Attitude

In keeping with yesterday's day of thankfulness and gratitude, I thought I'd follow up with a post about positive attitude.

Dale Carnegie said "Happiness doesn't depend on any external conditions; it is governed by our mental attitude".  I believe this to be true.  Your attitude is the biggest contributor to happiness AND your biggest tool against stress.

"Attitude is everything".

"Change your attitude and change your life".

"Its not about the hand you're dealt, but rather, they way you play it".

These may sound like cliches but they can really be helpful in making a better life.

What you're given versus what you make of it.

Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving in America, a day where people try to be mindful and thankful for all they have, including a big turkey dinner.

For many people, Thanksgiving is a time for family members to come together.  More people travel for Thanksgiving than for Christmas.  But not everyone can spend Thanksgiving with their family.  Some are rejected by their family for being GLBTQ.  Some are not welcome in their family homes due to old family drama or arguments.  Some do not live close to their family and can't travel to be with them.  For all of these, Thanksgiving can be a lonely day.  

One year Spouse & I were aware that several of our friends had no plans for Thanksgiving so we asked them to join us and our family.  We ended up with 23 people for a sit-down meal.  We were a little concerned if we'd have enough food, but everyone brought something to add to what we'd prepared and we all had plenty to eat and a really great day together.

Others have adopted a Thanksgiving tradition called Friendsgiving where they intentionally seek out friends who have no plans and/or no family with which to spend Thanksgiving.  In this way they create a 'chosen family' with whom to spend the holiday.

Whatever your Thanksgiving plans, I wish you a day of thankfulness, gratitude, friendship, love, and delicious food.

Happy Thanksgiving

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.  It turns what we have into enough, and more.  It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.  It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.  -Melody Beattie

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/melody_beattie_177949?src=t_thankful

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/melody_beattie_177949?src=t_thankful

Thanksgiving plans

Tomorrow morning Spouse & I will pack up Marvin & Walter and drive to his sister's house for Thanksgiving.  Spouse is making his famous stuffing tonight and my mouth is watering just thinking about it.  

My office is closed on Fri (for the 1st time) so we won't have to rush back after dinner on Thurs.  We'll stay overnight and head back on Fri at some point.  

Its supposed to be chilly (in the 40s) tomorrow so it will actually feel like Thanksgiving.  Sometimes its 60 or 70 degrees on Thanksgiving day which makes the whole event feel out of place.  We're looking forward to some nice family time and some great food and a reminder to be thankful for all we have.

To-do list

My to-do list for today and everyday!

Thanksgiving

This morning Spouse & I took the dogs with us and drove to Spouse's sister's house for Thanksgiving.  I'm looking forward to not just a terrific meal, but 2 days off work and some relaxation time with the family.  We'll head home sometime on Fri, when we're ready.

I hope all you readers take a moment to stop and be thankful of the goodness in your lives, and plan to bring goodness into the lives of others, however and whenever you can.

Tired but grateful

This is how I'm feeling today.

Last week was SO BUSY at work!  I had showings with different clients every day.  Even though I was supposed to be off on Thurs I wound up working pretty much the whole day anyway.  And although I'm typically off on Sun, I worked yesterday because our team had 2 people on vacation and a 3rd person who'd requested the weekend off.  As of yesterday I've worked 7 days in a row, and by the time we close for Thanksgiving I will have worked 10 days in a row.

But I'm thankful to have a job I enjoy, and am happy that although this is typically a slow time of year, its been busy for me.  Remember, I'm a real estate agent so I don't get paid unless I go to settlement, so I'm happy for all the business.

On Fri I had 3 closings, and earlier in the week I'd gotten 2 homes under contract.  I'm grateful to be busy at a time that's typically slow, but I'm also tired.  I'm getting sufficient sleep, so I think I'm mentally tired.  Hopefully Thanksgiving Day and Friday will be restful days spent with the family.

Holiday recap

Thanksgiving and Fri went pretty well.  There was minimal family drama, and mostly just a lot of good food and thankfulness.  We were thankful that Spouse's brother who has terminal cancer was well enough to be there.  We were thankful that our niece and her 11-day old daughter were able to be there.  We were thankful that our nephew who is a college sophomore was able to be there.  We were thankful my aunt who had knee replacement surgery was able to be there.  We had a lot of food, a lot of laughs, and a lot of reasons to be thankful.

Great Uncle Mark and Gabriella

On Fri Spouse & I had a leisurely breakfast with his mom, and then headed over to Trader Joe's to stock up on some tasty goodies for our upcoming tree trimming party as well as some stuff for our regular eating.  Afterward we took Spouse's mom with us to his sister's house where we ate Thanksgiving left-overs for lunch.  Shortly thereafter we packed up our stuff, grabbed Marvin & Walter, and headed home to DE.  We had dinner with our buddies Steven & Thad.

Sat I worked, we had dinner with Steven & Thad, and then I performed in the 1st Christmas Legends show.  It went very well and I enjoyed meeting and talking some of the audience after the show and posing for photos.

Sun Spouse & I had breakfast at Crystal with Steven & Thad and then came home and put up our Christmas tree.  We had discussed whether or not to switch over to LED lights and decided to continue using our existing lights since they all still worked just fine.  That must have jinxed us, since the 1st string of lights we plugged in only lit up about 2/3 of the way.  So we hopped in the car and purchased all new LED lights (on sale for 1/2 price at KMart) and proceeded to light the tree.  However, the last string of new LED lights was faulty and wouldn't fully light, so we returned it and got another string to replace it.  Needless to say the lighting of the tree took much longer than anticipated.  

After dinner (again with Steven & Thad) I sorted through the Christmas stuff, unwrapping the home decorations and saving the tree ornaments for next Sunday's tree trimming party.

It was probably 1 of the most relaxing and enjoyable Thanksgivings I can remember.