoying the lake views from my new office. Well, not my office, but the offices of almost all my co-workers. They don't seem too annoyed when I sneak in to gawk.

My guy for hanging the paintings we bought in Ixtapa. In Ixtapa on the day before we left on the beach. All week I was in search of a painting to add to the collection that hangs over our bed. I wasn't having much luck, but then on a morning beach walk we came upon the artist that our friend's spoke of. He paints with his fingers and it's quite something. They bought one of his works on one of their visits. I commissioned four. I wanted the view from the beach at sunrise, high sun, sunset and night. We were to meet him on the beach the next morning. He was late because of daylight saving's time and we had a narrow window because we had a plane to catch, but the guys went back and found him and so I'm grateful for their persistence as well.

A mostly quiet weekend of baseball and softball. Time to decompress and dream. Time to restore and rebalance.