A Year of Gratitude - September 2024 Snapshot

I mentioned at the beginning of the year that my word for 2024 is GRATITUDE.  To help myself keep the focus on this word, I started keeping a gratitude journal on January 1, and I’ve been writing at least 3-4 things I’m grateful for every single day.  Some days I’ve felt so overwhelmed with gratitude that I haven’t been able to pick just 3-4, so I’ve listed even more. 

To hold myself accountable, and to keep this word at the forefront of my mind all year, I thought I might share a little snapshot of the musings from my gratitude journal each month here on the blog.  I’ll only be pulling one item from my gratitude journal per day to share here (okay, maybe sometimes more than one) as I don’t want to go overboard, and also because some of the things I write are things that I’d like to keep private.  :o) 

Some of the things will be really big things like good health and good relationships, some things may be humorous, and some things will be the little things that most of the time go unnoticed.  Overall, though, the purpose of this whole exercise (and my choosing of this word this year) is to remember that even on the very worst of days, there is ALWAYS something for which to be grateful.

Always.

September was another good month… it kicked off my favorite four months of the year, so we’ve been soaking up all of the fun, festive things that this time of year has to offer!  There were a couple of things that made September sad – the school shooting so close to home here in Georgia and then a damaging hurricane that affected the whole southeast.  Thankfully, we weren’t directly affected by either, but it sure made for a few sad/stressful days during the month.

In September I was grateful for…

 

1. That my favorite four months of the year are heeeere!
2. That Maui was safe and sound in Olivia’s bedroom after we thought that she’d gotten lost/snatched outside.  We couldn’t find her for a while, and I was freaking out!  I thought a hawk had gotten her, but it turns out, she was in Olivia’s room all along.  And she never goes in there!  Haha.  Also grateful for some pool time with friends… my friend, Jeannine, and I always talked when we were teenagers about how we would raise our kids together one day, and we are.  <3
3. A deliciously dreary day and a temp that maxed out at 82 degrees.  It felt so fall after weeks and weeks of high temps and no rain.
4. Hugs from my babies when I picked them up from school after that horrible school shooting in north Georgia.  Every time I hear about a school shooting, it takes everything I have to not go pick my babies up from school and get them out of there.
5. Our school resource officer for always keeping our babies safe every day.  He tells me all the time that he would lay his life down for any one of the kids at our school and it’s such a comfort knowing that he’s there.
6. The peace that comes from listening to worship music.  It was a rough week, and my soul was in need of soothing.
7. A Georgia win!
8. The fall leaves and pumpkin décor in my office.  It makes me so happy to be able to look at it all day!
9. The look of pure joy and surprise and a HUGE hug when I surprised Olivia with some mirror ball pumpkins for her bedroom.  She was so grateful.  I love her festive heart so much.
10. All of the helping hands who made Grandparent’s Day a success!  It was a bigger undertaking this year, but it all went beautifully thanks to so many who stepped in to help!
11. Freedom.  For first responders.  For our country.  For the aftermath of 9/11 where our country felt united and not so divided.  For a dreary day that perfectly matched my mood on this day.  For a good cry.  I’m always so emotional on September 11.  It’s a day that I’ll never forget.  Also, for the best therapist who accommodates me in every possible way, even when I ask her to do dumb stuff for me.  Haha.
12. A delicious dinner and time with my girls.
13. A safe drive to and from school in the torrential rains.  And that I didn’t hit something… my car led me to believe there was something in the road, so it sounded the alarm and braked for me, but it happened because the rain was so dang hard it set off the sensor.  Scared me to death, though.
14. The coziest morning at home – homemade pumpkin waffles, pouring rain, pumpkin spice in the diffuser, hot cinnamon tea, a cuddly dog, a snuggly blanket, and ESPN College GameDay on the TV.
15. A beautiful new planner to dig into for 2025!
16. Two wonderful ladies who joined me in cleaning out the storage shed at the school today… many hands make light work!
17. Blueberry muffins.  So yummy.
18. God’s strength, patience, and grace when dealing with particular issues today.
19. A long chat with Jacob’s old piano teacher and being able to catch up with him.  We always have the best conversations!  And for the best guitar lesson for Olivia… today was such a fun one!  We sure do love Mr. Steve!
20. Grandparents who will keep our kids and take them to do fun stuff so Brian and I can go out together, for a delicious dinner with friends we don’t get to see enough, and for another night of live music in Atlanta… and PERFECT weather. 
21. That Jacob is trying something new – Velocity – and is LOVING it.  I’m so proud of him for stepping outside of his comfort zone and joining a group whose main mission is to help others.  And for Brian for picking him up from my parents’ house and getting him to his first Velocity meeting so I didn’t have to wake up early after a very late night.  Oh, and for zero dizziness the entire day… that has only happened one other day in the last 14 months since my vertigo started.
22. A fun day with Brian and the kids having our annual tradition of eating lunch at a local taqueria and then shopping for Halloween costumes.
23. A productive day getting old yearbook photos scanned for HOCO 2024.
24. Another year around the sun for my Momma… happy birthday!
25. Complete inner peace today despite the chaos of the world around me.  It’s rare.
26. Charging banks, coolers, ice, and a pantry full of non-perishable food since this hurricane is barreling right towards us.
27. That Hurricane Helene shifted dramatically overnight, putting us in a much safer position so we didn’t take a direct hit.  The devastation in middle Georgia, Florida, and the Carolinas is just horrific.
28. Gorgeous weather today.
29. An epic comeback from our Dawgs last night even though we didn’t win.  At least the score was more respectable at the end than it was at halftime!  Yeesh.
30. Another trip around the sun for my baby brother.  Happy birthday, O’s!

 

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into my month! 

Happy Monday, y’all!  What is something you’re grateful for today?