Gramsy and Pops

So we've blogged quite a bit about the Johnsons. I haven't blogged as much about them since they've moved here, but that may be because we're spending more time together than we are blogging, now that they live 4-6 minutes (depending on the story) up the street. :)

I've posted the following picture once before - it's a picture of the first day we met Dave's parents in person on July 14, 2011:

They were excited to meet us and we were so happy to meet them, too. They expressed gratitude for our friendship with the Johnsons and for helping them feel welcome on their first travel assignment.

At this point, we had known the Johnsons for less than 5 months and they had done their first 3-month assignment near us and had then taken a second assignment about an hour and a half north of us, coming down to see us and stay with us most weekends. We excel at squeezing all we can into whatever time we can whenever we can.

Well, fast forward to a couple of months ago - September 2013. The Johnsons had now done 6 travel assignments, including a longer-than-usual one in Arkansas to see family, and had also lived "permanently" in Springfield, MA for about 8 months. They had gotten a one-year lease on a house and were trying to have a good attitude about having to settle down in that area, deep down sad to be far from us and this area (we were sad, too). We had visited their new home up there, which had helped a little, but they were having a hard time feeling like that area was really "home" and we were not loving them being that far away.

Then, in February, they found out they would have to move here. Remember that ecstatic, ecstatic, ecstatic post, complete with video and music? We were all ridiculously excited. And then in July, they officially moved here, closing on a house just 5 minutes up the road from us. It has been WONDERFUL.

So, in September, just a couple of months after the Johnsons had moved here, Dave's parents came to visit again. By now, it had been over two years since we'd met them (how does time fly by so fast?!?) and we'd now hosted the Johnsons at our house too many times to count, we'd visited the Johnsons in their various places often, we'd Skyped with them now and then, we'd done day trips together, we'd eaten out numerous times, we'd texted daily, and we'd missed each other non-stop. And we'd celebrated mightily when they found out they were moving here.

In other words, this amazing friendship had done nothing but blossom and strengthen even more in the 2+ years since we'd seen Dave's parents, Fran and John (or, as they are known to our kids, Gramsy and Pops).

When they came up to visit, we saw them every day they were here, except for the first day. Funny story there - we didn't want to intrude on their family time, so we drove right past their house and knew his parents were there, thought about stopping in, but again, didn't want to intrude on their time together. They all said we totally should've dropped in, and looking back, we really should have, because it is the ONLY day we didn't see them. And that's not because we suddenly started intruding on their time together. They invited us to hang out with them every. single. day. in whatever they were doing.

So, here's a sneak peek into that REALLY fun visit - we laughed and talked and joked and ate and went out and stayed in the entire week. We loved it. It's so easy and comfortable to hang out together!

We spent an entire afternoon on our back patio eating Brie cheese, 

fresh grapes from our grapevine, and homemade cookies!

Since our business is in our house, 

Mark was able to pop out as much as possible

 and hang out with us!

They brought us a very thoughtful Arkansas package with all kinds of treats for us,

including reindeer that John carved himself!

We visited a local dairy together and had homemade ice cream. Yum!

(We had also eaten at Friendly's on another night).

We ate at our favorite local Vietnamese restaurant together.

Since going out for ice cream three times in a week might be considered excessive,

we opted for frozen Yogurt this night.

On the morning they left, they all wanted to spend time at our house.

I kid you not.

So we made one of our famous, big farmhouse breakfasts.

We had dutch babies, fresh sausage, etc.

And Christie made her famous homemade crepes. Yum!

Mark and company

Stacy and company

The Folsons!

We use that name to describe the 8 of us.

It uses part of our name and part of theirs.

It's very handy, not only in conversation,

but also when we eat out and need to put our names on a list.

Rather than hemming and hawing about whose name to use,

we simply say, "Folsons! Party of 8!"

I wasn't sure how Fran and John would feel about the Folson name.

Turns out?

They love it!

(Our camera was on the fritz, so I'm sorry some of these are fuzzy).

All the Johnsons

Fran and John and our family

Here we are again!

The 6 crazy adults - we laughed so much this trip!

(Not going to lie, we cried a bunch, too).

Fran and I are both pretty emotional.

I cried when they left. We miss them!

Fran and I text now and then, 

but of course that's not the same.

Good thing they're coming up to visit again soon!

Gramsy and Pops and their Folson grandkids

Before they left, they gave all 4 kids spending money for our trip to the beach. How awesome is that?!?

Oh, I'm not done yet! We're going to fast forward yet again to this past week when Dave had his first-of-many weekly hospitalizations. We had his boys here most of the nights he was in the hospital so that Christie could spend some nights up there with him. Everyone around here was so great, getting them meals, snack baskets for the kids, and gas cards to help defray their costs. Just amazing! 

It was a pretty crazy week, but also a good one. One of the highlights was getting this fun surprise in the mail:

Fran sent us a really beautiful "thank you" basket for snacks and fruits.

We broke into it that very day and shared with the boys.

One of the treats was penguin-shaped "goldfish" crackers.

Brennan loves penguins, so we were pretty excited to show him those.

By sheer luck, the basket contained many of our favorite treats!

It was SO thoughtful of her to do that!

Here's a picture from the kids' playing that week.

So, after Dave got out of the hospital, we Folsons had a celebratory dinner together (don't get Dave started on the hospital food) and the next night, they invited us over for games. We readily accepted the invite and went with our arms filled with with a bunch of games, food, stuff the boys had left behind, tupperware, and . . . a fun package that had come in the mail to our house. We were to open it all together. We Skyped with Fran and John, so they could see us open it. It was a GREAT package! They sent advent calendars for all the Folson grandkids:

 

Folson grandkids and advent calendars from Gramsy and Pops

 

And these gems - Fran and John/Gramsy and Pops 

had these ornaments personalized for our two families - 

do you see what they say?

I told you she loves the name!

We LOVE these!

Ours is hanging front and center on our tree.

Very thoughtful - we love, love, love it!

Just a few more months and they'll be here again - we're so excited to get to visit with them and do more fun stuff together. They show us such gratitude and such love. It means so much. We are so grateful for how they've welcomed us into their family as if we're their own. Fran tells me repeatedly that she truly feels that way and I have to say that she shows us, too. It means a lot to us.

Thank you, Fran and John/Gramsy and Pops!
We love you!

A Week in the Life - the "By the Numbers" Edition

Looking back at our Week in the Life posts it looks like I had a fairly easy run at the psychiatric hospital, and for the most part, I stay busy but not excessively so. I get a handful of phone calls throughout the day, and I rarely get a phone call after midnight. I've had such a crazy start to the week (Sunday was a full moon) that Stacy said to me, "You should blog about this." As part of my therapy, I think I will.

Tuesday - By the Numbers

30 - the number of charts I handled at the hospital in the morning (it's not as many as it seems, since some of those just need a signature or an order)
33 - the number of phone calls I received from nurses at the hospital between leaving on Tuesday morning and waking up on Wednesday
7 - the number of phone calls that came in after midnight
1.5 - the maximum number of hours I slept between phone calls
6 - the most phone calls I got about one single patient
12 (approx.) - the number of times my family heard me say "Tylenol 650 mg p.o. q4h PRN pain."
1 - the number of times I was overheard saying, "No, that patient is lying to you"
30 - the number of minutes it takes for me to interview a new acupuncture patient
6 - the number of phone calls that came in while I was talking to that new patient
0 - the number of phone calls made by the same nurse about the same patient during that time
5:45 - (a.m.) the point at which Scout barked at the phone because she was sick of being woken up
7 - the number of phone calls I received during the hour and a half I spent at the coffeehouse for our NaNoWriMo write-in
775 - the number of words I wrote during that write-in (don't even ask me how I pulled that off)
3 - the number of those words that I think were any good.
4 - hospital-free days starting Thursday morning
1 - number of continuous smiles I'll be wearing for those four days

Random Thoughts - Full Circle

Mark and I are way behind on our word count

 and we're not particularly thrilled with either story we're writing.

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My computer is so slow, it's positively maddening.

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Slept like crap yesterday - all of us.

Let it be known that once you start having kids,

you stop getting good regular sleep.

People talk about sleepless nights with babies.

Oh it's not just babies.

It's ALWAYS.

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Max couldn't sleep because the wind was SO loud

(it really is crazy loud in his room when it's windy).

Kate had a bad dream.

Once she woke me up, I couldn't sleep for an hour

(and I had just fallen asleep - 

you know how you shake all over when you get woken up

 right after you've fallen asleep?).

Then my mind raced on and off all night.

I was daydreaming about ways to infuse chamomile into 

various foods and drinks.

And Mark got calls every hour all night long.

And - get this:

we had gone to bed early to get a good night's rest.

That'll teach us.

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Made myself a scrambled egg this morning.

It was not good.

Eggs only taste good when someone else makes them.

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We have kids staying over at our house

5 of the next 7 days.

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5 of the next 7 days.

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I better get cracking on that chamomile thing.

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Why do I always want to blog more when I'm supposed to be writing a novel?

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Also, I started Fangirl, because I have a huge love of Rainbow Rowell

and no self discipline.

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Our kids talk to us A LOT.

I'm not complaining - I love it.

I'm just saying you really notice it when you're trying to write

50,000 words in 30 days.

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Today we have so many things going on

(sometimes multiple things at the same time)

and I'm looking ahead and seeing

how very behind I am on, well, everything.

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I also keep finding "To Do" lists.

Sometimes it's fun to find them and see things you can cross off.

But it's also discouraging to find them

and see how many things you have neglected to do.

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And this isn't because of NaNoWriMo.

That's an added bonus.

That's supposed to be the fun in all this stuff to do.

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Except that I'm not loving our stories.

They have potential and good parts,

but I haven't hit a stride with either of them yet.

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I'm hoping that writing this blog post

is like a warm-up writing exercise that really gets me going today,

because we are ridiculously behind on our word counts.

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10 Days of Gratitude

Okay, yeah, so I got behind. Such is life around here. What else is new?

I'm am grateful . . . 

8. To be a wife - this is my tricky way to get around saying I'm grateful for Mark, because I'm feeling the pressure to come up with "creative and different" things like some others in my family are doing. They're not pressuring me. This is all purely self-imposed. Anyway, I like being married. It suits me. I don't think it's for everyone, but it is certainly for me. I love, love, love being a wife. I'm not perfect at it (who is?), not by a long shot, but I like being in a partnership with my best friend.

9. To be a mom - this is my tricky way to get around saying I'm grateful for my kids, due to the aforementioned explanation. I love being a mom. Like, love. I don't think motherhood is for everyone either. I can respect people who say they don't want to have kids because they know they don't want them - honestly, those people probably shouldn't have them. Me? I love my kids. I love hanging out with them, talking with them, working on things with them, learning with them, reading with them, snuggling with them. I love it. There are aspects of motherhood that are hard and it is, no question, 24-7. But it's one of the best things I've ever, ever, ever done and I'm so very grateful that I got two awesome kids who help me and love me as I figure this whole motherhood thing out, because really, it's an on-going, evolving process. I love my kids. They are, without a doubt, two of the best people I know.

10. Summer - Hot temperatures, shining sun, sandals, beach, sunny days, watermelon, bicycles, reading outside, ice cream, frozen yogurt, picnics, barbecues, hanging out on the patio, going to the park, fresh fruit, the smell of food on the grill . . . I really love summer.

11. Scout - OMG, I love this dog more than words can say. I swore I wouldn't become one of "those people," but oh well, I did. I have no regrets. I unabashedly love this sweet, adorable, snuggly, happy, demanding, funny, playful, loving little pup that has made our happy house even more of a happy home. She makes me happy. When people around me drive me crazy, I look at her and am reminded that all is well. She is the BEST and we loooooooooooooooove her.

12. Health - This is something I try not to take for granted. I am grateful that we are all in good health. It is something I think about a lot in our choices - we eat well, we value sleep (we could get to bed earlier), we drink a lot of water, we're pretty active, we have good friends, we have pretty good life balance, I like how I feel when I exercise (admittedly, I could do more of that). I know a lot of people are struggling in one way or another with poor health, for whatever reasons, and I know it's really hard, not just physically, but emotionally, too. I'm grateful for good health and try to use it for good, if that makes sense.

13. Pencils - I like writing with pencils. I'll generally choose a pencil over a pen. I like the sound of it scratching on paper. I like how it feels to write with them. And for some reason, my handwriting is a wee bit better with pencils.

14. Sushi - Yeah, I've probably said this one before, but hey, I love it. Whoever thought to wrap seaweed around rice and all kinds of good veggie and fish goodness on the inside and then eat that with chopsticks by dipping it in soy sauce and wasabi is a freaking genius.

15. Words - I loooove words. I keep a list of words I like (nerd). I like the sound of certain words. I love when I think of a great word to express what I'm trying to say. I love having lots of word choices. I feel frustrated when I can't think of a good word to use (this can be a frustrating side effect of knowing more than one language - sometimes there are great words in one language that don't exist in another). I get excited when others use great words around me. I hate dumbing things down or seeing others feel like they have to dumb things down. I love words. Also? Grammar is so much fun.


16. Feeling clean - I love how I feel after taking a long, hot shower and getting dressed in clean, comfy clothes. It feels good to be shower-fresh clean, smelling like soap and feeling good. I took a shower later in the day today, so as I type this I am feeling fresh and clean and I love it.

17. Fuzzy Blankets - I love cuddling with fuzzy blankets, especially when watching TV. It could be one hundred degrees out and I'd grab a fuzzy blanket to watch TV anyway. I love that Scout loves them and that whenever we sit with one, she is quick to jump up and sit with us. She even demands it of us if we sit down and forget to grab a blanket first. We have a basket full of blankets in our living room. We use them all the time. As I type this, at least 4 or 5 blankets are out of the basket - I am using one, Kate is using one, Scout is sleeping on one, and I'm pretty sure Max just walked through the room with one wrapped around him. They're so snuggly! Mark's next to me while I use one - so I guess he's involved in this, too. Even when guests come over, they know to help themselves to them, too. Sometimes we're all sitting around with them while we talk, watch shows, eat, play games, you name it.

* * * * * * * * * *

Mark's List - I am grateful for . . .

8. Holidays. I really like the feel of autumn, not only because I like the slight chill in the air, but because I love the feeling of the holidays. I've mentioned it before in other posts, but this time of year has a lot of nostalgia associated with it. Stacy and I started dating during this time of year. We got married in the winter. And we have so many wonderful family traditions at this time of year.

9. Movies. Sometimes we get on kicks and watch a bunch of movies, and sometimes we go a while between them, and lately we've seen a lot of really good movies. I know Stacy has an ongoing blog post all about the great movies we've seen and she keeps adding to it. We watched "Flipped" with the kids the other night and had a great time. Watching a movie is a really nice diversion.

10. Saturday night date nights. Last night Thing 2 and I spent a number of hours unlocking characters on Mario Kart and beating I don't know how many levels on Super Mario Brothers Wii. A nice night indeed!

11. Health. When you have good health it can be really easy to overlook how fortunate you are. I for one am really grateful that our family has been so fortunate to avoid not only major illnesses but also a lot of minor issues along the way.

12. Adventuresome eaters. It's so awesome to have kids that are up for anything. Sri Lankan cuisine fused with Middle Eastern appetizers? Sure! Seriously, they will try anything, which means we've all had some really great food through the years. It's almost a challenge to figure out what to cook at home sometimes since literally anything is a possibility. Nice problem to have, right?

13. Books. I've got a pile a mile high (not literally) of books I really want to read. I feel like I'm going from great read to great read and cannot even keep up with all I want to read. I mean, we were at a book store yesterday and I found out one of my favorite authors has two books I knew nothing about. And I already have about a dozen books to read.

14. Love. It is an incredible feeling to be loved by someone else. And it is an even more incredible feeling to love someone. I'm very lucky to have experienced (and still be experiencing) both.

15. Gratitude. It may seem a bit odd to say I'm grateful for gratitude, but feeling like I have things in my life that I appreciate makes me appreciate my life that much more. There's got to be some profound philosophy in there somewhere . . .

16. Fatherhood. I love having the chance to be a father to two great kids. I'm far from perfect, but I appreciate the chance I have to learn from them and try to make their lives the best they can be.

17. Humor. It's great to laugh, and I always know when it's been a while between good laughs. There is nothing like the release that comes from a good belly laugh, but even the little chuckles and smiles can be so therapeutic. There's enough sorrow and heartache in the world. A little levity once in a while is so healing.

Random Thoughts - "I Should Be Doing NaNo" Edition . . .

Every year, so many good books come out in October and November!

 NaNoWriMo temptations!!

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People who are defensive and don’t own their crap – pet peeves of mine.

 OWN YOUR CRAP.

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Ever feel like you spend way too much time trying to help people

 who love their excuses and don't own their crap?

Seriously. OWN YOUR CRAP.

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Am I the only person who likes summer better than fall?

So many people call this their favorite time of year.

There are things I love, but the colder weather is NOT one of them.

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Found the Vera Dietz book!

 $2 goes to Kate!

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Kate says that she is always so sad when she sees

 a sad kid who has dropped his or her ice cream cone.

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Speaking of sad.

Our kids very, very rarely ask for anything.

They just do NOT have the "gimmies" at all.

And when they DO get excited for something, 

they tend to save up for it.

Poor Max has had his eye on a specific Nerf gun for a while now.

He has been saving for months (they get $1 spending money/week).

Now that he has saved enough, it's a discontinued item.

On top of that,

when he finds one on eBay,

he keeps getting outbid.

 (They're selling for a bit more than what he's saved

 now that they're discontinued, plus that pesky shipping).

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My daughter took a 1.5 hour break from our Gilmore Girls date

(and she LOVES our Gilmore Girls dates)

 because she wanted to watch a webinar on character development in writing.

 I kid you not. 

All. Her.

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We have had a house full of kids A LOT lately.

 We host at least a dozen things a month here. It’s fun.

I love older kids!

 It’s also nice to enjoy the quiet afterward.

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We're getting to that stage where your kids grow like crazy

and use expensive "toys."

We've recently replaced our Wii and an iPod

 and Max's laptop is currently on its last leg.

Oh! And shoes and clothes -

They are outgrowing them like crazy!

We are replacing shoes sometimes every few months - 
 I kid you not!

And winter coats and pants and and and . . .

Holy moly.

It's almost comical to think of those early years of buying diapers.

Diapers have nothing on all of this stuff.

Oh, and books! So. Many. Books.

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Our daughter likes to remind us that she is coming up on driving age.

Oh boy.

I know the kids are eyeing the Saturn,

but speaking of being on its last leg . . . 

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I used to love getting the mail.

 Now I’m terrified of it.

 PTSD from that stupid IRS mistake this past summer.

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Our kids spent October counting down to NaNoWriMo,

 completely skipping Halloween countdowns – is that odd?

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It's ironic that Max likes dressing up so much,

because he resisted it as a toddler at Halloween time.

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We spent all day Saturday at a fantastic kid-lit festival.

We attended tons of great workshops and lectures and signings.

We got to talk to so many fascinating authors and illustrators.

It went by way too fast.

Kate's friend Mary was in town so we took her along with us.

It was a GREAT event.

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I’ve had bangs since before it was cool.

Take that, fashion trends.

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I love fuzzy socks.

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Every once in a while, we play this game

 where we play songs on our iPods

 and see who can "buzz in" first to guess the song and artist.

Recently our kids each "buzzed in" and guessed

 a Stevie Wonder song (Max) and a Bill Withers song (Kate).

That's all kinds of awesome.

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Both of our kids are what neither Mark nor I am – 

an older sister with a younger brother

 or a younger brother with an older sister.

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We spent an evening with Edgar Allen Poe.

Double date and everything!

Very dark and so very different from our evenings with Charles Dickens,

but also so well done.

Dave, Christie, Stacy, Mark (with Edgar Allen Poe)

7 Days of Gratitude

Posting together seems to be working well, so we'll do that with these, too. Maybe we're in the mode since we're writing books together. I don't know. But either way, here we go.

Every November, we put up a big poster board or a big sheet of butcher paper and all month long, we write down things for which we're grateful. We set out a box of crayons and anyone can write down anything they want.

I think gratitude is healthy. Year round, we discuss being thankful before every meal and before bed, and of course we add the extra special traditions every November. Why not add some blog posts to the mix? The kids are doing daily posts. Mark and I are doing a handful of these throughout the month.

Stacy's List - I am grateful for . . .

1. Funny TV Shows - Freaks and Geeks, Friends, New Girl, I Love Lucy, Modern Family, Malcolm in the Middle, Go On, Frasier, Big Bang Theory . . . I love being able to tune into a fictional show and get lost in it for a little while and laugh and laugh and laugh.

2. Games - I love to play games. I'm a big fan of all the new European tabletop-style games that are becoming more well-known in the states, and I also like traditional games. Some of my favorites include Settlers of Catan (all versions), Trivia Games, Ticket to Ride, Scruble, and Smallworld. I also enjoy playing Mario Kart Wii as a family.

3. Food - I think food is one of life's great pleasures. I love all kinds of ethnic foods, particularly Mexican and Japanese. My favorite homemade meal is chicken enchiladas (which we're making and delivering for co-op tonight!) and I also love bacalhau (Portuguese codfish). I'm a big fan of seafood and of course, sushi, sushi, sushi.

4. Sunshine - I have a positive, visceral reaction to sunlight. On a cloudy day, when the sun breaks through and shines, I feel an immediate difference in my mood. It's palpable. I love bright, natural light, sunny days, and summer warmth. I am grateful for sunshine.

5. Books - Reading is great. I love when I get on a kick and read several great books in a row. Some of my all-time favorite books are Rebecca, Jane Eyre, To Kill A Mockingbird, and the entire Harry Potter Series. Some other favorites that get me excited include The Thirteenth Tale, Shadow of the Wind, Water for Elephants, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Wonder, The Fault in our Stars, The Chosen, Perks of Being a Wallflower, and Eleanor & Park.

6. Friends - I am grateful for my friends. I love the sense of community you get from good relationships with others. To me, this is a big part of what life is all about - the relationships we form and value and enjoy with others, whether we're related or not. Ever since college, we haven't ever lived near extended family, and while people may think that's lonely, for us it's not. It strengthens us as a family and we're grateful for the friends we have who become like family.

7. Blogging - This one is a special shout out to the many people who make blogging so much more fun by reading and following and participating through comments. I'm going to go ahead and specifically mention some people who are special to me because they always take the time to do all of that. I mean, I love to write for the pleasure of writing itself, but blogging is a great way to share and interact with others and of course that only works if others also participate.

So a big, special, particular thank you goes to Mark, Kate, Emily, LMW, and Jimmy - you guys are awesome to always comment. I love that I can count on that and I get so excited to hear from you. And I do not want to neglect other awesome commenters - Max, Dave, Nevillegirl, Jim, Sherri, Kim . . . thank you, thank you! I love to hear from you - you guys are great. To ALL of you: without your comments, I'm just talking to myself. Thanks for helping me feel heard and appreciated. I hope you know that I appreciate you, too. (And if any of you are lurking in the shadows, come out and play!).


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Mark's list. I'm grateful for . . .

(It is late and I'm severely tempted to write the first things that come to mind--family, friends, etc.--and it's not that I'm NOT grateful for those things. In fact, it's quite the opposite. I'd like to come up with the unexpected this year. That's all.)

1. My family. OK. I cheated. I just feel like I'm not accurately expressing my true feelings of gratitude if I don't list them first. I have an incredible wife, and two fantastic children, who are really more like little adults in training. We have a wonderfully neurotic canine, too.

2. Autumn sunsets. Lately we've been noticing some great evening skies. I don't know if any other season has the same kind of sunsets that autumn does with its brilliant oranges and yellows, and the amazing cloud patterns we've seen.

3. Writing. I don't think I'm a natural writer, and I don't even know that writing is my best form of expression. Although, the spoken word lets me down fairly often, too. Anyway, with each passing year I appreciate how therapeutic and rejuvenating the writing process can be.

4. Volunteering. We have a lot of chances throughout the year to do various volunteer activities. Our recent involvement with the Special Olympics has been especially fun.

5. Intelligence. I'm not talking about me. I'm talking about how great it is to meet and deal with people that are able to discuss a variety of topics with enough depth to feel intellectually challenged and rewarded. There is nothing like a good debate to stretch the brain to its limits.

6. Logic. I took a logic class in college once and thoroughly enjoyed it. There is something comforting about being able to break down a line of thinking into logical functions so that you can really start to assess the thought process involved in coming to various conclusions. Even a cursory knowledge of logic and logical fallacies will open your mind to how emotional we as human beings tend to be.

7. Individuality. How great is it that we all have our own personalities? It comes with a whole host of challenges, true, but in the end this diversity of thought and characteristics makes life way more interesting.