Thankful Thursday

These weeks of summer seem to be flying past. I wake up on Sunday morning, and then next time I wake up, it's Wednesday. Not that I'm getting so drunk on Sundays that I sleep through three days of life, but it just feels like time is moving in super fast forward mode. One day I always look forward to is Thursday! Cuz it's the day I get to list a few things that I'm grateful for.

So here's my partial list for today:

* fresh watermelon
* green salad with olive oil and sea salt
* recycling
* wandering around town with my daughter like we're two tourists in Charlotte

* we took our sandwiches and bought a drink at Port City Java - and we read, of course, we read

* free art exhibits where we are welcome to take photos

* the small gray structure in the foreground of this photo is a piece of carved glass. 

Notice the shadow underneath it and the small bubble in the middle of it.

The American flag is on a wall on the other side of the room. 

How cool is that???

* making lunch, dinner, movie, and coffee plans with friends this week
* making lists of my hopes, dreams, wishes, and affirmations
* taking the time to prepare for the Sunday School class I'll be teaching this Sunday
* my bed and my pillows

* my son making faces in front of my trunk camera (yes, the car language is set to Spanish)
* the homeschooling conference I went to last weekend. I feel newly motivated and excited about what Daniel and I will do next year. As you can imagine, this past year didn't go as I had hoped - in a lot of ways - but thanks be to God for new beginnings.
* not having to wear bras anymore, especially when I exercise
* new journaling techniques to try
* the fact that there haven't been any riots after the Zimmerman acquittal

* These two quotes from Writing in the Sand, by Thomas Moore -
The essence of the kingdom (of God) is living together in joy. (page 98)
When you finally "get" the teaching of Jesus and begin to live by a new set of rules - love, forgiveness, conviviality, community, healing, and freedom from demonic occupations - your clothes don't suddenly become ultra-white and your face blindingly luminous, but you will be, and appear as, transformed. Your presence will have an electric charge. You will be different, and the effect might well be something akin to bright light. (page 102)

 * with all the rain we've had, mushrooms are sprouting everywhere. I thought these red ones were beautiful. I restrained myself - and didn't eat them.

* my awesome physical therapist, Kim: I'm gonna miss her when our sessions are done (Sometimes I wonder what people must think when they walk past our treatment room and hear us belly laughing over some story we've shared.)
* laughter, jokes, the humor of Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, my husband, and my son
* the fact that as I type this, my daughter is making a spinach quiche and watermelon & cucumber salad for dinner
* care packages from loving friends
* Camillia, the Aetna breast kanswer nurse advocate who calls me every three weeks or so (I hope to meet her in person someday)

* watching a group of children wander around the library looking for books to take home
* walking to the library, arriving five minutes before they opened for the day, and encountering a group of 10 or 15 people waiting to enter as soon as the door opened. Who knew there were so many other library geeks in my neighborhood?

* the airport overlook, my new favorite place to hang out in Charlotte. If the airport were closer to my house, I'd go there nearly everyday. I LOVE to sit there and watch airplanes take off and land.
* scrolling through Pinterest, looking at images of "airport outfits" and "capsule wardrobes," trying to imagine what I will wear and pack the next time I go on a trip
* peace, love, hope, and a future

* poetry by Edna St Vincent Millay
"Grown up"
Was it for this I uttered prayers,
And sobbed and cursed and kicked the stairs,
That now, domestic as a plate,
I should retire at half-past eight?

Amen!