Year 2/Day 72

M is still sick--day four of what is likely to be seven, if the progression of C's flu bug is any indication. I feel bad for her but she's been a good sport. Today she snuggled under her down comforter on the couch, hoisted Harry Potter V onto her lap and said, "If you need me, I'll be in my book." I'm grateful she still loves to read.

Year 2/Day 71

We're waiting to officially celebrate my birthday until this weekend, so I'm particularly grateful for friends who remembered my birthday in small, personal ways today. My friend Lynn brought over dark chocolate and fresh raspberries--my favorite combination--and Ann and Jim made me fresh squeezed grapefruit juice for a middle of the afternoon pick-me-up that made me feel like I was in Florida for a nano-second. And I'm grateful for my sisters who apparently really have been listening as I natter on the phone: Thanks to them, I'm good on unmentionables for a while.

Year 2/Day 70

I was picking out some goodies for book club, which meets tonight, when L came in and said, "You were on my list of people to call today." She's the woman who gave my friends and I semi-private tennis lessons last spring, summer, and fall. During the winter, she teaches at a private indoor club--and why was I on her list of people to call? Because she had a few free passes she wanted to give me! So now I get to play some winter tennis for free! I'm grateful for little pleasures that pop up unexpectedly.

Year 2/Day 69

Monday is my day to tutor a first grader through the Kids Hope program. I've been doing this for three years now and enjoy it. But today M was sick and I wanted to be home with her, so I was grateful when the school told me the child I tutor was out sick and I shouldn't come in. Not that I want him to be sick, but it was nice to be able to snuggle with M on the couch and watch "The Office."

Year 2/Day 68

I'm grateful M. had a good time at her retreat, and she made it home safely, not to mention that she's "happy, happy, happy," which anyone would know by reading her Facebook.

Year 2/Day 67

I'm grateful for simple pleasures piled one upon the next today: Lunch with my sister to celebrate my birthday a little early, free dessert, a long power walk with a good friend in the sunshine, an intimate dinner for two right at our dining room table to celebrate Valentine's Day (with C, still sick, on the couch in the next room), a nice fire, and a big win by Michigan hockey, where someone we kind of know scored the winning goal. It was as perfect a day as is possible in the middle of winter. (Perfect days in the summer are another thing entirely.)

Year 2/Day 66

My DH ended up spending an extra night away on business: His flight was canceled due to weather. Neither of us was very happy about it but this morning, when I saw that a plane crashed in Buffalo last night killing 50 people, I was grateful. And now I'm grateful he's home.

Year 2/Day 65

I'm grateful for The Office. After three full days of being sick and still not feeling better, Clark needed a laugh, and so did I, so we settled in for some Netflix late in the afternoon and had a mini-marathon.

Year 2/Day 64

I took the Bad Puppy out to do her business tonight and all of a sudden a possum came out of nowhere and collided with the dog. Neither saw the other one coming and I quickly pulled the dog away from the possum, who went on her merry way. I'm grateful the dog didn't get bit and the possum didn't run into me.

Year 2/Day 63

The sun! Bright sun! Sixty degrees, warm, gusty wind, the smell of damp earth, everyone out and smiling, knowing this weather is a tease but also a reminder that spring really does come, even here in West Michigan. For all these things I'm grateful. Every now and then you really do get what you want, as well as what you need.

Year 2/Day 62

While playing in her first ever school basketball game, M got in there and mixed it up! She was nervous so I'm grateful she had a good time. (Also that C and I were able to find the school, which was way da heck out in the boonies a good hour north of here.)

Year 2/Day 61

Over the course of two nights we watched "American Beauty," a film that stays with me, in part because of Walter's gratitude in spite of everything. I'm grateful for this film, especially its final scene, in which Walter reviews his life and his death and comes to this conclusion:

"I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what’s happened to me, but it’s hard to stay mad when there’s so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I’m seeing it all at once and it’s too much and my heart fills up like a balloon that’s about to burst. And then I remember to relax and stop trying to hold onto it. And then it flows through me like rain and I can’t feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life."

I don't feel like my life is stupid or little, but I do know what he means about trying to hold it all, and I'm working on letting it flowing through me like rain instead of trying to hold onto it.

Year 2/Day 60

Tonight we made this really good egg dish (M calls it "quiche pizza") which calls for some stove-top cooking in a frying pan followed by baking in the same pan. Everything was going just swell--the smell was mouth-watering, my DH pulled it out of the oven at just the right moment, and I plated it up for everyone--until I, thinking that surely my peeps would want seconds, grabbed the METAL handle of the frying pan and seared the flesh off two of my fingers. I swore. I cried. Then I went looking for ice, but the ice machine is broken, apparently. I'm grateful for bags of frozen vegetables and for Tylenol and for the chocolate chip cookies that M made to make me feel better. They did. Thanks, M!

Year 2/Day 59

On this family video night, I'm grateful for Get Smart--a movie none of us had seen before and all of us loved. Truly a rare find.

Year 2/Day 58

M's team's first basketball game at home was this afternoon. The team is so large that not every player plays every game and M didn't play, but it was exciting nonetheless to watch the River Rats thunder up and down the floor. I'm grateful that M can experience the joys, sorrows, and especially camraderie that come from playing on a team sport. (And I love it that at the end of their huddles, they all yell "GO RATS!" before heading back onto the court.)

Year 2/Day 57

When do the birds stop singing, exactly? October? November? I never notice that they have until I hear them start up again in the spring. I heard the first one this morning when I took the dog out. My spirits soared briefly before they froze mid-air; it was zero degrees. I'm grateful for the hope of spring the birdsong brought, especially since that dang groundhog let me down.

Year 2/Day 56

I'm researching a particular industry for a client and as part of that I've been trying for weeks to get an interview with one particular person. I'm grateful the guy finally granted me what proved to be an extremely useful interview.

Year 2/Day 55

It's been weeks since M has been out to the barn. TC, the horse she's riding now, is completely booked with lessons. A slot opened up over the weekend, but I was out of town and not checking email, so we missed that opportunity. I'm grateful that today the person who normally takes a lesson on TC cancelled and that M didn't have anything else going after school, miraculously. So to the barn we went and never have I seen such a smile on my girl. It warmed the cockles of my heart (but not the tips of my toes). Totally worth it.