#weekendcoffeeshare Giving Thanks, 2016
Hello, friends and fellow bloggers! Weekend Coffee Share is a weekly blog challenge hosted at parttimemonsterblog.com. It goes like this, if we were having coffee, I’d tell you:
I’m grateful; after all, it is Thanksgiving week. I’m grateful for these things:
Even though I am not with my entire family, I am grateful that everyone got where they were going safely. With recent ‘traffic’ events in my family, I am grateful any time we get somewhere safely.
I am also grateful that I had time with my boyfriend Kenny, a good bit of his family, my son, and my dog for Thanksgiving day. The food was great, and even though I had some heartburn, all it took was a Coke to give me a good burping. :) Sorry if you consider that gross, raising a boy has made more open about bodily, um, functions!
I am grateful I no longer work in retail. Which leads to my gratitude for the internet. I can shop online all day long and go nowhere near the retail mess. Seriously, it makes people crazy.
I am grateful I have the guts to get my words out there. I have published 2.5 novellas this year! There was a book trailer contest on Thanksgiving day, and many of my friends helped me out by sharing and tweeting my post. I am working on a full-length novel now, as part of NANOWRIMO, but I am not NANOWRIMO’ing to get the 50,000, no, I have eased up on myself because it has been a struggle. However, I have now reached 31,500 words, woot-woot! This is the most I have written in one month! So, I won the competition with myself. There you go. I’m just determined to make my own rules, ya’ll. I let myself get old to have this privilege!
I am grateful for my dog, as he loves me unconditionally. I am grateful for my boyfriend, as well, and we could call this loving me unconditionally. Let me define it as this: I could wear superhero t-shirts and sweatpants day in and day out and he’d still see me as beautiful. I go months without a pedicure and he doesn’t notice! He’s seen me through a 15-pound weight span, up and down and in between, and still appreciates whatever it is I do to ‘keep in shape.’ I told him he was low maintenance, and he found it a compliment. Seriously! You don’t get that in your 20s or 30s, so, life is just getting better!
*I’m a blue jeans/sweatpants kind of girl. They’re perfect for lounging or walking the dog. He would rather sooner than later! (Hence, the look on his little face)!
6. I am grateful for my faith community. I started going to this particular church five years ago. While preaching, the pastor one day told something so personal and it struck such a nerve that I WEPT in church that day. I thanked him for his sermon. I am learning that I am loved by God no matter where I have been or what kind of past I have had. I am learning to stop hiding my fire or feeling ashamed of myself for my past. What matters is what I do today, and each day, I am growing more and more fearless of doing just what I need to do. I have been writing since I was eight, my friend. Eight! So much of what I’ve done has been hidden and lost before ever being revealed or shared. I don’t want that to happen anymore. I have been through some things that, if processed and shared, might help another human deal with hurt in his or her own life. Part of it was that I grew up in an alcoholic home, where you learn not to tell people about Daddy’s sleeping all day on a weekend, because that would make him look bad. Secrets are unhealthy for a child’s growth. I’m working on channeling my experiences into my writing, to give it some meaning underneath the entertainment. While I still love the far-out genres and prefer escaping reality, there is still a message underneath. My purpose for writing is slowly becoming clearer. Anyway, being part of my faith community is giving me avenues for speaking up. And I plan to keep doing so until I have clearly articulated all that I want to say to the world. I want to make a difference to someone.
Well, there you have it in a nutshell. My gratitude list covers a good bit of everything that is most important to me. Whew. I suppose we didn’t get into reading, yoga, and the beach. We’ll save that for another day! Go check out the Weekend Coffee Share at http://parttimemonsterblog.com, and share your link. Also, feel free to tell me about your week in the comments. Are you also a blue jeans/sweatpants person? Do you have a patient dog and/or significant other who patiently awaits while you put your creative juices to work? I do hope so!
A heart with angel wings? Seems appropriate! Photos courtesy of Pixabay.com, except for the one of my dog, that is!
