Today I Feel....Grateful!!!

These characters are supposed to represent gratitude. I hope they do, because what do I know about Chinese characters? I always feel grateful for the "normal" things like my health, home, etc., but today I feel gratitude for the following, specific things:

1. My current short story. I've rewritten it 7 times now, but have worked out a lot of nonsense and feel happy to be so motivated and excited about a story.

2. My writer's group. Because they've helped me greatly with the above-mentioned story and at this past Monday night's meeting helped me brainstorm some juicy ideas/details that I believe will enhance and propel the story forward. Thanks Dan and Diane!

3. My parents visiting. They arrived yesterday after battling a horrible snowstorm in NJ. I'm grateful they're here and grateful for their safe journey.

4. My girls' fabulous report cards. I'm happy they love school and are doing well. Go girlies!!

and 5. For my wonderful/erudite/friends who have great taste in literature and who've recommended Juliet, Naked (Nick Hornby) Olive Kitteridge (Elizabeth Strout) and what I'm reading now, The Help (Kathryn Stockett). I've loved these books and have loved spending time with them. I bought The Help on Monday and am finishing it up tonight. What a page turner! Funny and poignant, I highly recommend this one.

If any of you have any other suggestions, I'd love to hear 'em!

Yes, I'm Still Here and....Happy New Year, Everyone!!

Sorry I haven't visited my own blog lately. The holidays were crazy, and then I got back into writing, so other things--like blogging--fell by the wayside. I'm busy working on a short story. I've felt quite motivated to work on this story and needless to say, I hope it gets picked up. This is the feeling I love about writing--when I'm inspired and motivated, even though what I've put out is rough. I've already rewritten this story six times and it's still not quite right. I'm getting there, though.
We've had a TON of snow here in northest Ohio. It's finally beginning to melt, but we think we got nearly 3 feet overall.
A couple of people have asked for an update on the office project, so here are some pictures. My husband got a lot accomplished this past weekend. We had lights installed in the niche above the fireplace. I hope to put a piece of artwork in that spot. I was concerned that the fireplace would make the room too warm, but that hasn't been the case--at least not in the past few weeks with all of this cold and snow. It's quite the luxury to flip it on, get the room warm and turn it off. Here's a shot of the snow outside our back door. We even got more snow than what is shown here. Oy.

I've also been wrestling with the notion of perfectionism. I've never considered myself a perfectionist. I'm always quick to point out how many perfectionists I have in my life and I seem to surround myself with them. But recently I've come to accept my own perfectionism--in general every day life, in my attempts to lose weight and lead a healthier lifestyle and in my writing. It came out in this story I'm currently working on and I've had to sit back and consider how I, too, am (sort of) a perfectionist. I guess I'm not ready to fully embrace the label, but I'm....working on it.