Doors

You know the saying, "when one door closes, another one opens"? I think it really holds true. Although I am not one to burn bridges, I usually don't like to go back to things I've left behind. It makes me feel, somehow, that I am regressing and not growing.

I like my new job and am grateful for the opportunities it presents. I thought about my old work life and I don't miss it at all. I don't miss the stress, the time consumption or the environment. I do, however, miss some of the people but I keep in touch with the ones who are forever friends.

I am looking forward to having a relaxing weekend. Maybe Green Market on Saturday. I have been looking at cleaning as "restoring order" and it helps me not hate it so much.

Because I am now a Federal Employee, I am off on Wednesday, Veteran's Day. Not that I don't appreciate the time off, it is just going to take getting used to . For now, I'll enjoy the weekend, live in the now, restore order, and keep moving forward through the new doors that continue to open up for me.

I haven't posted anything since July... I used to love to sit and blog. I guess I've had a little bit of a block lately. I am glad to be feeling well, working a job that is less stressful and full of possibilites and enjoying my son and his high school years. Things are much different than they were, much less stress, more time for the important things.

I am grateful to have a job, to be healthy and to have a great family. I am hoping to start being creative again and am looking to buy a new sewing machine. I haven't decided which one yet, but I would like some extras included. I have been sewing with a machine that was given to my mother for her wedding. It never let me down in the past, but the old gal has seen better days and I am looking forward to what the new models may offer. Of course, I would never give away the old, faithful Singer.

I 'll keep you posted on my decision. If you have any suggestions, I'm open!

This video will make you smile, guaranteed!

I hope you all had a chance to watch this video of a really happy and funny wedding entrance. What a great way to start a marriage!

Blog Hop

This is something fun I found today. Check out the Blog Hop! A great way to visit and support other bloggers out there. As for me, check out my honest scrap and some of my other posts; I think they speak for themselves. Happy Sunday and get to hoppin!

A Thunk on the Head.

How often do you see messages, signs, hints, or other things you shrug off as coincidence, that could quite possibly be a thunk on the head from God? For instance, when my Grandmother died recently, we buried her with my Grandfather in the local V.A. cemetary. I think about them often as I drive by the burial site and was mid-thought one day, when a beautiful pair of doves flew gracefully by! A sign from the other side that they, quite possibly, were thinking of me or that they were just fine "over there"!
Yesterday, I was in a little homegoods store, when I spotted a small sign that read "Trusting in God includes trusting in His timing". I couldn't believe the timing of this encounter! I have been struggling with this very thing for almost a year now and here was my thunk on the head!
Funny things, such as this, I believe are God's way of letting us know He is there, He is aware, and He is working on our problems. If you don't pay attention, you could quite possibly miss it!
Pay attention today. That little quirky "coincidence" could be your thunk!

Off to Georgia!

We leave today for our week-long baseball tournament in East Cobb, Georgia. Since this is such a big trip, Kaelan and I decided to try to make it a vacation AND baseball trip. We will leave today and drive a few short hours to Orlando where we will spend the night with my sister-in-law Dottie. My mother-in-law Maggie, who is 80ish, is having health issues and I will be checking in on her and spending the night.

While Kaelan and I were going to meet the team in Georgia on our own, my friend Palm Beach Cathy, her son Jared, and her daughters decided last minute to make the trip with us. They will pick us up in Orlando on Monday morning and we will drive up together. We will also be rooming together so stay tuned for the crazy updates. Two moms, two 15-year-old boys, an eight-year-old girl and a five-year-old girl all in a two room suite!

We'll either be much closer by the end of the week, or we will kill each other! I'll let you know how it goes!

Honest Scrap!

I was tagged for Honest Scrap by Abby, a friend from SITS. The goal is to post 10 things about myself that others may not know, and pass it on to 10 others for them to share as well, and link back to who tagged me. I must also list the others I "tag" so they can be visited by other readers for sharing and comments as well. OK, here goes...

1. I talk to God all the time. In my car, at the grocery store, at baseball games and when I exercise. I let Him know when I "get it," when I know He is thumping me on the head to get my attention, and when He is messing with me.
2. I struggle with being positive, hence the reason for my blog. It is so much easier for me to be negative and sarcastic.
3. I am a firm believer in 'what comes around, goes around.'
4. I am not a CAR woman. I could care less what I drive or what you drive.
5. I love animals and I use strange voices to "speak" for my pets. For example, my cat Opal yelled at me this morning and said, "Dammit, woman! I hate when you buy this cheap-ass cat food in the pink box!"
6. I secretly worry that I have not been the best parent I could have been.
7. I would love to shock everyone one day and do something so crazy and wild people would laugh about it for a long, long time.
8. I think I deserved to be treated better when I was a child.
9. My favorite color is yellow and sometimes pink, even though I am not a girlie-girl.
10. I am a hugger.
So that's as honest as I get for now. I will tag these 7 gals. Go visit and see what they have to say.

1. Joyce
2. Penny
3. Lindsay
4. Sheryl
5. Collette
6. Jane
7. Jen
8. Ann

Wimbledon Wow!

I really am not much of a tennis fan, but as I watched the Wimbledon finals on TV this morning, I had to take a moment to admire the athletic abilties of the two women competing against each other. Sisters Venus and Serena beat all other competitors to be matched against each other in the finals of this prestigious tournament. The odds of this are amazing and these women do this almost constantly year after year. What amazing female athletes they are! I am proud to say they live very close to our fair city of West Palm Beach.

It was Serena's turn to win this year (the younger of the two by 15 months) and as she held the trophy high, it was apparent how proud she was of her accomplishment.

Amazing talent should certainly be celebrated. What a great show!

Even Thumper's been cutting back...

I was talking to Alaska Kathi on the phone and I told her about my blogging woes. I don't always feel like blogging, so I don't, and then she or one of my family members will say something like, "Hey, what is going on with Gratitude Gal?" Well, Gratitude Gal cut back temporarily because I, quite frankly, have not had anything nice to say. In the movie Bambi, Thumper remembers what his mother told him, "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all..." For a while, my husband used to call any child of ours Thumper if they would get out of line, and they knew immediately what he was referring to. As of late, I have been dealing with crazy baseball parents, thoughtless family members, and laziness. I guess I need to snap out of it and get back to being grateful. I will dust off the blog, freshen it up my attitude and count my blessings. It isn't easy to be Gratitude Gal, so if you notice I haven't been around for a while, remember Thumper's line, and you'll understand.

Feels like 110 degrees!

Oh how fun is this?! The heat here in South Florida is unbearable. Yesterday, while melting on the baseball fields completely drenched in sweat, I tried to remember why I live here. Those 7 months of gorgeous weather are sometimes forgotten when the heat and humidity feel like it is 110 degrees outside. I slather with #70 SPF sunscreen and climb into my folding chair with the umbrella on top to watch my son play tournament baseball in this horrendous heat. I pray for some sort of a breeze but it does not come. I try to remember why I left the frigid cold of Erie to live here. A little snow might be kinda nice right about now.....