I was scheduled to be in St. Pete for meetings this week and asked my hubby to tag along and he said, “Sure”, so we’re here in St. Petersburg, FL for 6 days.
Tonight, we are dining at local pub and watching Thursday Night Football. The food and drinks are freaking awesome and we are having a good and relaxing time.
I’m so grateful for another little getaway with Donovon, even if I have work for part of it.
Pop and Mom Julia came into town today and took us out to dinner. It’s been a while since we’ve seen them, so it was so nice to visit with them and catch up.
I’m thankful for getting to spend time with them and their making the trip to visit us.
It was 28 years ago today that I lost My Mommy after a 2-year battle with cancer. I was twelve years old. I only had my mother in my life for what seems like now only a brief moment.
My memories of her are few sadly. She was beautiful, classy and charming. Everyone, and I mean, EVERYONE loved her cooking. When I was a child, our house was the hub for many of the Filipinos living in Austin – our extended family. Mommy would cook for hours to prepare for every gathering for pretty many any occasion – birthdays, holidays, you name it, we were celebrating something at our house. Mommy was the perfect hostess, and she cooked for everyone with so much love and joy. You could taste it in her food. I wish I inherited that gene.
I can no longer remember her laugh or her voice for that matter. That makes me so sad, but I cling to and treasure the few memories I have of her. I vividly remember her strength and her grace. Even when she was alive she appeared to be an angel to me, and she’s now been my guardian angel for 28 years.
I’m thankful for the time I had with her, the lessons she taught me, and her love that I still feel today.
I miss you and love you so much, Mommy.
I know. It’s trivial, but my fantasy football team won this week and considering how close it was, winning by barely 8 points after tonight’s game, I’m thankful for the win. Go Marauders!!
Today’s mass was dedicated to our diversity. The entire mass was celebrated in several different languages with cultural dance performances at different intervals. It was a beautiful service.
At one point, a Filipino dance troop approached the front to perform. When the traditional Filipino folk song began to play, it immediately incited tears to stream down my face. It was an unexpected trigger of memories of Daddy. The music and the dancing made me miss him terribly. I watched countless traditional Filipino folk dance performances with Daddy while growing up. Today’s performance made me feel proud of my heritage and also made me feel connected to Daddy, as if he were there watching and enjoying it with me. Oh how I miss my Daddy, but I’m very thankful for my heritage and how it makes me feel so connected to him.
I haven’t seen My Little Princess nieces in weeks. So I am very thankful to have spent the day with them and My Toot at the Barton Hill Farm Pumpkin Patch. All they really wanted to do was get their faces painted. How could we not indulge them? 🙂
Cortney and I have been sisters-in-law for almost 22 years now. We share a unique bond that I have and always will cherish. We’ve experienced a lot together – lots of highs and lows – and through it all, somehow we always come away laughing.
One night while Daddy was in the hospital and Alexa and I were staying the night in the most dreadful of waiting rooms, Cortney came into town and stayed with us most of that night. I was at my lowest – so distraught and utterly exhausted. It was such a comfort to have her there to break the tension with some laughter and some wine that she snuck in for me (Shh! Don’t tell!). It was an unexpected yet welcomed visit and I’ll never forget it. I only hope that she knows I would do the same for her. In a heartbeat.
We don’t get to spend a lot of time together, but our connection runs deep and I’ve always felt this unspoken understanding of each other. She’s my sister, and I’m so grateful for her.
I love you, Cortney.
Being 14 years apart, Alexa and Ava have this very adorably fascinating sisterly dynamic. There’s a lot of competition for attention, but when there isn’t, and it’s just the two if them, their conversations are unbearably cute. I can’t help but grin from ear to ear and sometimes chuckle to myself when I listen to them. I’m so thankful for their relationship, the time they get to spend together, and how it warms my heart.
I’m referring to the television series, not the actual theory. I absolutely love this show. And at the end of a long day, I can watch an episode I’ve seen a hundred times and still roar with laughter. It is my daily comic relief. If laughter is medicine for the soul, The Big Bang Theory is my daily dose, and I’m so grateful for it.
I needed to pull together a photo collage for a newsletter for work tonight. I had some clue as to how to put it together, but after a long day at work and picking Ava up to take her to gymnastics before finally being able to wind down at home, I was in no mood to try to figure this out on my own. Queue My Big Girl. What would have probably taken me over an hour took Alexa 5 minutes. Thank you, Alexa!! You don’t know how much you helped me tonight!!
Gratitude Daily 