Things to be grateful for....

I attend a bellydancing class on Tuesdays at the Goddess Shop in Sayville. I've been going since I was still on crutches, the physical therapist thought it would be good for me and it has been. I go for the exercise, the stretching of muscles that you wouldn't normally stretch, including the ones in my ankle. I go for the company; we have a really great group of ladies and we share some common bonds.

It's interesting that we all seem to have found this shop, either by stumbling on it, or by word of mouth. We come together and we share our lives with the rest of the group. We had a few new people today and Jess tried out something new by having us sit for a meditation at the end of the dancing session. The meditation had us focus on what we were grateful for in ourselves and our lives. It really made me think of what it is that I was grateful for...in myself, I am grateful that I can paint and I can draw, because it's what I like to do best. I am grateful to have such a wonderful husband who encourages me to paint and arranges my life and activities so I can paint. I am grateful that he loves me enough to let us bring a pup like Chloe into our life, even with the few sleepless nights when she isn't feeling well. I am grateful for my daughter, that she is such a sensible teenage in a time of no sense among teens. I am grateful to have my son, who is away attending college at my alma mater. I am grateful for my mother, who never ceases in her encouragement of me living a creative life. I am grateful to the lady who's 40 years of experience of breeding brings wonderful Chihuahuas like Chloe into peoples lives.... And that I can send pictures of her out to people to make them smile, too.

I am grateful that my husband took me down to Cape May County to attend Terry Ludwig's workshop. Terry is a wonderful person and a pleasure to take a workshop with and I love his pastel line. I am grateful for the rain that forced us inside into Stan Sperlak's Gallery/Studio so we had to paint from photos. All the time I spent outside painting and sketching plein air taught me what I needed to know in order to know how to use the photos as a tool and a guide to paint convincing scenes. If it wasn't for the rain, I wouldn't have rediscovered that resource again! I am grateful for those pastels of Terry's that my husband bought me.

I am grateful to be able to paint by Cape May Bird Observatory again, where I have painted so many times before. While we were there painting, I got see tons of Monarch butterflies and learned how they are tagged and that it can take them as little as an hour and a half to cross the Delaware Bay. And for the laughs of just being in that workshop.

Take time to stop and remember all the things you are grateful for....take time to smile at the simple things in life, like a pup terrorizing her owner's shoe or that butterfly that travels further than most humans.