I can have these:
FOREVER!
Gratitude Month – Day 13 – Wacky Health Supplements November 13, 2009
I became pretty anemic during my first five pregnancies. It might have had something to do with my not being able to eat anything for months on end. Because when I’m not pregnant, I have all kinds of iron in my system. Not pregnant – I attract magnets. Pregnant – I repel magnets.
The typical remedy for anemia is to take iron supplements. Which tend to make nausea worse. It’s a vicious cycle, really. So when I was expecting Jakob, I gave up on taking iron supplements entirely and decided to embrace my anemia. This turned out to be a really bad idea when I hemorrhaged after he was born. If you’re gonna lose large quantities of blood after giving birth, you should at least make sure that the little bit of blood you get to keep is high quality. Because if it isn’t, you will feel like one of Edward’s early victims. You know, before he became all stalkerish and sappy and was just an honest vampire. Back when he was decent, basically. And you will feel this way for months afterward. Not fun.
So when Elisabeth was on her way, I decided that maybe I should be a little more proactive in keeping my red blood cells happy. My midwife suggested that I start taking chlorophyll. Chlorophyll. As in “plant juice.” Weird. But her other suggestion was to drink spinach smoothies, and there was only so much crazy I could take. So I tried the chlorophyll. And ya know what? It worked! I may have puked up everything in sight for five solid months and walked like Lurch after my pelvis fell apart, but I was NOT anemic. And after Elisabeth was born, I felt fabulous!
Although I do sometimes feel an uncontrollable urge to run outside, bury my feet in the dirt, and stretch my arms out to the sun…
Gratitude Month – Day 12 – Things That Go “Vroom” November 12, 2009
“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” — William Arthur Ward
Our house has a lot of carpet. A LOT of carpet. And we are fairly messy people. Okay, we are very messy people. The net result of this is that in the first two years that we lived here, we went through four vacuums. Different models, different brands, different price points, same result: a noisy, smoky death after just a few months of service.
Finally, I had had enough. I went online, did some research, found a screaming sale, and bought the vacuum of my dreams:
It’s still going strong after almost two years. It even still leaves those awesome vacuum lines in the carpet. Each time I use it, I am amazed at all of the gunk it pulls out of the carpet. It makes me happy. (Having the gunk OUT of the carpet instead of in it.) And with a geriatric long-haired cat, a heavily shedding dog that may or may not be a pug, and a baby girl who has just begun to crawl, a reliable vacuum is most definitely something to be grateful for.
Gratitude Month – Day 11 – Veterans Day November 11, 2009
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Today’s post is easy. I am filled with gratitude for our servicemen past and present, and for their parents, children, and spouses. I am so thankful for their courage and selflessness, for the enormous sacrifices they have made on behalf of my family. I am thankful for their courage and sense of duty, and for the examples set by those of the older generation.
It is the Soldier
Father Dennis Edward O’Brien
It is the Soldier,
not the reporter, who has given us freedom of press.
It is the Soldier,
not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the Soldier,
not the campus organizer, who gives us freedom to demonstrate.
It is the Soldier
who salutes the flag,
who serves beneath the flag,
and whose coffin is draped by the flag,
who allows the protester to burn the flag.
I’m writing this post fairly late in the day and many, many others have expressed gratitude with words much more powerful than my own, so again I’ll just say “thank you” from the bottom of my heart.
