Knitting in the Shadows

Gratitude - Acts of Kindness

The organizers of these 15 days of gratitude pegged day four as a day to celebrate acts of kindness.

We're going to start with an act of kindness that let me have coffee this morning ... my dear friend Colleen came over for Knit Night last night, and graciously stopped by the store to bring me milk for my coffee.  That meant I did not have to go out on a night when I was just too darned tired.

And then, my dear friend Mary agreed to pick up Kitty from her performance and bring her home (Mary was actually pretty close to the performance place, and was coming to visit...but still).  Again, I was saved from trekking out into the world on an evening when I just wanted to stay home.

Little things.

But such a difference they made to me!

I am so grateful to HAVE knit night, and to have such wonderful friends who are so good to me.

 

Gratitudes... Day Three

I'm grateful for the Humane Society.

On day three, I picked up a beautiful cat who comes to us with the name Casper.  Even though it is, in many people's eyes, very appropriate for an all white cat, I'd change it except that dear Casper has been Casper for years.  He went to the Humane Society after his former human died.

Sadness.

At yet... so grateful that there is a place where families of those who die can take long loved pets so that they can find new homes with new families to love them.

I'm also grateful to the vets in town, all of whom have signed on to donate the first pet visit for animals coming out of the Humane Society.  This way, we get to introduce the new fur family members to their doctors without being hit with the vet bill on top of the adoption fees.  We get to be sure that our new friend is healthy, and to have someone already in our corner who has at least met that pet should the dear creature get injured or sick.

And, I'm extraordinarily grateful to te wonderful benefactor at the Humane Society who has set up a sort of scholarship for new pet owners:  Whenever someone adopts two (or more I suppose, but certainly two) cats who are older than one year, that benefactor pays the second cat's adoption fee!  Thus, we were able to adopt Midnight and Casper for one adoption fee.

And finally, I'm grateful to have another several days off to help the new kitties adapt to their new home and to the other fur folk in our house.  With luck, by next Monday when I first have to go to class, everyone will have settled into a moderately calm interaction with one another.

I would be even more grateful if Zara weren't being such a princess about it all.  She's quite certain we've all gone mad, what with bringing CATS! (Cats ... can you believe it??? CATS!!) into her house.

She seems to have forgotten that she too is a cat.

More Gratitude

Okay, I'm a little late with yesterday's gratitude post.

And I'm grateful for your patience.

Yesterday was one of those days when it's hard to focus on the positive things. 

The morning went well.  I started by pilling the cat (Midnight came to us in the final stages of recovering from the urinary tract infection his prior owners didn't bother to check out with the vet).  That went well. 

No, honestly.  It did.  I'm grateful to work with a cat who doesn't turn taking pills into a big production. (This evening I get to find out whether Casper is also complacent about taking pills).

The morning then progressed into more financial paperwork.  That went well, I suppose, but it's still annoying to have to double check every charge and every payment for a year's worth of medical records.  It took me this long to actually GET all the information about where they'd allocated our payments.  I'm grateful to be savvy enough to know how to do this, and persistent enough to make them give me the information.

I'm also grateful that I'll get to start the new year with a clean record. (I'm ignoring that I'll have to keep monitoring so closely).

The afternoon went to hell, and things pretty much stayed that way.

I'm VERY grateful to my dear friend David, who once again came to my aid.  He came over and reminded me of things I know in my head, but seem to forget when the day gets hard.

And I'm grateful that you, my blog readers, tolerate me whining ambiguously without actually laying out the details of the crappening that befell our house last month, or the lingering recovery from it all that's likely to crop up in a post now and then.

And finally, I'm grateful to have relocated my camera, so that I can once again take pictures of the knitting that actually is happening.

Happy New Year! and time for more gratitude

The folks who brought us 30 Days of Gratitude in November are firing things up again, suggesting we start our years with 15 days of Gratitude.

I kind of like that idea.  December was a very rough month here in Shadowland, but even so, there were things to be grateful for.  (A recap - my dear friends came to my rescue, and held me in their hearts and homes as if I were their own sister; my mother came to stay with me and take care of ME on what felt like a moments notice, I was in time to take Golf Pro to the hospital before his situation caused lasting permanent damage, my father, step-mother and dear dear cousin came to visit, and did more taking care of me, my kids and I made it through our finals without failing all our classes despite the turmoil, we pulled off a respectable holiday celebration, and ended the year on a good note.)

But now, I'm going to pause to look at what I have to be grateful for TODAY.

My day started with a nice breakfast shared with just me and Golf Pro.  He bought bacon this morning, and I fixed us Italian scrambeld eggs to go with it.  It was a yummy breakfast, and it was nice to have a peaceful breakfast together.

Midnight (Bookworm's wonderful "new" 9 year old cat) has been integrated into the household. (Okay, there are still wee growl fests when Zara (cat who believes the house is hers and hers alone) encounters him, but there has been no yowling, no fights, and Phoebe (the dog) hasn't tried to chase the old fellow around.

I was able to dismantle the new artifical Xmas tree without harm to myself or the tree, and got all the ornaments, tree skirt, and tree safely stowed away in the hall closet.  I'm grateful both for the ability to get it done without damage -- and for the motivation and stamina to get it done TODAY.

My efforts at cleaning over the past week have not dissolved yet -- my house still looks good! (Do not look in the garage).

I actually remembered to get that bag of donations to the goodwill yesterday.

My parents are all healthy - and I got to talk to them all this morning.

My children are all healthy too.

Oh, wait -- I seem to be healthy!  We're on a roll!!

The pattern I designed for an afghan I've been commissioned to make is working the way I hoped it would.

and best of all.... right now, today, there is no drama in my house!