TrulyGrace

What's it all about?

So, this Christmas we'll have brunch chez William, Marissa, and Beatrice; and tea chez moi. Which means I need to prepare my home for Christmas guests. I started this morning by organizing some of my travel items and handbags. I need to pick up ALLLLL the papers in the living room...While cleaning I found Bunny sleep-eye, who has got me through summer solstice in Northern Scotland; my new boots (never been worn!); and three homemade DVDs, the earliest one of Grandma's funeral and wake.

Redding up and Grandma--if cleanliness is next to G-dliness, Grandma is currently sweeping Saint Peter IN-to the gates of Heaven. We all remember how Grandma used to sweep the leaves at Uncle Sonny's and then wait for the next leaves to fall from the trees. When she became bored with that, she would sweep the neighbors' driveways. Bless her soul, Grandma was a neat-nik.

I guess I used to be a neat-nik at one time: I suppose I still am (to a certain degree) at work. Forget my house, though. Maybe I should make Grandma my patroness of cleanliness. That would please her to a great extent. I'll have breakfast, watch a little of these DVDs, do some laundry, clean house...say my Thankfulness list.

Everyday I have a Thankfulness list. Part of my prayers. I am most thankful of my family and friends, who have helped to make me who I am today (not too shabby). Down to thankful for seemingly minor concepts in my life, which, when thought about for a while, aren't really minor. An example is my short commute. I have had two-hour-long commutes before on public transit (most notably for my first research job); and also have had ~two-mile walks uphill to work (no, only uphill on the way TO work) during which my coworkers spread a rumor that my car was in the shop...the idea of commuting by foot was foreign to them, even in liberal north central California.

Why do I have a Thankfulness list? Because I feel more than just lucky, I feel blessed. I know it is chance which family you end up in, and that your family determines so much of what happens to you in life, and that's why I'm so thankful for my family. If it has to do with caring properly for each other, I'm blessed. If it has to do with being warm and dry and loved, I'm blessed. If it has to do with being well-fed, I'm especially blessed. And my friends--I have been blessed with friends and family who have ensured that I have made it this far in life, and that I am alive and well today. And I'm lucky to be where I am, who I am today. What more to ask for? I am blessed with a job that allows me to teach in a laboratory, to use my skills and talents. As the year draws to a close, I realize that my daily Thankfulness list is a launching point for me to realize how blessed I am and how I am now best prepared to give back to the greater community. To give back to others everyday in little ways. I guess I need to take responsibility and redd up my little corner of the world so I can give back first to my family this Christmas. As Voltaire wrote:Il faut necessaire cultiver votre jardin.

There! And who said Oprah was the only thank-full woman?

Labels: cleaning, Grandma, thankfulness

posted by Grace @ 12/22/2006 08:22:00 AM