friday present: from sneezing to reciprocity.


I'd like to propose a late morning coffee toast to Saturday: the new Friday. Thank you all so much for your kind, supportive notes. I've managed to weather the hiccups of the week, showing few bruises. And I sure could use a little gratitude trip. 

Right now I'm thankful for these little things...

A good sneeze.

{lavender}
You know sometimes there's that sneeze that sneaks up on you half way (ah-ah-ah) several times, before you're able to let 'er choooo. I've had one of those for a couple days now, and it's such a relief to finally sneeze the ah-ah-ah out out out! 

Plus it's nice to be blessed afterward. Most of our sneeze blessings have to do with health. In Spanish we say: Salud! meaning health. In Turkish it's çok yaşa! Which essentially wishes the sneezer a long life. The sneezer replies sen de gör. Roughly meaning: may you see (a long life) too.

Last night's massage that finally loosened that knot from my shoulder.

{breathe}
Trapped sneezes, persistent kinks... what gives? My body seems to be clenching in on itself. Time to breathe and release.

Do overs. 

{yarn by abby powell}
The good thing is, we can just drop it. Let go of what needs to be released and stop resisting what *is* (aka whatever it is we're fighting against). It just takes some practice, because clenching is one of our closet human habits. 

I started crocheting my first blanket. And, if changing yarn color every row wasn't already complicated enough. The pattern I chose required counting. Suddenly the half moons, never meant to overlap, started snaking up on each other like two kittens curling up into each other for warmer sleep. I pulled out the five rows and am looking into something more my style: yarn minus the math.

Bloglines. 


Oh, beauties, it's OK to break out the bubbly and toast to yourself! This week I finally received lovely Carrie's snail mail post: The adventures of Cuppie continue, stay tuned! Getting mail down here takes a while. I always get it, (except for that one time a long time ago...) And as it turns out, the knock at the door sounds just as I am starting to feel a little anxious. 

I won my first giveaway, from the beautiful sisters Catherin and Mary Chris of Pretty Pleased! A perfectly versatile and cute and "not too useless" tank from Mink Pink. Can't wait to find this pretty number in my mail box, hopefully in time for our little beach-cation. More on that soon. 

And thanks to Melissa at the super cute blog Oh, My Darling, I have three new pen pals. I like how these virtual connections start to lead to more physical glue, glitter and pretty penned connections. If you're interested in scribbling sweet nothings to strangers, visit Dear Darlings and sign up.

The reciprocal act of giving and thanking.  


Each gratitude journey quiets my thoughts some, creates space in the clutter of mindmuck. Readier to face the clean day with clarity. On the slate for today: teach an English class, make some headway with translation and swim in correspondences. If we're lucky, it'll end with a cheesecake baked in time for a long Sunday brunch. 

What's on your happy list for today? 

{unattributed photos: unknown : please let me know if they're yours!}

20 comments:

Krysten @ Why Girls Are Weird said...

Well I have my happy list all ready to go today! And I certainly needed it with the bad news I got today =-( Take the good with the bad I suppose.

paislea said...

i hope you're having a great weekend!!

allisterbee.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

A good massage sounds heavenly right about now! Can't wait to see what adventures you have with Cuppie! xo

Anonymous said...

I always love the photos you choose for your posts!

You're so right about good sneezes - especially when there's no one around and you can be as loud and unladylike as you need to be. ;)

Hope things keep getting better!

Poppies and Sunshine said...

Do overs. Oh how I am grateful for do overs this week too! It has saved my life!
I hope you are enjoying your weekend!

k said...

aw thanks for your nice comment on the journal! hope it says that soon too :) and this was a great post, i can relate to everything! except the crocheting because I tried making a scarf using directions on the internet and failed miserably! but i do know that math could not be involved :) show cuppie a good time!

Castles Crowns and Cottages said...

Good morning, Heather! What a nice surprise and visit from you! You are an excellent writer, and I so enjoy your posts here. I think you are right; BREATHE is something we forget to do!!! Even though we do it, we take our minds off of just sitting still to simply exist. I think we need to stay still from time to time to let out body get out the kinks on its own. Take care, and thank you for visiting! Anita

Abby said...

I find out that when I'm stressed and worried, my whole body clenches up and I can't play piano. I'm glad that your kink was worked out!

I'm thankful for coffee cheesecake, for a funny boy, and for being home after a long journey.

Faiza said...

your sneeze comment made me giggle! if you don't already follow the 1000 Awesome Things blog, I think you would love it!

Stacey said...

Lovely post and very relatable. The pics are beautiful too. Thanks for your lovely comment on my blog. I am following you too:-). Happy Sunday. xo

Beckerman Girls said...

I'm OBBBSESSED with your Eiffel tower tea pot! That's soooooooooooo COOL! kisses
xoThe Beckerman Girls

http://BeckermanBitePlate.com

Unknown said...

Love this post! So inspiring, aren't bloggers just the best? Glad you got Cuppie, can't wait to hear about her adventures! XO!

LyddieGal said...

Lovely post, I'm glad you have been able to relax a bit. I hate those almost sneezes, they are the worst!
Congrats on winning the giveaway!

Monique said...

I love the idea of a happy list! A day at the spa would be on that list - if I had a gift card for it that is! LOL! Going outside and enjoying nature is a good one for me too. Dark chocolate is a very simple and affordable pleasure and getting a new stamp in my passport is a bit more complex and costly - but travel makes me happy! What can I do?
Monique

Ren- Lady Of The Arts said...

Great post- I am into massages and do overs too-

Hope you had a good weekend.

OneCraftyFox said...

The Eiffel Tower creamer is too cute!!

Doh! I never congratulated you for winning the OneCraftyFox Cupcake Challenge when it was announced over at the This Free Bird blog!! So congrats! Cuppie will arrive with instructions... I am continuing to post and update Cuppies journeys around the world so we will be in touch soon I suppose :)

kelli g. { bug miscellany } said...

your posts have this way of making me realize all these wonderful little things that get bypassed during a busy day.
thank you for making me take a quiet little moment this monday (just as the grumpies are starting to set in..), and breathe. :)

ps - i love knitting and crocheting, but despise the math, too. i prefer to 'wing it,' and enjoy the little accidents that occur along the way. :P

yourstrulydear said...

thanks for your comment on my blog. your blog is very interesting and i'm glad to have found it! i love gratitude lists: i used to write down 5 things every night that I was grateful for that day. it was fun. i think i wrote a blog about it somewhere...

Anna Walker said...

I love that you are still doing this! :)
I hope you had a great weekend!

Ashley said...

I have a small confession... sometimes I wish that we lived in the same city (or on the same continent, even) so that we could be real life friends. :) Happy weekend.

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