Day 162 - Today I am grateful for....special dinners :-)

My girlfriend Ronnie invited me around for dinner tonight. OMG - it was amazing!

I've spent so much time at her house in recent weeks, for both good and sad reasons but none of them really to "catch up" catch up.

We spent hours making the amazing paper origami dress for the races. Each petal on her dress was hand folded and glued by our friend Aimee, myself and Ronnie. Although she missed out on the Fashions of the Field on the day, she very deservedly made it into the paper for her amazing design.

But last week, in the early hours of the morning, she called me very upset. Someone had stolen her brand new car OUT OF HER DRIVEWAY. WTF? Surely not? Surely to God, this poor girl has been through enough?

She lost everything during the floods in January, including her car, which was finally replaced a month ago. Her joy was short lived when some social degenerate decided to steal it.

Not only did they steal her car but they broke into 26 other vehicles in the Darling Heights area. Wankers.

And so ensued a massive CSI operation and she has basically handed the culprits to the police on a silver platter. In my opinion she should be made some kind of honorary policewoman or something - she did most of the hard work for them!

Unfortunately, not only was her vehicle stolen, but it was subsequently torched 3 days later.

In between all of this, she has had time to listen to me have a minor little meltdown and she felt bad for not knowing I was going through my own stuff. I felt more bad for not being able to keep myself together at the appropriate time!

It's been such a horrible couple of months for everyone, but especially her and I marvel constantly at how graciously she takes each of life's challenges that are thrown at her.

But tonight, I was really looking forward to just having a nice dinner with one of my best friends, just because.

Did I mention it was amazing??

Well it was.

And so is she.

Grateful.

Day 161 - Today I am grateful for....Savoury Mince on Toast!

I cooked up a storm on Sunday night.

Apart from the minor hiccup of no power when I got home from work, things finally came together and the power came back on!

My two things that I had decided to cook and freeze were Shepherds Pie and my Mum's Savoury Mince.

Nom Nom Nom

In my mind I figured that these two old faithfuls were easy to cook and easy to portion up and freeze.

I set to work and cooked up a storm. It's been a while since I've cooked in my kitchen and it bordered on fun.

Although I much prefer cooking for people, it was nice to know that I've not lost all of my talents when it comes to cooking. I guess it's like riding a bike?

Meanwhile, my diabolical plan had the exact reaction that I needed. Casual. Simple. Easy.

I got home from work today, didn't feel like cooking and so I just simply defrosted some savoury mince and had it on toast! YUM!

I love it when life can be so so simple.

Grateful :-)

Day 142 - 160 - These days I was grateful for....the small stuff

Today I realised that it's been a long time since I've blogged.

I've been ungrateful....again.

So instead of trying to make up for lost time, I've decided to just say that I've been on hiatus and start afresh.

No use crying over spilt milk.

The longer the time goes, the more I struggle to be grateful again. So instead of trying to find 18 things to be grateful for, I've decided to just be grateful for the small stuff that has happened in the past couple of weeks.

I'm not going to lie, it's been a busy few weeks, so to name a few of my grateful things....

I am grateful that my Mum didn't break her femur....only her fibula. Still broken but tough as nails and walking around without plaster. No surprises.

I am grateful that my friend Ronnie's dress made it into the paper after our confusion at the races.....

I am grateful that it's my holidays in 5 days. 11 days off! I'm excited.

I am grateful for my catch up coffee with my friend Bianca tonight after she's been galavanting around the world on a cruise for the last week. I am also grateful that she is safe and sound. I HATE boats.

I am grateful that my friend Ronnie had someone to call during her toughest moments last week....me and Aimee. And I am preempting the grateful that I will feel when they catch the degenerates that stole and torched her brand new car. Because she hasn't been through enough already this year.

I am grateful for dinner with Bradley, Megan, Nathan & Vic last week.

I am grateful to hear other dear friends have made it home from OS safe and sound.

I am grateful that Tiff & Katie had a fabulous time in Melbourne.

I am grateful for my new Credit Card and the fact that it has allowed me to book my amazing trip to Thailand with Anita in October.

I am grateful for special friends who have listened to me cry in the last few weeks and just hugged me because that's what I needed.

I am grateful that I felt pretty on race day.

I am grateful for the new book I'm reading.

I am grateful for my new GHD.

So many things to be grateful for in hindsight but no inclination to be at the time.

But in the words of the plaque on my desk.....

"The more you practice being grateful, the more you will discover what to be grateful for...."

So when God closes a door, somewhere he always opens a window.

Grateful.