A Year of Gratitude - December 2024 Snapshot

My word for 2024 was GRATITUDE.  To help myself keep the focus on this word, I started keeping a gratitude journal on January 1, 2024 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 shared a little snapshot of the musings from my gratitude journal each month here on the blog.  I only pulled one item from my gratitude journal per day to share here (okay, maybe sometimes more than one) as I didn’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 are really big things like good health and good relationships, some things are humorous, and some things are the little things that most of the time go unnoticed.  Overall, though, the purpose of this whole exercise (and my choosing of this word last year) was to remember that even on the very worst of days, there is ALWAYS something for which to be grateful.

Always.

December was… WOOF.  Haha.  It’s typically my favorite month of the whole year, but this past December was not my favorite.  I started out the month with Covid, so I missed out on a couple of very important things for Jacob, and Brian and I had to sell our tickets (for a major loss) to see Usher in concert.  Then, I spent the rest of the month completely frazzled from being down for nine days and not being able to do anything, and I constantly felt behind on all the things.  Christmas Day, Olivia tested positive for Flu A, killing all of our Christmas plans, and I missed my family’s Christmas get together for the first time… ever, I think?  We also had to sell our tickets to see Straight No Chaser in concert and we had to postpone all Christmas events with Brian’s family.  So, the last few days of December were spent at home waiting for Olivia to be germ-free and praying that nobody else got sick.  In addition to that, Maui started having a lot of health issues and she stopped eating, so we're dealing with that, and we also have several family members and friends who lost loved ones in December.  Yeesh.  Needless to say, I’m glad to have December behind us. 

Aaaallll of that said, there is always something to be grateful for… ALWAYS.  And though we had a lot of struggle days in December, we also had some pretty great ones.

In December I was grateful for…

 

1. Seventeen years of marriage.
2. Fifteen years with Maui… it was her birthday!
3. Seat warmers in my car and my little microwavable neck and shoulder beanbag to keep me warm… it has been cold!
4. A Pentatonix concert to look forward to later in the evening.
5. THE BEST TIME with Brian and the kids seeing Pentatonix last night.  They were incredible and we all enjoyed it so much.
6. Cozy sweats and my hot cinnamon tea.
7. The best Christmas brunch with my girlfriends.  We had such a great time and I’m so grateful for all of them and their friendships.
8. One last Taylor Swift Eras Tour to livestream… even though I’m so sad that it’s over.
9. Brian for taking the kids to school since I felt exhausted from Covid and for our village for helping me be “present” at Jacob’s awards ceremony via Facetime even though I couldn’t actually be there in person.  And for Jacob and his hard-working, intelligent self for earning such a huge scholarship for high school + our school for offering it to him.
10. That my Covid hasn’t been as bad as it could have been.  I’ve had pretty much all of the symptoms (congestion, cough, fever, exhaustion, aches, brain fog, loss of taste), but all of the symptoms have been mild except for the exhaustion and the brain fog.  I’m grateful that I didn’t have shortness of breath this time, too, like I did back in 2022.
11. Flonase Sensi-mist for keeping me breathing well at night, for hot toddies to help me sleep, and for Facetime… again… since I had to miss another one of Jacob’s big events.
12. I’ve been sleeping well every single night despite having Covid and having this congestion and cough.
13. I didn’t completely lose my sense of taste… I lost probably about 90% of it, but I was still able to taste a hint of flavor and that makes a huge difference.
14. A morning movie with the kids… we don’t do those too often and it was a nice little treat.
15. I finished reading the Bible from cover to cover!!!!  What a journey it was!  I’m so grateful for all that I learned and that my relationship with God is that much stronger.
16. To finally be back in action, out in the world, and feeling (mostly) normal other than some lingering exhaustion, brain fog, and loss of taste.  Oh, and for a warm, sunny ride home with the sunroof open!
17. Finishing up the Christmas shopping… FINALLY!
18. Another successful Reindeer Run at the school and for all of the volunteers who made it happen, especially our school resource officer who is always the biggest help, especially for cleaning up afterward so I didn’t have to do as much since I was still exhausted and a little weak from Covid.
19. Such a fantastic guitar teacher in Mr. Steve.  Today was an extra fun lesson and Olivia enjoyed it so much.  As did Jacob and I.
20. Being able to attend Olivia’s last class Christmas party ever.  That Maui’s leg wasn’t injured after she took a tumble down the stairs (she wouldn’t walk on it for a couple of hours in the morning, but she was fine by the afternoon, thank goodness).  And for a stretch of 17 days ahead of us of laziness, family, food, fun, and festivities.
21. We finally got to go to church and see my parents!  We hadn’t been to church in a couple of weeks due to illness and being out of town, and we had only seen my parents once in, like, six weeks, so it was long overdue.
22. Donuts, a lazy day, and looking at Christmas lights.
23. A morning at the movie theater complete with recliners, blankets, and Starbucks.  That Olivia still loves to hold my hand. For Christmas caroling in our neighborhood.  SO fun.
24. A lazy morning watching Christmas movies… for a beautiful Christmas Eve Mass and dinner with my family… and most importantly, for the gift of Jesus to the world.
25. At-home flu tests… that Olivia’s pediatrician was on call… on Christmas Day.  And that one single pharmacy was open so we could get her Tamiflu started immediately.
26. Olivia never ran a scary high fever last night (even though it did get somewhat high) and that she’s feeling SO much better today already.
27. Olivia woke up good as new today and she has been fever-free for nearly 24 hours already.  And for new crafts and the Eras Tour on Disney+ for keeping her happy and entertained while everything else had to be canceled.
28. A cozy, dreary day since we couldn’t really get out and go anywhere.
29. Loads of cleaning, a fresh start after taking down the Christmas decorations, and abundant sunshine.
30. Maui finally started eating.  And for a good, caring veterinarian who goes above and beyond for our girl.
31. Olivia is fully well so we could finally have a Christmas redo with my father-in-law and that we didn’t have to cancel our New Year’s Eve get together.  For time with Mama Cass.  For a new year and a fresh start ahead!

 

2024 is officially over, so my word of the year is no longer GRATITUDE, but I’ve enjoyed keeping a gratitude journal so much that I plan to continue it in 2025, and therefore, I’m going to continue sharing these posts, too!  I hope you like them!

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