This coffee is delicious. But it’s no Starbucks, and I haven’t had breakfast yet.
My house is sparkling for a minute and smells like a jolly, giant lemon swallowed a lemon who’d already snacked on a lemon only to get lemony indigestion and burp fresh zest in 1,600-square-foot clouds.Well, I’m the peasant who had to scrub and wipe and dust and clean said lemon-drop cottage.
The sun is gloriously bright today. And it’s colder than Nancy Grace’s soul out there: muddy, soggy and wet to boot.
I get the privilege of playing with my kid all day. I even get away with wearing sweatpants and calling this “work”. I sacrificed my big-money job to wipe asses and cut grapes into infuriating minuscule “safe bites” all day, everyday for free.
I get to blog, read blogs, talk to bloggers, and enjoy the feeling of meeting up with old friends for a coffee date every. single. day. Except the blog is pretty puny by most folks’ standards, and in real life they’d never come over to the house for coffee . Even if they did, they’d be shocked at how gross I look after a morning elbow-deep in a mop bucket, and the best I’ve got is tin-can coffee and half & half.
I hope you’re ready to sucker-punch Miss Italic in the nose. She’s me on a bad day, a day I forget to be grateful, and – had I been born with double-jointed wrists – I’d make a note to knock myself out of such silly, grouchy moments.
Today I am crouched behind boxes of shoes, color-coordinating sweaters, and twisting unicorn statues out of wire hangers over at The Monster In Your Closet. I am thankful to be a part of blogger, Deb Bryan’s For This I Am Thankful series, a concept she created to remind us to remind ourselves to shut up & appreciate the good, already. Deb’s question was simple: What are you thankful for? When I hushed Miss Italic and really thought about it, I wanted to happy-cry and hug the universe for a minute.
I hope you’ll take a minute this morning to read my post, “Take A Sip” , and think about what thankful means to you.
*To check out other posts in the FTIAT series click here
* To receive a free high-five click here.
* To speak to a customer service representative, please stay on the line.
“…it’s colder than Nancy Grace’s soul out there.” <—-dying!
LOVE LOVE LOVES IT!!!!! What a sweet post!
I loved that line too!
I wrote a note to television executives urging them to play “Mean Woman Blues” as the intro to her show. They thought I was kidding
Brrrr. Bitch be chilly.
If your goal was to leave me in tears all morning, you are ABSOLUTELY succeeding.
Love the link-up. Love your post. And, oh, is my glass ever full this morning, right along with my heart!
Oh no! I hope you’re not an ugly, snot-n-slobber kind of crier. I know I am
I love this. It is a constant battle, looking at things through the eyes of gratitude. I really enjoyed the book 1000 Gifts because it really helped me be more grateful…um and I also really enjoyed your blog because it did the same thing!
I’ve never read that book, and now I want to! I love that you used the phrase “constant battle”. It’s easy to think happy people are just happy because everything goes well for them. Like they must lead just spectacularly perfect lives. Like you alluded to, happiness and a thankful heart are results of a brave decision to not give in to “the grump”.
Tori, I loved the post. I just loved it. My cup, too, is full, it runneth over, is called abundance.
Kathy
Thanks, Kathy.
I love this post, Tori. Question: How many posts of yours do I love? Answer: All of them.
Question: You read all my posts? Answer: Psych. It’s another question. Is my mother paying you?
I have been on the line for FOUR HOURS! What is the meaning of this?! I am thankful… that I only have one phone, and no call-waiting.
Haha. It was a cruel, cruel joke wasn’t it?
Nothing like a healthy serving of gratitude . . . with a side of dripping sarcasm.
Are there any onions in this side of sarcasm? Because I canNOT have onions. Make me gassy.
I sure hope not. Otherwise it’s just gonna be you, me, and a few dozen air fresheners.
Yum and YUM!
I’m thankful that I “met” Deb, because not only does she inspire me every week, now she’s turned me on to other cool people who do the same!! I was one Bitter Betty this morning until I read “Take a Sip”…and now I am cured. Also, so you know, I’m stealing your free high-five idea, but using the dog one
Glad I could help brighten your day! Meeting new blogging buddies is definitely my favorite part of the blogging experience!
P.S. Love the dog high-five. The whale one was creepy, right?
I am thankful that you have become a part of my life, if only in a virtual sense. I would come over for coffee, or at least for achat.
I get so frustrated that we all don’t live in one neighborhood. I’d be the obnoxious one who walks in your house, makes myself a cup of coffee, and you’d wake to find me impatiently reading your paper waiting for you to make me breakfast. That’s it. I’m building a commune and all you blogging buddies are invited. We’ll do fun commune activities like “drinking the KoolAid” only we won’t die. We really will be drinking regular, old grape KoolAid.
I love it! And I would love to have a friend nearby who would feel comfortable walking in and waiting for breakfast. I’m thinking about possibly attending a conference in Lexington, KY this summer, mostly so I can visit with an old friend from way back as well as new friend Kathy. You aren’t far from there. Hmmm. . . .
I have already TRIED to meet you in person once.
Gratitude. It’s a good thing. I am grateful that the web makes the world such a small place and gives me the opportunity to meet people from all over the place who would be my real-life friends if they lived closer to me.
Andra, I am still bummed about that opportunity missed. I have a feeling we would mostly just laugh and laugh and make strangers uncomfortable with all our boisterous laughter
Well, I will be in Nashville again on Dec 14 and 15. If you have some bloggy wedding reason to be there, let me know. xo
Ew girl! I’ll see what I can do. That would be so much fun!
I’m feeling a tad jealous today. My house smells nothing at all like regurgitated lemons…
You should be a little jealous. I just finished laying with my nose flat to the kitchen floor and IT. WAS. GLORIOUS.
I obviously have a similar job and was very grateful for the high five (with the greasy screen to prove it). I’m thankful that you always make me laugh.
Secret: I internet high-fived for a solid hour last night. On the same site you can also high-five a dog and a whale. The dog was fun. The whale? Well, it was a little terrifying
Another beautiful post, Tori. xo
Thanks, lady!
Darlin’, if you lived close enough, I’d do coffee with you EVERY morning! Of course, that would require you to be exposed to the horror movie that is me before about 11am.
Maybe it’s better for you that you ARE too far away for me to walk over. Distance IS safety, after all.
I love this post and I love miss italic…….actually….I am miss italic;)
Thanks. I think I might be channeling Miss Italic this morning. I just snapped at the dog for panting
Tori, I would love to visit more often but everytime I come here my ‘puter protests at having to download a gazillion things. So if I do not make it here more often, you are just going to have to forgive me.
I really need to fix the site. Actually, I really need to find someone who is computer literate to fix my site. I’ve gotten a lot of e-mails that my blog won’t load on people’s computers and I can’t figure it out! Anywho, thanks for visiting today, even if your computer hates you for it
Hey Tori, I have the same problem unless I click to just load a specific post. If I go to your homepage, it tries to load music, all your posts and a billion pictures and my system just can’t handle it. Maybe you could delete the music and figure out how to archive the older posts? Wouldn’t want anyone to miss any of your great stuff!
Thanks for the tips! I am pretty clueless when it comes to this stuff!
I wrestle with Miss Italic, too. I’ve recently made a commitment to myself to stop complaining. It’s not the same as sticking my head in the sand and pretending everything is just dandy. It’s more like rewiring my brain to stop defaulting to the negative. Just last night, I told my husband that when people ask me how I’m doing these days, I say, “Great!” And for once, I really mean it. I’m going to ride this train as long as I can.
The vision of your clean lemon-drop house made me feel happy inside!
Ahhh, my house has long since returned to its normal, funky self, but I can still smell that lemon zest if I really press my nose into the cabinets
I think my version of positive thinking is a lot like yours. Life can suck. It can suck big time and for no reason at all. Rarely are things fine and dandy. But focusing on the good stuff, even if the good is as small as a good book or a stranger holding the door open for you, waters all the bad stuff down.
Hi! My first visit, and I surfed around in the posts a bit, laughing, laughing all the way. This was a great way to start my day, thank you!
Well thanks for stopping by, hula hoop! Hope I didn’t scare you away!
You are well, just the best
thanks for the morning chuckle as usual Tori 
You are sweet, lady! Thanks for reading
Hey- I`d come over and have coffee with you! Thanks for reminding me to be thankful. I`m thankful my hair`s turning grey as opposed to falling out.
Haha! There you go. Salt’n'Pepper has got to be more desirable than a female Mr. Clean
“Sparkling clean for a minute” Yep. That about sums up how long my house stays clean, too!
Literally, ONE. MINUTE. I turn around and suddenly we’re back to mystery carpet stains and snacks hidden in strange places
I’m thankful for your sense of humor. Thanks for the entertaining post
Thanks, Janna
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OCCUPY THANKSGIVING!! What can I say. I am slow. Which I am often thankful for! It is nice of you to give at least two personalities free reign in this pice. Well said and thanks for a good reminder!
Haha! Two personalities is just barely scratching the surface, unfortunately
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