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Day 16: Gratitude with Liz
A Sum of Its Parts Hello! It’s Liz, hijacking Nan’s blog for today. It’s a glorious day in Michigan. The condo we’re in is walking distance from…everything. We’ve had great food, great ice cream, and a glass or two of wine, so it was good we walked. Although I don’t have the heart link with Michigan that Nan has, I do love it here. The World Wranglers have been trash talking the past few days about the Dog Days Kristi’s suffering in Ohio (I’m not sure she likes us anymore 😊), but we’re in mellow weather here and it is good not only for the disposition but for the soul…
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Day 15: Gratitude and We’re on Retreat!
It’s been a great day! Liz and I set off this morning in the rain, which, while dampening our hair did not dampen our spirits! Although the rain made Liz’s hair get big and mine to droop, like the ears of a basset hound. However, that’s why God made hair clips, right? We meandered up to Grand Haven. Took our time traveling through the the corn fields of Indiana and enjoyed a tour of the campus at Notre Dame in South Bend, which has changed a lot since the last time we were through. We took the back roads into Benton Harbor and realized that, even though lunch sounded good,…
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Day 14: Gratitude and We’re Off…
It’s actually early morning of Day 15, but I’m calling this one Day 14 because I fell into bed yesterday after a long, long day of work and then a chili supper over at Son and DIL’s cottage. I got quite a bit done, so that was a good thing. Son piled DIL and I into his bass boat and we took a quick spin around the lake before supper, which was quite lovely! Totally different boating experience than riding in Husband’s pontoon, but just as enjoyable. We’d all discussed swimming, but decided the lake was probably way too cold for Grandboy and actually for us, too, so the boat…
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Days 12 & 13: Gratitude and Yes, I’m behind
Do you remember me saying that I was determined to be grateful each day, even if the most I could say was that I was grateful the day was over? That’s where I was yesterday and instead of posting it, I let it slide. I’m glad I did because today is better and later last night, it was lovely because I got to put Grandboy to bed, read Dogman with him, and sing and cuddle until Mommy came home to tag-team with me. There is such joy in being with that kid–and don’t get me wrong, he can be a royal PIA and sometimes stubborn and sometimes a real pill.…
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Days 10 & 11: Gratitude and Remembrance
Gratitude for September 10 and 11:FamilyFriendsAll the people in the country who serve the publicAn enjoyable beer-30 with our lake pals last nightThe LakeI am able to workWritingWriting Retreat is just four days awayGoing to see Grandboy tonightFaith that our house is coming…
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Day 8: Gratitude and Brothers
Okay, one brother–mine. He’s turning 64 today and I’ve already texted him a greeting, to which he responded, “Next birthday is 64A. Love you.” I love him, too, of course, and I am intrigued at the idea of switching to letters for birthdays. All in all, it sounds like a good system to me. Thoughts? It’s a rainy day here at the lake–chilly and a little gloomy, but I’m working anyway, so who cares? I’m beginning to think that we may be done with swimming for this season and that makes me sad. I love to lake swim and right now, I don’t belong to a gym because we are…
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Day 7: Gratitude and Work
I often forget to be grateful for having work I love–the writing is work and I consider being a novelist my career, but I am also an editor pretty much full time, too. I love being an editor, polishing other writers’ books is incredibly rewarding. When I used to be strictly a nonfiction editor, my fellow general reference book editors and I joked that our job was to make the authors of the books sound as smart as they probably were. Sometimes it was a challenge, but wow, did I ever learn a lot of interesting stuff from working on those books. Editing fiction is a whole different ballgame, but…
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Days 5 and 6: Gratitude and I’m Trying…
So, I missed a day. Expect that to happen, okay? Life just gets in the way sometimes. I’m trying very hard to take each day as it comes. To stay in the here-and-now, as my mom used to preach. It’s hard. I’m worrying about everything, which is pointless, really, because none of it is anything I can control. So…onward to gratitude because that’s how we make it through the days of feeling completely untethered, right? Gratitude (you get 10 because of the whole missing-a-day thing):The lake, which has become too cold to swim in due to cooler temps, but is still perfectCool temps that make deck sitting and sleeping a…
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Day 4 Gratitude and Sunshine
It’s a beautiful day here at the lake–lots of sun and fluffy clouds and lovely temperatures in the 70s. It’s quiet in the trailerhood since it’s Wednesday and the weekenders aren’t here. I’m enjoying a lovely breeze through the window and the scent of fall is kind of in the air. I took my itchy, sore left eye to an eye doctor in town this morning and she diagnosed it with severe inflammation due to allergies, prescribed steroid eye drops and no contact lenses for a week. One drop and my eye already feels better, so win for me. I started on Brendan’s story yesterday and I think I’m liking…
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Day 3 Gratitude and Dearest Son
I love my kid–he is my heart and I’ve always maintained that if I am still breathing then he’s okay. Even if he’s not great, he’s okay, and we can handle whatever comes along. Sometimes “okay” is all a parent has to hold onto. Son is brilliant–like the scary kind of brilliant where his brain is so full that you believe his head must ache at times. He is pure engineer, always thinking, solving problems, analyzing issues, which makes him fabulous at his chosen career as a national security analyst. He is also a caretaker and feels a heavy responsibility to me and Husband–as an only child, that’s natural. The…