Gratitude Monday -- No Real Reason Edition

Gratitude is a wonderful thing. It can sneak up on a person and, for no obvious reason, this person feels grateful.
Such happened to me yesterday. I had a great day. There is no one reason for it. It simply was. I had a wonderful sense of well being and am grateful for it. Yet, it is not the reason for my gratitude.
It was a contributing factor, but not the cause.
I like to understand things. I like to reason out the reason for something in order to understand it.
As near as I can figure it yesterday was a gift from gratitude: "Here, have some just because. There's plenty in the bank."
Fine by me.
And I am grateful for it.

Gratitude Monday--Crafty-ish- Edition

Lately I've had an urge to work with my hands. I've always enjoyed that sort of thing, but for the most I'm not so good at it. One doesn't have to be good to have fun. I am grateful for that.

There are two main compelling reason for this. One was guidance received during a meditation. My Aldebaran guide told me to work with pyramids.
In the other reason the main character of the story I am writing is a clock maker, among other things. When I was young I used to take clocks apart, fix them despite not having a clue what I was doing, and then put them back together. I am pleased to report all the parts got used up when I put them together and the clocks worked.

But back to my point.

A major craft store had clock making kits on sale so I got one. It is a simple thing with a gear box and slot for AA battery, a shaft, three hands, and a pendulum.  I bought a cheap wood cut of Saturn for the clock face and built it on Saturday.
But while I was out at the local dollar stores looking for a cheap thing to use as a clock face I saw a cheap craft kit, sticks and some double-sided tape.
I bought this and as I considered the clock I put together a small pyramid.
It was fun. I really enjoyed the hands-on work. The downside is it requires looking closely at what is being done and that is hard on old, laser-surgeried eyes.
But I did it.
And then yesterday I made two more pyramids. It wasn't until the third one that I realized the craft sticks would hold together better if I put the sides up at an angle rather than flat.
I am grateful I figured that out.
So now I have a clock hanging from the cork board by the computer. I had it running for about an hour and then took the battery out. ( The AA would not fit. I used a triple A and added tinfoil so it could reach the connection point. It works, and I am grateful.)
The pyramids are in various places around the house. I haven't meditated with them yet, but I hope to get to it today.
I worked with my hands and I see the end results all around me. They are not perfect, but they are mine and for it I am grateful.

Gratitude Monday -- Warm Wishes Edition

We've had a spate of cold weather recently. It is Alberta in the winter so this is to be expected, celebrated even.
But even as one loves or hates it there is one thing we all agree on: we must be warm.
I am grateful that I have a home, a roof over my head, and that it has a furnace which works.
I do not have to wish for warmth.
I have it.
Should I wish to be warmer I can put on another layer or simply adjust the thermostat.
Most of the time I just put on more clothing. I like layers.
But there were a few days recently where I turned up the heat.
I am grateful I can do that and grateful that it responded quickly.
And I am grateful to be warm.

Gratitude Monday -- Leftover Edition

We finally had our Christmas turkey dinner on Friday.  My MIL supplied the turkey and it was a big one, 5-7 kg (11 lb. to 15.4 lb. in the old tongue). She also brought cranberry sauce and I had made some, too.
The deal was I'd cook and Mike's mom and sister would have dinner with us.
That seems more than fair.
However, they don't eat much.  I convinced SIL to take some turkey home and stuffed as much as I could in a  container said to hold a kilogram.
I convinced MIL to take some of the bones for soup.
On Saturday Mike and I had shepherd's pie courtesy the leftover veggies I'd cooked with the bird, and of course the bird itself.
Last night we had the rest of the veggies augmented by a few Brussels sprouts that I'd been craving as well as more turkey.
I have a pot on the back burner making stock from some bones and skin. I started it yesterday and may leave it until tomorrow.
There's a good chance we'll have turkey again tonight.
I am grateful for all of it.

Gratitude Monday - A New Year Of Gratitude - 2018 Edition

I am grateful for another year. It's new, it's fresh, it's got a different feel, as the new year tends to do, be it real or only perceived as such.
Either way I am thankful for it.

This year I want a few things. I want to have conscious contact with extraterrestrials. They are a part of my life in the shadowy awareness of things that happened that I remember.
I want the awareness out of the shadows and in the bright light of now.
I want to talk to them, interview them, spend time with them, and write about it.
I want those books I write about ET contact to be popular, to be best-sellers, and I want them to have an impact on the world for the greater good.

It is my wish to speak publicly about ETs, to bring them out of the world of denial and dismissal into public awareness and acceptance.

I am grateful for the chance to talk about it here. I am grateful to know my stance is accepted, and if it is not, then it is at least read.

And if this doesn't pan out, well, that's okay, too. If they don't consent to be outed, maybe they've got some advanced medical techniques and they'll consent to rejig my heartbeat into the right rhythm.
I'd sure be grateful for that.

Happy 2018.