Moments After

I came here to tell you that I'm signed up for the Hectic to Harmonious Free Holiday Challenge that starts tomorrow!  Last year, it was THE thing that made me feel calmer and more appreciative of this time of year. I had a ton of fun checking the daily instagram pics of all the other Mamas slowing down, taking time, and loving their family up in meaningful ways.

 Because as my son decided, it is all antlers all the time from now until Christmas!

But I also wanted to tell you about a very hectic way to start a holiday. And to remind myself that I am still focusing on gratitude every Monday. I started my little gratitude practice, Giving Mondays on the first Monday after daylight's savings to take a minute to appreciate and give back to something wonderful in my life. Now it's week 5 of 16 weeks of darkness (and I may have skipped a few weeks but here goes!)

Today all my giving was offered to this ridiculously raucous and sweet dog of ours.

You see, moments after this photo was taken when I had just explained to her that we would be leaving for a flight that night which would take us away for a week, she began to get sick. Very, very sick, out of both ends and it was not good. It was a bloody mess. When we rushed her to the vet, they said our pooch needed to stay the night in urgent care hooked up to I.V's. We needed to catch a flight.

So began quite a stressful departure. My husband and I made a call we hoped we would not regret. We knew we would not cancel our trip and we would not spend the fortune it would cost to do surgery if she had ingested something that needed to be removed.  We would have to say good bye in that very moment. The kids had tears streaming down their faces as my husband and I tried not to cry.  It was likely that she would be just fine, but if she wasn't, we hugged her extra tight and told her how much we loved her.

The traffic started to get so bad that every street between our house and the airport was jammed. We finally arrived and waited nervously for the results of her x-rays while going through security. 

They were clear. She was going to be fine. Our pet sitter picked her and she started to recuperate quickly.  We relished our Florida vacation and returned home to our happy, healthy, bouncing, barking doggie.

  

So today, I soaked up the sun and gave this dog so much love and gratitude for staying with us (while images of another wonderful family vacation filled my heart, especially giant sloths, a manatee refuge and cousin salons.)

Magic Offering

As I was riding home today I saw a few of the last hanger-on-ers which looked like heart-shaped ornaments. Then I thought of my artist friend Colleen Attara. 

She cuts paper hearts out of junk mail and randomly sprinkles them as she goes about her day. They fall out of her pockets, a little magic offering. Today, for Giving Monday I sent her a little package full of my remnants from art school when I used to paint with soil and draw with stitching. I know they will right at home in her studio and I love imagining them there. It's a big part of me to give away, but it's the perfect person to receive it.

The last time I saw her, I bought this card. I love how she plays with words that feed my oceanic dreams. 

It's week two of Giving Mondays and I noticed gifts for us too. We just happened to stop by a neighborhood Little Free Library and picked up a pile of books that are perfect for us right now. Thank you!

What did you give and receive to and from those that inspire you today?

Giving Mondays

I remember the bright sunny days in the beginning of October during a time they call Indian summer.

Before they turned into a soggy, mushy mess, we piled them onto his chest

and she got her wish running like a wild pony with her herd of friends in the sun.

There was one Saturday when all I wanted was to get lost in a field of corn so green and tall.

Then we finished it off with a visit from the best dressed clowny Grandma

who was willing to watch the kids while my man and I went to a concert, a real loud, dance-all-night, rock and roll show.

With all this in mind, as I was ecstatically bee-bopping through the concert venue, I couldn't be more grateful to be out at night with my husband on an actual grown-up date. I remembered this time last year, when the clouds began to rule the sky and November fell into darkness at 4:30 in the afternoon, I felt a distinct Oh Shit feeling.  My friend and I call it "falling down the roller coaster hill." In the last two years that feeling was only the beginning of a deepening depression that lasted for months.  The depression would be so self-absorbing that everyone in my life was affected.

This year, it's not happening. I don't feel it at all. I'm looking forward to more dates with my hubby, the ski season, the holidays, ice skating, and the first snow. I've also been counting. From now until the end of February when the light comes our way again, there's about 16 weeks of dark days and I want to start a practice of giving.  Today was the first of the next sixteen mondays I'm calling #givingmondays.  

It's a promise, an offer I am making to the communities that inspire me during the darker days. Especially at this time of year, my circles of friends and family sustain me and I want us all to thrive. 

Day 1 : I volunteered for an extra commitment to my writing group.

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