the token NaBloPoMo post (day five)

So it's only what, the fifth day of November and I'm just now finding time to acknowledge the fact that National Blog Posting Month is here again?!

Let me just say that having family visiting, a little holiday known as Halloween, daylight savings and a three year old's birthday all in one three-day-weekend together doesn't fit in one package very neat and tidily. Is tidily a word? Well so what if it isn't, that's kind of how my brain's working right now. No, not tidily; make stuff up-ity because at this point, whatever works, works. Just wing-it-y.

How about I stop making up words now.

Speaking of what works, I have to say that the time change this time around really isn't working for me. It's rather kicked my butt. For the past month or so I've been waking too early... I've been wide awake (but still tired of course) by 5 am, wanting to go back to sleep, but unable to. I end up getting up for the day by about six every morning, because I'm tired of laying there not sleeping, and because if I'm not going to sleep I may as well get up and read blogs be productive. Even when I was sick and taking sleepy nighttime medicine, I was still wide awake way too early. Finally, slowly, it had just been getting back to a more normal waking hour; I think once last week I actually slept until 6:15!

And then comes the ol' Daylight Savings switcheroo.

The kids actually did okay this time around. Sure they were up a tad early, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. (Do you think it helped that we kept Sawyer out and up until 10:30 that night? Hmm... I wonder.)
It's me that can't get my internal clock reset this time. That little thing of waking too early in the morning??
That's now been 4 or 5 o'clock instead of the 6 o'clock if I was lucky. Arghhhh!
One should not be wide awake at 4AM for any reason, let alone just for the heck of it.

Anyway.
NaBloPoMo
Blog every day for the month of November. I did it last year and I figure with my laziness track record the last couple of months, it would be nice to participate again and get back in the regular posting habit. But instead of just promising to write every single day and probably ending up with some filler in there somewhere of "just posting cuz I have to post", I wanted something meaningful to write for every day this month, no matter how simple it would have to be. And the simplest thing my tired brain could come up with was to focus on this being the month of Thanksgiving. I think Thanksgiving is slowly becoming one of my very favorite holidays. Besides Christmas. Nothing can compete with Christmas :) !!

I don't know if it's just me in my old age (yes, I have another birthday coming up), but I love how it seems Thanksgiving is getting more meaningful to more people. That it's not always just about eating and watching football anymore. I kind of like that it's still one of the least commercialized major holidays, but that it seems more people are taking it more to heart. Maybe it's the sad state of our world these days, maybe it's the trends of the economy in our country, or maybe, like I said, it's simply me and my perspective... but I really feel more people are finding the impact that taking some real time to be looking around and giving thanks for what we have, to be valuable in the way they live their life. This topic obviously comes up leading into the Thanksgiving holiday each year, but this attitude is something we need to practice all year long.

And I'm starting with the thirty days of November. You may have noticed the little notes that have been popping up each day around here. Filling those out is my method this month for being intentionally grateful each and every day. (As well as my back up for a post every day!)

I'm also trying to write these up as early in the day as I have the chance... to be looking for things to be giving thanks for just because they exist... before things "happen" to me or come my way during that day. It's easy to be appreciative of a good day after the fact, or thankful for a friend after she's done something nice for you, or for your kids after they've been cooperative, or for your house when it's clean, or for flowers after your husband brings them home to you. I want to be looking for those things each day, but looking forward to the things I'm grateful for instead of just reflecting. Things that are a little bit more taken for granted, things that I can use to change my attitude and my perspective at the start of my day.
I think this quote sums it all up perfectly:

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity... It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into defining events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision of tomorrow." Melodie Beatty

And so, note to self on day five...


Who else is on board with the NaBloPoMo?
How about the thanks giving??