February 11

Once you become a parent, I think you forget what it was like to have time to yourself. I'm grateful to Uncle Pat and Aunt Kellie today, who not only invited the under-18 age group but the over-40 age group too, to come and play at THEIR house for the weekend.

This means that I get the whole house to myself tonight. And not only the whole house, but the cat as well.

February 10

Yippee! I can see!

I am grateful that my stylish scratch-free new glasses FINALLY arrived and I can see good enough to realize that the blobs on our mountains are actually trees.

February 9

The kids and I are both grateful this evening that Hart is safely back from his trip to Texas. Family life is a lot easier when he's around.

February 8

I'm grateful that Earl is officially the Be All and End All of his genetic line. There will be no little Earls running around in the future for this fella.

February 7

For the past year or so, I have not worn much else but sweatpants and oversized t-shirts. I have a couple of nice outfits that I rotate through on Sundays, but unless a work meeting is scheduled, I look like a slob for the rest of the week.

Maybe it's because of Weight Watchers, or maybe because of the Curves thing, but yesterday I suddenly found myself in front of a sales rack with an urge to dress more nicely. I braved the dressing rooms and ended up leaving the store with an armload of new clothing.

This morning I must have been under the influence of some good karma because a client stopped by my office unexpectedly (another unheard-of event in my day-to-day life). I'm grateful I was able to greet him in something nicer than sweatpants.

February 6

Today, I'm grateful for Katrina, an angelic woman who works for Curves.

Last Friday, I decided that I would never make it back into that gym and an entire year of membership fees with no visits was a ridiculous waste of money (you could say that procrastination is a problem of mine). I called to cancel over the phone and was told that I had to physically come to the shop to sign papers.

Katrina's familiar face greeted me with a big smile. I knew her from when I was regular and we played catch-up chat for a few minutes. Then she dutifully gave me the paperwork and asked me why I was quitting. I mumbled some lame excuse about being busy.

I don't know what it was, but after I signed the paper I realized I didn't really want to quit. My body was aching to go sweat on those machines again. I just needed my head to be convinced. Katrina tore up the paper, handed me a new access card, and said, "See you on Monday!"

Tonight was my first night back, and it felt wonderful.

February 5

Multiply the joy of hearing your voice reverberate in the shower in the morning by 1000 and you'll start to get close to how it felt being part of an excellent choir rehearsing for the first time for a multicultural production of Handel's Messiah.

Tonight I'm thankful for the chance to add my voice to this glorious sound.