Thankful. November 6.

Oh crap, it's later in the month than I thought it was. Deep breaths, Shannon!
Today, I am thankful for traditions.  My dear friend Amber and I have been exchanging crazy birthday gifts for years in this very gift bag.  According to the earliest sticker I can find on the bag, it was first shipped between Texas and Illinois in 2000.  I ship it to Amber every year for her November birthday and then I get it back with my December birthday gifts.  And then I bear the responsibility of NOT losing the bag until the following November.  The pressure!
The tradition of it all makes me smile.
And why the "Oh crap?"  Her birthday is just three days away.  I hope it gets there in time!

Thankful. November 5.

Today I express my gratitude for this cat. She lets me cuddle with her by day even though I chase her through the house, hurling expletives and threatening to kill her, every morning at 5:15 am. 

We have an understanding. I feed her when she demands it and she tolerates my petting her lovely fluffiness. 

Can it be any other way with a cat?

Thankful. November 4.

My daughter came home from school and presented me with these three leaves that she picked up on her walk home.
I am grateful for two things:
1. I live in a place with changing seasons.  I get to feel snow in the winter, smell lilacs in the spring, feel thunder shake my house in a summer storm and see these absolutely gorgeous fall colors.
2.  It makes my heart happy that at eleven years old, she still collects things for me. 

Thankful. November 3.

A puppy. Who doesn't love a puppy?  I am thankful for this puppy for several reasons. 

1. She's cute. 

2.  My daughter has wanted a dog for-ev-er. Forever. Seriously forever. 

3. She serendipitously came into our lives, relieving me of the responsibility of choosing to seek out a puppy. 

4.  Every kid should have a kitten and/or a puppy once. We survived the kitten. Now is our chance to survive a puppy. 

5.  It's a good life experience. 

Thankful. November 2.

I am so thankful for this man, who, without complaint, sits through multiple selfies and patiently looks where I tell him to so that I can have a satisfactory picture of the two of us. 

He's pretty awesome and this is just one reason why. 

And yes, the wind blew my hair in my eyes, but this was way better than tries 1 and 2, so we went with it. Even I have limits. 

Thankful: November 1

 I have been struggling with this whole, "I am going to spend November cataloging all of the things I have to be thankful for" trend.  I think that it fantastic that we all stop complaining and criticizing and instead examine the blessings in our lives, BUT I get my panties all in a bunch when I start to read the laundry list of how awesome everyone's lives are. Is this a contest?

That being said, I do want to take the time to think about the things in my life that are wonderful and special and bring a smile to my face.  And I am going to be completely honest about some of the weird things that just make me happy to have my life.  (Plus I hate to be left out, so I am totally joining in.)






 November 1:  I am grateful for fantastic fall colors, with a side serving of appreciation for the fact that my neighbors don't call the police on me when they see me crawling through their yards with my camera.  You see, I don't have any pretty trees in my yard, sniff, sniff.

Between that yellow (Silver Maple, maybe?) and the red of the Burning Bush, I was in love.









Also, I am thankful that I didn't make a total fool of myself by slipping, tripping, falling or doing something equally as clumsy as I took these photos on one of the busiest streets in town.

Sensible Shoes

When I got dressed this morning, I said to JJ, "We won't be walking too much today, will we?" 

Ugh.  

We started by trying, once again, to have breakfast at Dottie's True Blue Diner.  We walked the two long blocks down there only to discover that they are closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  Whoops.  Back to Show Dog we went. 

 We were a little unsure because it was one of those places that boasted organic foods.  To me, that means, "not simple."  We were pleasantly surprised.  The food was really good.  KJ had pancakes with a chai syrup.  We didn't tell him until after he pronounced it "delicious" what he was actually eating.  JJ had a hot dog breakfast concoction.

After that, we hopped a bus to Golden Gate Park.  In my head, Golden Gate Park was going to be like Millennium Park.  In reality, it is massively humongous.  It is three miles long.  And we got off the bus at the east end and intended to walk to the west end and hit the beach.  And we did that, but it took much longer than anticipated.  Note to self: do a little more research next time, especially when sidewalks are, um, narrow. 

The kids were awesome.  There was no whining or complaining.  We took a side trip and rode a paddle boat around Stow Lake.  We made friends with squirrels.  We walked and walked and walked and walked.  And then we walked some some more.

We got to the ocean and it was cold and windy and beautiful.  

We explored some freak alien-looking kelp and some jellyfish that had washed up on the beach.  

We stuck out feet in the cold water.  After I saw those jellyfish, I wasn't letting anyone go in very deep.  

We watched a fisherman fish and feed the ones that were too small to keep to the gulls.  It was like Wild Kingdom the way those gulls fought over the fish.

Once we finished there, we walked and walked looking for the next bus stop.  It wasn't where we thought it was, so we walked some more.   We did find the Tsunami Evacuation Route.  That's not something we've ever seen in Illinois.

We took the bus up to Land's End.  When we realized that we were going to have to hike down and then back up another huge hill, we gave up that dream and walked back to the bus stop to head to Pier 39.

Are you catching the theme for the day?

It's walking.

We visited The Aquarium of the Bay out on Pier 39.  That was the kids' choice.  They love fish.  :) The aquarium is small, but cool.  (I am spoiled by Shedd.) The best part was the two tunnel aquariums that you get to walk through.  Yes, walk.  

Finished up with a final dinner at Sam's Diner.  Now we are packed and ready to head home with very mixed feelings.  

And tired feet.  

But at least no one reeks of garlic tonight.