November 8

It was a good Friday.

 Tonight, I am grateful for:

*This morning, leaving the gym after a 7.5 mile run, the crisp wintry air in my lungs, snow dusted ground against crimson trees and a glowing sunrise sky to start the day.

*A field trip with my students, the chance to get out of the classroom, a glimpse of a steely grey Lake Erie after lunch, conversation with a colleague on a calm bus ride home.  They may make me crazy at school but I was certainly grateful for all those cell phones on the drive today.

*A perfect Friday night with our friends, a shared meal and birthday brownies for two wonderful four-year-olds.  Our four children, playing together, throwing balloon fish and giggling like mad.  I am so grateful for the comfort and ease of time with our "chosen family".

*a fluffy clean dog, hot tea, and good TV to wind the evening down.

November 6 and 7

Tonight I am grateful for patient blog readers who will forgive a lapse in posting.  Midweek evenings on the heels of daylight savings time and a cold front do not inspire effulgent thankfulness.  Add to that the dark and the cold and a group of 8th graders with ADHD and an attitude, and these are days that try men's souls... or test one's capacity for gratitude, at any rate.

These are the days when it is the most vital to practice.

Tonight I am thankful for a movie night, Harry Potter and my husband's excellent popcorn, my two littles with me, snuggled against the chilly night, full of questions and excitement.

I am thankful for the challenge and reward in teaching a student who truly wants to learn, who has just been waiting to be taught.

I am thankful for my little girl in her ballet tights and pointed feet, copying each pose in her Miss Tutu book.

I am thankful for my boy, lover of math, doing two-digit, two step math problems in his head. Because he likes to.

I am thankful for my healthy family and a warm house, for books on tape and friendly conversation.  I am thankful that tomorrow is Friday.

November 5

Today I am grateful for an hour of sleep this morning, a day off from the gym so I could vote.  I am grateful to live in a place where I have the right to vote,  make my voice heard and work towards positive change alongside my neighbors.  As I filled in oval after oval, saying yes to the opportunity to pay more taxes... I realized I am grateful for a government that works to use my contributions for the greater good (at least, I hope it will be for the greater good.  As long as a few key issues pass...). I am grateful for a few moments of playing playmobil with my daughter, snuggling and chatting with my son.  I am grateful for warm tea and a warm dog and time spent with my husband, who always makes me laugh.

November 4

I am thankful for a quiet start to the week, for great co-workers who are flexible and help me rise to the challenge of each day.  I am grateful for the sunshine that greeted me at 7am on my drive to work.  I am grateful for a good spinning class, that I have found a new instructor whose teaching I enjoy.  I am grateful for an easy evening with my children, a swim and a drive and pizza-in-front-of-tv dinner, quality time together just us three.  I am grateful for the excellent family locker rooms at the JCC.  I am grateful that my son enjoys his schoolwork, that he cooperates with homework even at 8:00pm, that he "shows his thinking" on math word problems by writing, "aha!" next to his answer.  I am grateful that Ivy's first parent-teacher conference was a grand success and that my little girl is a joy to have in class, just as she is a joy to have at home.  I am grateful for bedtime snuggles and hot tea, for sugar-maple reds lining South Woodland, for my washing machine and my dog.

November 3

I am grateful for an extra hour on a glorious fall day, for relaxing morning, french toast breakfast, cooking and cleaning and baths for the kids, all before 10:30 in the morning.  I am grateful for golden fall sunshine and intoxicating overlays of red and orange in the blue-sky light. I am grateful for Wade Oval and the Cleveland Museum of Art and Lakeview -- these treasures in my backyard.  Perfection on this perfect day, wandering the sculpture garden, looking at the giant koi, watching wedding photography in action over the glittering reflections in the pond.  I am grateful that my children are at home in  museums, that they know their favorite paths through the galleries, that they move past the art with respect and with joy.  I am grateful for quick kisses in fall sunshine and a happy running spaniel.   I am grateful for early dinners and family yoga and bedtime an hour ahead.  I am grateful for this moment of quiet to type in the quiet of my house, a bit of calm before the week to come.

November 2

Today I am grateful that my husband is so very good at giving a back massage.  And that the leaves are somehow still so brilliant, even in the midst of a soggy grey November day.  I am grateful for a morning spent resale shopping with my boy, an afternoon spent by myself at Starbucks, an evening spent surrounded by friends.  I am grateful for coffee.  I am grateful for the small-town feel of this city I call home, for chili cook-off fundraisers full of neighbors and friends, familiar faces all around.  I am grateful for the funny things my children say.  I am grateful for the comfort and ease of our lives, that we can spend the afternoon at a birthday party, doing nothing but watching a group of beautiful little ones run and tumble and laugh.  I am grateful for time with my mom, for quick lunches and snatches of conversation, grateful we live close enough to take these regular visits for granted.  I am grateful for my cozy new downstairs office, for my laptop to type on, and for my large collection of blank books.  I am grateful for the internet for linking me to friends, for the all the connections I have made in my life and the joy of seeing smiles on their faces even when we are far apart.   Gratitude comes easily on a Saturday.  I'm grateful for that, too.

November 1

Tonight I am grateful for the brilliant splashes of red and gold leaves against the grey of leafless branches.  I am grateful for mild weather and a quiet day.  I am grateful that I had time for a lunch break today.  I am grateful for my wonderful teaching assistant, who anticipates what the classroom needs and steps in seamlessly to cover in a crisis.  I am grateful to be the one who a child comes to in a crisis, the person they ask to see. I am grateful for my strong legs that can run and walk and reach and play.  I am grateful for quiet and comfortable Friday nights, for talking with my wonderful friend as our children play together peacefully in the next room.  I am grateful for princess dresses and fairy wings and the intense beauty of my son and daughter. I am grateful for my dog, her gaze and floppy ears and love that radiates out from her, and the way she puts her paw on my arm.  I am grateful for two-parent bedtimes and the fact that I don't have to fold all this laundry alone.  I am grateful that tomorrow is Saturday.