Today I am grateful that the yardman/handiman is back and my front garden has been weeded for the first time in months, the Christmas ornaments are off the bougainvilla, packed in boxes and back in the attic, the roses in front and on the back fence pruned, the burned out yard lights have been replaced, the gutters cleaned, and now he's just come back from the hardware store with roof tar and is trying to find the place where water is getting into a spot on my kitchen ceiling. Honey's theory is that it's coming from some place else. Yardman's theory is that it's from the old wood under the windows. By a process of elimination, the leak will be found. Once the leak is found, THEN the ceiling will get repaired. Not before. I've been there and done that and won't do it again til I know the leak is gone.
Today I am grateful:

• as I said before, that the yardman is back and so much is getting done in such a short time
• that this morning I got my tickets to go visit my son in SC for his 46th birthday--I'll just be there three days and two nights and he'll be relieved that I'm not staying longer. He's the one who was in prison and he's doing comparatively well. I'm so thankful he has a phone again. And that he sounds deeply human again for the first time in a looooong time. (Meth does not contribute to good healthy loving relationships so I thank God that's out of the picture today)
• that I got to talk to my grandkids in Germany today--I love hearing their voices anytime, anywhere and wish they were geographically a lot closer. They were cleaning out their pet turtles' box while we talked
• for the monk-e-mail I got from my daughter http://www.careerbuilder.com/monk-e-mail/ --this is by far the funniest thing you've ever seen. Scott sent her a monk-e-mail, then she sent one to me. You get to dress up your own monkey and...well, go there and see
• for my Honey's willingness to help me with my art homework--and the amazing results (the assignment was to take a familiar object and transform it by imaginative means so that it is unrecognizable and, if possible, says something about our society) I'll have it here tomorrow--I promise. Never underestimate the power of a shotgun . I named the results "Lots of Love from Dick C"