31 Days of Gratitude – Day 27

6 more sleeps until the New Year and 2 more sleeps until my son comes home! I have lots to be excited about! My little desk also arrived today. This one will be dedicated to my writing. I am so gratefil that I will have a little writing spot which I am hoping will help me create, and firmly entrench, a daily writing habit. I am counting on Bloganuary to really kick start the habit again as well. I had so much fun with it this past Jan.

I also spent some time this morning listing all the things I did this year. I have made so many changes and pushed so many boundaries. I am very proud of myself and very grateful for the opportunities and the means to do it all. I had also promised myself that I would be intentional about certain things this year. One of which was to stop absorbing knowledge and spend more time putting what I do know into practice and sharing it where I can. I’ve done it but there is so much more to share so I will definitely keep this on my list for years to come.

Another item on that list was to learn to love myself a whole lot more and I am glad to say that I have definitely made progress on this one. These days my first reaction when I look in the mirror is to smile at myself rather than look for faults. I have changed the way I dress and I have discovered the impact and power of lipstick ! Phew! I have a whole blog post planned on the power of lipstick alone. Who knew!😜 All in all I must say that it feels good to like what I see in the mirror and I am grateful that I am able to make that switch and start appreciating and valuing myself more.🙏

Just me having a little fun at work

That’s it for today. I have finally started the Fire & Ice series of books by George RR Martin. I bought them in 2018 but only feel like I am ready to commit to them as of today. I am only 2 chapters in and I am enjoying his writing already. Ooh and my favorite part was officially opening the boxset and having the smell of a brand new book hit me. The highlight of my day 😁.

My reading material for the next few weeks

31 Days of Gratitude – Day 26

What a peaceful day! Thankfully it was a lovely cool day so i was able to spend it under the covers with a good book. What a pleasure! I haven’t been able to do that in ages.

Tomorrow I go back to reality. I have to start exercising again. I feel like a slug😜. I also have a supplementary exam to prepare for which requires a lot of reading so I had better get started. I am really grateful for another opportunity to write this exam and plan on aceing it this time. It’s also time to seriusly start reviewing the year that was and make plans for the year to come. I am looking forward to this.

Lastly, I am so grateful for the cats that keep choosing to visit our home. Yes I feed them but I am aware that cats can just walk away when it suits them so I am very grateful that they still choose us. They have really kept me company this holiday. Today I put on a Youtube video for the kittens. They were running wild so I did it to calm them down. They were fascinated. I swear it’s like having a bunch of toddlers in the house when they pop in…

Kittens fishing. Video by Cat Games. Accessed on Youtube

Well that’s it for today. Hope you had a good one.

31 Days of Gratitude – Day 25

Well, another Christmas is done and dusted. I must admit that I missed my son today but I am glad he had a good time with his Dad’s side of th efamily. I* can start counting down the days until he is home again. It won’t be long 🙂

I had a good Christmas with my family. It was filled with good food and great company :). I also stopped to see my cousin on the way home. Time with her is always treasured. Since I don’t believe in coincidences, this could only be the Universe at play. I had ordered a keyboard for my computer but the supplier couldn’t fulfil the order and my order was cancelled. Little did I know that my sister had bought me the one that I was admiring the last time we went shopping. 😁 I got my keyboard anyway! It was an awesome surprise!

I woke up to a storm about 5 this morning and it has rained on and off ever since. It’s been raining non-stop this evening so I guess we may have some flooding tomorrow. I am just grateful that I was able to drive from Pietermaritzburg to Durban in the rain without incident. There was so much water on the road. It was pretty scary. I am also grateful that my dad made it home safely too.

I hope that you all have had a really good Christmas as well. The countdown to the New Year begins. 7 days to wrap up this year and make it count if you haven’t already or to take the time to decide what your intention for 2023 is. Either way, I wish every success with it. Chat again tomorrow.

Image: Canva/Photogragh – author’s own