It's the Little Things

It's the second day of November, and it's the second day of my little self-challenge, where my goal is to blog once a day about something I'm thankful for. Here it is, just a bit after nine in the evening, and I'm racking my brain to find something to write about. What am I thankful for? What happened today that made me pause for a moment and realize, damn, I'm lucky?

The truth is, not one major thing happened today. I woke up this morning on my own, not in response to a restless baby or to a snoring husband. I started my day with a hot shower. I didn't lose much hair while shampooing, and that's a great way to start the day, considering lately I've been having some issues with hair loss (from hormones? stress?). Henry, the little boy I babysit arrived, and he's always got a smile on his face, and I love that. Greta and he played in the morning, until they both laid down for naps. Unlike most days, I took a nap at the same time as they, and it was bliss. After lunch, we spent the afternoon walking around the neighborhood, soaking up the sun and breathing in the gorgeous weather. Henry went home. I checked e-mail while Greta played in her crib. My mother-in-law came over to watch Greta while I went to the chiropractor. She folded my laundry (THREE loads!!!) while I was out. I came home to Greta running up to me and hugging my leg. My husband and I ate salad for dinner. We played with Greta until she went to bed. And now I'm heading to bed, off to finish the book, "The Invention of Hugo Cabret."

Sometimes, I think gratitude is merely a series of the little things, a compilation of all the things that went right, when they could have gone wrong. I think sometimes we, as human beings, only notice things when they go wrong. Before I pop an Ambien and head to bed for the night, I'm taking a moment right now to be thankful for an uneventful day, for all the things that went right, when they could have gone wrong.