Sunday 31 January 2016

Grateful 31:366

Today I'm grateful for...
The end of a good book and the start of another. 
A really enjoyable run with freedom of movement and no feeling of panic. 
Spotting an Exmoor pony. 
Ending January with £17 in my #thisgirlcan jar. 
Not breaking my ankle when I twisted it on the way off the platform at church!


Saturday 30 January 2016

Grateful 30:366

Today I am grateful for...
A biting wind and muddy patches adding to the fun of ParkRun. 
Feeling fit and happy running. 
Treats from Moseley Farmers' Market. 
Dinner out with my boys. 
Blue skies. 

Friday 29 January 2016

Grateful 29:366

Today I am grateful for...
The energy to run on a windy day. 
The patience to deal with a frustrating website. 
Calm when I would normally get very uptight. 
A chocolate as a Friday treat. 

Thursday 28 January 2016

Grateful 28:366

Today I am grateful for...
Happy memories of Kyburg and the Töss from four years ago. 

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Grateful 27:366

Today I am grateful for...
High fiving Reception children. 
Year 1's brilliant assembly. 
A bath run by John. 
My trolley hanging together long enough to get my work paraphernalia home. 
Children with imagination (see one of the Year 4's trolley designs).
The wonder of space. 


Tuesday 26 January 2016

Grateful 26:366

Today I am grateful for...
Being literate.  
Books to read. 
Friendship.

Monday 25 January 2016

Grateful 25:366

Today I am grateful for...
My Scottish heritage as I start a MOOC on Robert Burns.

Sunday 24 January 2016

Grateful 24:366

Today I am grateful for...
Running. 
Eating. 
Laughing with my family. 
Being alive. 
(With thanks to Adeline on FB for sharing the image) 

Saturday 23 January 2016

Grateful 23:366

Today I am grateful for...
A beautiful morning. 
Conversations with strangers, one Dutch and one Norwegian, about education, technology and our international idiosyncrasies. 
Not going dizzy or faint on the Tube.  
The luxury of time to read without guilt. 


Grateful 22:366

Today I am grateful for ...
Friends that I only see once a year. 
Laughter. 
A community of educators who inspire me.  

[A bit late today as I was having too much fun last night ;) ]

Thursday 21 January 2016

Grateful 21:366

Today I am grateful for...
A kind colleague doing break duty for me as I had an observation. 
The wonderful J who helped me get out all the instruments before school.
Not keeling over when I went dizzy at school. Three times. 
Being home. 
Not burning my biscuits for BETT. 
The opportunity to see friends tomorrow that I only see once a year. 


Wednesday 20 January 2016

Grateful 20:366

Today I am grateful for...
A safe trip to and from school. 
Not collapsing at HIIT. 
Finishing planning for my observation in time for bed. 
A hot bath run by my lovely husband. 

Tuesday 19 January 2016

Grateful 19:366

Today I am grateful for...
The beautiful sky this morning. 
The oak tree that has stood for more than 300 years and still watches our coming and going at school. 
The smile on G's face when she sees me. 
Finally making it into bed! 



Monday 18 January 2016

Grateful 18:366

Today I am grateful for...
Talented friends, whether they're near or far away! 

Sunday 17 January 2016

Grateful 17:366

Today I am grateful for...
Chairs!

Chairs that I have sat on at church for the last 34 years. 
Chairs that came from the old church to the new. 
Chairs from which I used to collect hymnbooks.
Chairs that have seen me through my childhood and teenage years, evening services with my feet on the chair in front.
Chairs that have seen me baptised, married and my two boys dedicated. 
Chairs that have seen me go to university, spend a year in Spain and move to Switzerland for two years. And still been there on my return. 
Chairs that knew my Dad, were moved and manhandled by him, and saw him remembered at his Thanksgiving service.
Chairs that have seen my joy and sadness, laughter and tears; seen me act, dance and sing. 

And whilst I'm grateful for all that, I'm also grateful that next week we will sit on (the long awaited and long debated) new chairs! 



Saturday 16 January 2016

Grateful 16:366

Today I am grateful...
For a safe and sunny Park Run. 
That the delivery men carried the bed parts into the garage.
That a new fruity concoction in the Nutribullet proved very tasty. 
That the Stevens family did not come to blows over the quiz - it was very close at least twice! 
For the effort put in by so many to make events at church so successful. 

Friday 15 January 2016

Grateful 15:366

Today I am grateful for ...
Stopping at the bottom of the hill when I braked. 
A sunny morning for a run that was icy and muddy at the same time. 
Seeing several squirrels playing amongst some logs.
The luxury of someone else washing my hair. And highlighting, cutting, drying and styling it. 
Sharing funny memories. 


Thursday 14 January 2016

Grateful 14:366

Today I am grateful...
That the snow mostly melted before I had to drive. 
That two Y5s bought me their tiny snowman to see - then took it back outside! 
For being able to sing 80s rock music as part of my job. Twice. 
For solving the 'how to get a sausage in the middle of a bun like they do in Switzerland without a special machine' to Jude's satisfaction - with an apple corer! 
That John is home. 

Wednesday 13 January 2016

Grateful 13:366

Today I am grateful for...
The pattern of the frost on the top of the car as I left for work. 
A peaceful day at work. 
My hilarious children. 
Languages Today to read. 
Hinterland on iPlayer. 

Tuesday 12 January 2016

Grateful 12:366

Today I'm grateful for...
A surprise gift in the post. Thank you Sinclair for my apple cosy! 
A windy early evening run. 
A hot aromatic bath. 
iPlayer in bed. 

Monday 11 January 2016

Grateful 11:366

Today I'm grateful...
That no one noticed my blue socks with black shoes faux pas caused by dressing in the dark. 
For smiling pupils having fun with their learning. 
That praise notes had the desired effect. 
For the gift of being a mum. 



Sunday 10 January 2016

Grateful 10:366

Today I am grateful for...
Singing with the GB girls.
Seeing lots of people on my run. 
The Country Valley Park. 
The sunshine and lack of rain. 
Fresh air. 
Happy memories shared with MFL buddies. 
Dinner being cooked and kept warm for me to eat when I got back from church. 

Saturday 9 January 2016

Grateful 9:366

Today I'm grateful for...
Park Run although it was very muddy and I was way off my PB! 🌳
Chatting to Tomasz during the last half of ParkRun which distracted us both from how tired we felt and kept us running! 🏃
A car to get to the shops and back quickly when we need a lightbulb.💡
John holding the ladder whilst I constructed the lampshade. 🏮
Being able to understand quite a bit of Deutschland 83 without the subtitles :) 🇩🇪
New bedside table. 🛌
Reading in bed at the end of the day. 📚


Friday 8 January 2016

Grateful 8:366

Today I am grateful for...
a muddy run in the park. When you know what it's like to be injured or not be able to exercise, it makes you all the more aware of the privilege of being able to run, enjoy the fresh air and delight in  the park.
seeing a heron on the lake. In fact two which may answer my question about whether herons should be in pairs like swans.
the sense of humour of my language buddies when something isn't quite right.
iPlayer so I can catch up on programmes that I've missed.


Thursday 7 January 2016

Grateful 7:366

Today I am grateful for...
The end of my (paid) working week. 
Rain at break time so I didn't have to go outside! 
Year 6 listening to AND FOLLOWING instructions so that my ink pads are still all the right colour and there weren't inky fingerprints everywhere at the end of the lesson. 
(Relatively) no traffic on my leg of BSBB-lift-duty. 
The arrival of my Highland Soaps order :) 

Wednesday 6 January 2016

Grateful 6:366

Today I am grateful...
For a young lady who did extra Spanish at home without prompting and bought it in to show me because it reminded me why I persist when it's tough and not everyone appreciates my efforts to make learning Spanish a great experience. 
For being 'put in jail' as part of a game at break time because it made me smile. I do like playing make believe! 
For arriving home after an afternoon id rather forget. 
For HIIT during which I got rid of some angst and stress from the day. 
That Isaac suffered no ill effects from his unusual smoothie concoction. 

Tuesday 5 January 2016

Grateful 5:366

Today I'm grateful for...
An uneventful first day of teaching in 2016. 
The look of delight on the face of a special pupil when she saw Isabella, the Spanish puppet. 
A run after work to clear away the cobwebs. 
My dinner being made whilst I had a shower after my run. 
The amusing phrases that Duolingo often throws out as I'm learning German. Not sure one of today's sentences is legal...

Monday 4 January 2016

Grateful 4:366

Today I'm grateful for...
A teacher day to ease us back into 'work mode.'
A cup of tea when I got home. 
The groceries being delivered and the boys putting it all away. 
One last evening of enjoying the Christmas lights and decorations before they all come down. 
The discovery of a forgotten box of 'alcoholic cherries' under the Christmas tree. And a dark chocolate Bounty! (After I made the collage!)


Sunday 3 January 2016

Grateful 3:366

Today I'm grateful for...
A wonderful holiday in the Highlands of Scotland. 
A safe trip home. 
A beautiful scarf that I was given for Christmas that reminds me of people I love. 
The ability to read books - and time to do so in the holidays! 

Saturday 2 January 2016

Grateful 2:366

Today I'm grateful because...
It didn't rain. 
The Glencoe Cafe was open for hot chocolate. 
We walked and climbed and no one got hurt. 
The views were stunning. 
The Stevens' have had a great time in Scotland. 


Friday 1 January 2016

Grateful 1:366

Today I am grateful for...

running beside the beautiful Loch.
the wonder of standing atop a mountain and looking down.
safely making it up and back down the stony steep mountain paths. 



A new year, a new 366 blog!

It's 2016 and time for a new challenge. After three years of Smiles (2013-2015) with TipTopSwiss  , Windows on my world  and Trees in 2012, 2011 and 2010 respectively, this will be my 7th post-a-day blog challenge.
This year my focus will be on 'things' for which I am grateful, inspired by Piglet,


and this quotation from Flickr.

Gratitude changes the way we look at the world

I'm sure many will be things that make me smile too ;)
So here goes with (at least) 366 reasons I am grateful...