Gratitude Journal

I am so grateful I have a good hospital to go to when needed. I get my own room, the food is decent, and I have access to nurses to talk to when needed. I know so many people don't have this experience. It costs me over $200USSD a month for the insurance. It sends me broke on my disability person, but it is worth it as state hospitals can be an awful place to be. Also, I am not rushed out to make room for beds like in the public system.

I am grateful for the ability to look at old things with a fresh eye. Our dog tore a ligament in her knee and needs a fairly expensive surgery. We've been looking for ways to save money and have been able to recycle/repurpose a number of our old possessions lately. It has taken a bit of work to bring them back to life, but we are finding the nostalgia value to be well worth the effort. I also appreciate the lesson my kids are learning.

For example, we always get a fresh tree each year for our family room. We had an old prelit tree with broken lights. My husband had the idea to cut off all the old lights and light it again with some old lights we used to decorate our old house with. They are 10+ years old, but we had just enough working bulbs to make it work. That's $70 we get to save on a tree this year.

Great idea! Feels good to uncover ways to save money. It is something wonderful to share with your children

Hope your pups surgery goes well

Thanks! I took her in for her consultation yesterday and the surgeon stayed late and went ahead and added her to his busy schedule for the day. She's an inside dog and pretty much thinks she's human. He saw her anxiety and said he didn't like the idea of dragging the process out further. It was very kind of him to go ahead and fix her leg.

We've had to keep her confined to a small room with no furniture or stairs for a few weeks already and she's so sad. She is very active and she is used to following us along all day and getting lots of exercise.

Her procedure went really well. We pick her up in a few hours. We have to keep her confined to a crate for at least 6 weeks and then she should be able to move around more. It will be 12 weeks or so before she can run again.

We went though all of this with our last dog. Its hard to look at their little sad faces and lock them up in their crate when they just want to be with you. We have to do what is best for her though. Not treating this would cause lifelong arthritis and I know you know more than anyone how cruel that would be. So, we are sucking it up and planning to do all we can to make this as easy as possible on her.

today I got an email from my friend who emigrated to thailand.

it was very short and very brief, but it was good to find out a bit about what he is doing and that he was okay

I am also greatful for chocolate. I always have chocolate for christmas and I have a tin this year now

Recognizing and practicing gratitude has transformed my life. There is always something to be thankful for, even if it's a simple thing such as a sunny day.

I’m glad everything was taken care of. Yes we do what we need to , my dogs are family too.

Yes trying to slow dogs down is hard, they seem to cover quicker than we do but they must not ruin the surgery. When I got my pound puppy he had been run over and a horrible infection in his leg. Had I not adopted him he would have died with in 48 hours. Lots of surgery and confining he still tore out sutures a few times.

Hope your baby heals quickly

I'm grateful for my wife who takes care of us so well. I'm grateful as she led us from a not so bright place to the place which is so beautiful and lively. I hope to keep her happy with the smallest of the things

I am SOOO VERY grateful for my pdoc. I have underestimated her several times. I am done doing so..
She has helped me out in big ways over this past year. I am grateful. I have told her so!

I am grateful for backup plans!

I am grateful for a clean house. Things have been nutty lately and I finally had time to get things done today. I feel so much more relaxed when things are in their place and clean.

I am grateful to my family and my medication. I am also grateful for not being too unhealthy. I have a place to sleep, food to eat, and clothes to wear. I am finally grateful for the future that allows me to improve myself and make myself a better person. I am happy and satisfied with what I have and don't want anything I can't have. I feel blessed.

I’m grateful despite this unbelievable pain and psoriasis flare starting that I’m still able to clean daily which is one of my main coping skills and cooking daily ..

I agree that a clean house brings a certain calm and relief. My house is completely clean today (except maybe the basement and garage). I was actually talking about this topic with my psychiatrist this morning. I had spoken with both my sister and brother about my father's house. My brother lives in my dad's house and is so terribly messy and certain things are just never cleaned sufficiently (i.e. floors). I almost think that that is one of many reasons why my father seems more content in the assisted living facility. They clean the rooms in his studio apartment, and of course the rest of the facility is nice and clean. It's actually a pleasant place.

I was grateful to see my psychiatrist today. I won't see him until a week after New Years, but I think that will be OK. I will likely see my therapist at least two or three times before then. Maybe four.

I was happy that I had several pleasant interactions with people in public today. It feels good when people smile at each other and say a few pleasant words, at the least. I try to smile at people in public all of the time. There is a HUGE reward in doing so.

One of my little ones is sick and a mother from my child's class did me a favor today to keep me from having to take my sick child out of the house. She went out of her way to help a virtual stranger. I am grateful for kind people.

Your devotion to a clean house is pretty awesome!

I’m really happy that your feeling better! I have been very worried.

You father probably does feel better being out of his home.. do you think you and your siblings could take on the chore of getting your Dad’s place clean and tidy for his return home?! Or maybe just hire a cleaning company?!

I was grateful to go have breakfast with my husbands sister before they left. They are headed to the Smokey mountains to celebrate there daughters birthday, she’s 29 but mentality of about a 2 year old, she’s almost always smiling and everything is so exciting for her.

I’m also grateful that I took the time to throw on some makeup.

Thanks, Christina! And I'm glad you had a nice visit with your husband's family members.

Actually yes, I had initiated conversations with my siblings about cleaning up our dad's house. I even offered to pay for a cleaning company to come in and do a one-time deep cleaning (w/the possibility of regular work paid by my dad), but my brother doesn't want that. He said he'd do some, but I have my doubts it would be a good job. I didn't bug him much more about that because he was hospitalized for congestive heart failure, at the time. I'll bring it up again.

The worst room in my dad's house is his dining room. My brother has the craziest stuff in there. Everywhere. Honey beekeeping stuff, chicken related stuff (he raises chickens), cooking paraphernalia, electrician stuff, you name it. Dad doesn't have a sit-in kitchen, so the dining room is where he should eat. Dad seems to have lost control of bills and other paperwork. That had been piling up on the table, too. My sister will take that over. I told her I'd buy a darned "in box". If nothing else, it would contain it into one spot.

It’s a shame your brother isn’t interested in getting the place cleaned up. Would your Dad be interested in that ?? Maybe if he agreed your brother would just have to go along with it ?? I hope your able to get something sorted out before he comes back home. Is he enjoying where he is staying right now ??

My Dad told my sister that he wants to stay in the assisted living until the warm weather. I don't know. April or May? April can still be cold.

It's hard to deal with my brother because he's one step from being an obsessive hobbyist. Maybe he actually is. I suggested that he try to get Dad to agree to have some of the outdoor sheds emptied. The problem is, even if our dad agreed, I really think my brother would want to hang on to a lot of it. They have 5 sheds, one of which is more like a barn. My brother always has so many projects going on at once. He's not really a hoarder, just the hobby stuff. A month back my brother casually said that he thinks he may have some "bipolarism", as he calls it. I was like "OMG!"

Oh that’s great news about your Dad wanting to stay at assisted living !

I’ve known a lot of people that get very involved in hobby’s but get bored and more on to a new one.

Maybe he could start selling or donating some things ??

Do you think he could have Bipolar ??

I don't know how much my brother would be willing to part with. He definitely could sell a lot of it.

I don't know if my brother has bipolar disorder. If he does, I would think it was bp2. I don't think he has ever been full blown manic, and I have never seen or heard of any psychotic behavior from him. But since bipolar disorder is a spectrum disorder, who knows. If he does have it, that would mean that all three of us have it (Sis, Bro, & me). That would seem odd how prevalent it was in my family. It already is now.

My brother has had depression, but the most significant was when he left the navy. He was career navy. However, at the time, he had several severe stressors going on. I wouldn't say depression was frequent in his life, but I am not sure.

Growing up, I think some bipolar behavior was "normalized". Also, my brother wasn't in my life for a long time because of our age difference and the navy.

You know it seems either military people get out and they are a stickler for everything be orderly and neat , ( my BIL has basic stuff$ or they have a lot stuff.

My brother 4 years older had no mental illness, yes stress he managed grocery stores all his life , works like a dog ..he’s just a steady rock. I truly thought for a long time one of us was adopted lol .., he was the smart one In school and I killed myself to pass.

I hope that your brother will consider lightening the load. Maybe he is on the spectrum of Bipolar. Only thing you can really do is just observe and see if something is there

I'm grateful for my son, my cats, my apt, having food to eat, my car. If I could just get this anxiety under control...but I have a lot to be grateful for.