13/1000 Blessed and Lucky

Today seemed full of more than the usual aggravations.  Everything taking twice as long.  Feeling out of sorts.  Feeling tired.

As I reflected on how difficult this day has seemed, I had to stop and just spend some time thanking God for everything He has given to me.  Health, good friends and family, a snug place to live, a reliable car, any money worries are of my own doing.

I have two paid off work for the holiday. What a luxury!

12/1000 Techie Heaven

I had offered to purchase the monitor to use in addition to my laptop screen, but my supervisor said she would cover it.  I had gotten spoiled at my last workplace.  A second monitor makes things so much easier!

I happened to mention to the IT person that I really missed my former set-up... docking station, two full size monitors, wireless mouse.  He thought a moment and said, okay, I will do the two monitors, docking station, remote keyboard and mouse... and charge your boss just for the monitor.

He is now my favorite person.  This is just a little bit of Heaven!

11/1000 Safe From The Mice!

About 1AM I heard Roxy barking  -turned out to be the oven that was bothering her.  As I approached the kitchen, I heard the scuffle of little mice feet, and sure enough, it was coming from the oven,

Roxy was intent on getting a hold of it.  She figured out how to open the storage drawer and almost got it.  She would not be deterred from her mission, and as it was then 1:30AM, I left her to it.

This morning, the mouse was gone, but Roxy seemed perturbed, so I suspect it escaped.

But at least I knew I was safe from the mouse.

10/1000 Let It Snow

Spend most of the cuddling with Roxy and watching the snow. So peaceful.

9/1000 a Girl and Her Bicycle

I just purchased a new-to-me bike from craigslist and picked it up this morning.
The shop guys were so nice and even put my bike rack on the car for me, which is good because I had no idea how to do that!

Kindness is everywhere!

8/1000 Happy Thanksgiving!

Because I work at an awesome place, we had a Thanksgiving potluck today.  I decided to meet some new people and sat with the building services folks.

I have not laughed so hard in ages.

But the thing that was a bit surreal... when we were kids, we lived next to a railroad track on Diamond Ave.  And the "fun" thing to do, because we were IDIOTS was to try to jump on the train as it was moving.  It was all fun and games until one of my friends got his arm caught and cut off. (I was not a witness to it.) But our parents put a full stop on our fun.

One of the men at my table who grew up on the same street I did, said, Yeah, That was Joe P____!!

And I was all, YEAH!!!

Apparently Joe recovered fully and has a lovely wife and family now.

So, the story had a very happy ending.

Happy Thanksgiving!

7/1000 Triple Digits

Somewhere along the line I heard that when you see three numbers in a row, it means you are surrounded by angels.

I mean, we are always surrounded by angels, we don't need triple digits to tell us that.

But they are a very nice reminder.

444

6/1000 Technology Boost

Declaring practice on Blackboard Collaborate a work related activity, my friend Ann and I got to catch up on gossip via video conferencing.

It is just so awesome we live in a world where you can see and hear the people you love who live too far away to see in person very often.

5/1000 "We Eat Like Kings!"

A nun I used to live with had a habit of saying, "We eat like kings!" which super confused me because all the food we ate was pretty ordinary.

Then it finally clicked with me.  My "ordinary" is truly a feast.

I can eat anything I want to, as much as I want to, pretty much whenever I want to.  This is decadent.  This is unusual for our world, and definitely a modern innovation.  Even kings in the Middle Ages had to bow to the seasons as far as food went.  Not us!  Our choices usually are not limited by seasons, by what we have on hand, by distance.

If I do not feel like eating whatever I have at home, I can drive to a grocery store or a restaurant or even a gas station and have a huge selection of choices, very likely including something I really wanted.  I can usually find anything I desire, no matter what the season.

I can choose healthy or unhealthy.  I can choose sweet or savory or both.  I can keep it simple or make a fuss.  I can measure out portions and save whatever I do not wish to eat immediately. 

Our food supply is a blessing, and a miracle, really, when you think about it.

4/1000

I met two friends (and two new friends!) at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago for Mass.  The cantor was amazing.  The music was stirring and lovely. 

What a rare gift.

3/1000

After my workout at the gym, I took a few moments to appreciate the incredible miracle of a body that can move and lift and walk and grow stronger every day.

2/1000

Roxy has never seen a true autumn before and watching her chase leaves cracks me up every morning.  It's still dark when we leave for our morning walk, and she is convinced every leaf skittering across our path is an escaping mouse.

As we crest the hill, the wind gets stronger anyway and this morning it felt like a tornado.  Cold stars gleamed overhead while the trees whipped their branches and flung whatever leaves were left.  We pushed on until we could see the dome of the Sacred Heart Basilica at Notre Dame shining through the mist.

As we reentered our cozy little cottage, I realized that Roxy had something in her mouth.  She had caught some leaves and carried them triumphantly home.

Day 1/1000

I'm challenging myself with a new blog that actually has an intended end.  The very last post will be on 8/8/2018.

One Thousand Days of Grace.

I am challenging myself to write once a day about some grace I have experienced or witnessed in the world.

Please feel free to join me either by commenting or taking this project on for yourself, in your own way.  This blog will look prettier in a couple days when I have time to spend on the design.


Today's grace is a simple one -I am grateful to work at a job I love.