Gratitude - Thanksgiving/Day 6

Of course I am grateful for the gathering of family and delicious food at Laura and Mike's house.

Today I express my gratitude for Hwy 212 and the journey home. There is something about this drive that calms my soul and fills me with emotion I can't properly put into words. As the car cruises west into the countryside, I feel the open sky fill the air and space around me, with the hue changing ever so slightly as it rises up from the all encompassing horizon. I am being pulled along to a familiar endpoint. The clouds and sun shift with the passing miles and minutes. The landscape stretches endlessly before me as far as the eye can see. The trees and farmsteads are familiar blips approached and passed as we speed along. There is something magical and ethereal about the place too far off to pinpoint where the land and the sky come together. The color palate of the land changes with the given season. This Thanksgiving, the hues are brown. To an outsider, it is probably bland, lifeless, and baron. To me, it is the colors of another safe and bountiful harvest that has drawn to a close....

Gratidute - Day 4 & 5

Day 4/Tuesday - I am grateful for a certain someone who sought out Mark to order a large quantity of coffee beans. Caribou has contests and bonuses for managers based on sales numbers. The sale of the Reindeer Blend was a nice shot in the arm for his numbers. I am grateful for how clean the downstairs and bathroom were when I got home from work. I am grateful for the wonderful Willow Tree nativity set Chris just gave me as a pre-holiday gift (and the kids can't break it!) I am thankful Mark put in on display for us.

Day 5/Wednesday - I am grateful I went and ran my Thanksgiving errands last night after the kids went to bed. I am grateful there is a delicious pre-made, ready to heat meal in my fridge for supper. I am grateful for the anticipation and excitement I feel for the Thanksgiving festivities and travels we are engaging in Thursday. We are headed to Hector to Mike and Laura's for a delicious meal.

Daddy + Haircut = Dissappointed Mommy

I am grateful Mark took Dean to get his hair cut yesterday. Unfortunately, there is a BUT... so this makes the THANKS void.

Mark called me on the way to Kidz Hair for Dean's 3rd professional cut (with lots of Mommy trims between.) I really like/prefer Dean's hair grown mostly one length on top with the back and sides tapered neat and short. Mark said, "Should I tell the lady to take off a 1/2 inch?" This seemed reasonable to me while sitting at my desk with no visual cues, and my response was simply, ".....umm... Sure." I did not give Mark any further explanation of what I hoped for.

When I arrived home from work, I was met at the door with a very short haired little boy. He now has a haircut that reads, "My mommy and daddy don't want to have to bring me back and pay for another cut for a loonggg time, so I have the practical crew cut!"

I won't lie. I am really disappointed. I know, I know...it is silly. I remind myself, it is only hair. It will grow. I will also assure you I in no way blame Mark for Dean's hair.

Pizza Party Shout Out

To those who know my Dad... We hope to see you at the Annual Pizza Party this Saturday! Many friends and family received a snail mail invitation some time back from my Dad, but inevitably... someone gets forgotten. (Tracy - married lady...are you out there? I bet you didn't get an invite!)

History of the Pizza Party - The Melberg Pizza Party inauguaral event took place when I was in the 8th?? grade. My cousins' Jared, Michelle, and Jason were in college at Fargo/Moorhead. My mom thought we needed a non-turkey gathering so we could see those 3 (and Michelle's then boyfriend/now husband) Chad... thus began the Pizza Party. It was pretty simple - pizza picked up in Hutch, maybe a leftover salad from Thanksgiving, pop, and paper plates.

As years went by, the Toren clan joined in, and any neighbors and friends too. After my mom died, this was an event my Dad felt he could/should still host and handle. The event moved the the cities when our house in the country was eventually sold... so here we are in 2008 with another pizza party just days away. The pizza party is an event I am thankful for. It has evolved with our changing lives.

You know, this may be the 20th annual. I was in the 8th grade in 1988...???

Anyway, I know I will see many of my blog readers (is that maybe 8 people if I am lucky! - j/k) and I am looking forward to it. For those of you who are traveling elsewhere for the holiday, I wish you a safe journey and return. If you want to attend, but need more details, just give me a holler.

Gratidute - Day 2 & 3

Since buying into the concept of a 'Gratitude Groove' on Saturday, I am going to attempt to express gratitude or thanks every day, as a follow up to yesterday's post. Although I will not post daily, I will express thanks from each passing day in some manner (hence the various tenses, as I may record and save until a later date - bear with me). With Thanksgiving on Thursday and Christmas around the corner, 'tis the season! Surely there are times when the holiday's become overwhelming for each of us. I feel this excercise will help me stay in tune with the true meaning of the season. If you should like to join my excercise, feel free to post comments or e mail me thoughts you may with to share.

Stay tuned for the next 38 days! You may also see my thanks in bold/italics when woven into upcoming posts.

Sunday/Day 2- I am grateful for our church and worship. I am grateful for the $1.59 gas at Costco. I am grateful for my Twinners and husband and how fun they make a Sunday trip to Costco. I am grateful for Marly and Dean's personalities and enjoy watching them express themselves so differently in public.

Monday/Day 3 - I forgot my usual lunch including a baby spinach salad with my own vinaigrette and a hard boiled egg on the counter at home. I am grateful Jodi from the Publications Department invited me to a vendor meeting, and the group went out to lunch afterward. The Ahi tuna I ordered was a treat I can't get at home and fit my desire for something healthy too. I am grateful to be heading to my Dad's straight from work where I will be meeting Mark, Marly and Dean then going out for a bite to eat. I am grateful for my best friend Gretchen. I exchanged an e mail, then a phone call from her in the midst of my work afternoon.

Gratitude Groove

Saturday morning I left my house bright and early at 8 AM. I was headed toward Eden Prairie to take part in the Community Ed Cookie Bake with Rachel and two friends. This is the third or fourth year I have attended. As I was driving, I was listening to my usual women's talk radio station - FM 107. The topic was about getting into a 'Gratitude Groove' with a teammate/girlfriend and expressing gratitude EVERY SINGLE DAY for 40 days. The 40 days correlates to the idea that it take 40 days to change or form a habit.

I arrived in EP and followed my map quest direction to the same school the event is hosted at yearly. Somehow, I could not find where I needed to be. I ended up in an empty middle school parking lot at a locked door. I attempted to call Rachel on my cell phone. This was futile. My cell phone is on the blitz. I can hear the person on the other end, but they can't hear a word I say. I head back up the road to find a gas station and happen upon a small BP on Mitchell Road. There is actually a pay phone outside. I try to operate the system, but keep dropping and losing my coins in the snow. I can't figure out if I need to dial then drop coins or vice versa. I feel stupid I can't operate a pay phone in the cell phone world. I am about to be late and my anxiety level is on the rise.

I go inside the small store and a very kind looking man comes out from the back. I am grasping my cell phone and directions and fumble to explain my dilemma. Please can I use his phone? Yes! He gives me the phone and politely stands to the side as I call Rachel. While I am talking and scribbling directions, he silently put a fresh coffee in front of me. When I get off the phone, he proceeds to get out a map, and highlights where I need to go. I am overwhelmed by his kindness and desire to truly help me.

I was only a few minutes late to the correct entrance of the middle school (along a different street) and cookie bake went off with out a hitch. When I was done, I stopped back at the gas station and brought him some cookies.

I am grateful for the kindness of this stranger. These types of things happen less and less often. As a society, we also seek out help from strangers less and less often. Instead, we rely on technology to get us out of a fix or bind. I believe in kindness to strangers (and friends and family) and hope Marly and Dean will see this trait lived out in my actions. I hope I can instill in them the same goodness to others as was demenstrated to me on Saturday morning.

So today, in the blogger world... perhaps this is day ONE of expressing some gratitude. We will see...

My Little Miss Marly

As a blogging twin mommy, I actually feel guilty when a post is centered just one of the Twinners, which is completely ridiculous - and I am getting over it RIGHT NOW. I love them both equally, but they are two seperate human beings.

Mark took these photos of Marly recently, and they are just irresistible. Cousin Laura Melberg knit the lovely boiled wool hat. Isn't it just darling! Dean has a blue one, but he wouldn't cooperate when the camera turned his way. True to form, Marly was at home, so she had a few smiles to share. People comment Marly looks like me as a child (I honostly don't know). I do know she has her daddy's big brown eyes.

Also, if I could rewind for just one hour to an age where it was cool to wear a shirt called a onsie that snaps between your legs...Marly and Dean's days in onsie's have nearly drawn to a close.