Category: Thankful Thursdays

Each week I take note of big and little things I’m thankful for. Gratitude takes practice and this is my practicing place.

Thankful Thursday #25

On By Alicia McCauleyIn Thankful Thursdays3 Comments

This week I’m thankful for…

  • getting a pedicure with my mom
  • walking the river trail
  • my critique partner at Writers Forum and her helpful suggestions
  • leftovers
  • rainy weather that lets me wear my winter clothes in May
  • sweating hard in spin class and then walking in the rain to my car
  • reading in bed with my hubby
  • days when the rain holds off until after recess
  • the bouquet of roses my husband brought to my classroom
  • the little boy who finally nailed his solo during practice for our musical
  • the man outside of Barnes and Noble who said “Hey, beautiful, smile.  Every day is a good day.”  It was a particularly rough teaching day and I needed to be reminded that it was still a good day.

Thankful Thursday #24

On By Alicia McCauleyIn Thankful ThursdaysLeave a comment

This week I’m thankful for…

  • field trips that require me to tromp around outside by creeks and stuff with my little ones.  It’s so cool to take them out in nature.  We capped our last trip off with a picnic lunch.
  • parent volunteers
  • making my mom laugh on my grandmother’s birthday
  • strawberries from the stand
  • BikeSnobNYC’s article on Wouter Weylandt
  • for my friend, Danielle, who helped me make this flip book of verses I want to memorize.  I’m thankful for creative friends who dream up beautiful things and turn them into reality.

Thankful Thursday #23

On By Alicia McCauleyIn Thankful Thursdays4 Comments

This week I’m thankful for…

  • a trip to Huntington Beach.  It’s my favorite beach and I saw these little guys on the pier.  Notice how the tortoise seems to be clueless to the fact that he’s facing the complete wrong direction.  Notice also how the parrot is clearly terrorizing the tortoise.  I am so the tortoise.
  • dancing next to Ellen on the Ellen show.
  • road trips and the feeling of joy I get when I come back home
  • long bike rides when my legs feel like they could pedal forever
  • watching a dragonfly nymph emerge from its exuvia for the last time as it becomes an adult dragonfly
  • when I took a wrong turn on a bike ride and it led me on a prettier route than I’d planned
  • the book I published with my class this year.  All my hard work paid off when I saw the looks on their faces as they held their very own words in print.  It’s just magical.

Thankful Thursday #22

On By Alicia McCauleyIn Thankful Thursdays4 Comments

This week I’m thankful for…

  • turning off my alarm clock for the week
  • Good Friday service
  • Easter Sunday when the rain stopped and the clouds parted in time for church outside
  • the hymn In Christ Alone because it brings me to tears every time I hear it
  • riding my bike with girlfriends Easter afternoon
  • hearing the 5:30am train echoing up from the valley and realizing I can go back to sleep for as long as I want
  • reading in bed in the morning

Thankful Thursday #21

On By Alicia McCauleyIn Thankful Thursdays3 Comments

This week I’m thankful for…

  • my grade level partners who always have my back
  • parents of current and former students who intrinsically seem to know when I need to hear that I’m doing a good job
  • our school librarian for saying I’m the perfect teacher for my most challenging student
  • my husband for encouraging me to always listen to my heart when it comes to doing what is best for children
  • my sixth grade student TA who looked at our dragonfly nymphs and said “Isn’t it amazing that something so ugly turns into something so beautiful?”  Exactly.
  • pedicures
  • dates with my mom
  • The Sound of Music, which always makes me tear up at least a little, especially at the lyric “I go to the hills when my heart is lonely.”
  • reading solely for the pleasure of it
  • lazy Saturdays when I read nap and Terry watches baseball naps, too
  • warm rain that compels Terry to usher me outside to smell it
  • the small window each week wherein all the laundry is washed and put away and the laundry hamper is empty
  • walking home from church under a sky of thunderheads that held off the rain long enough for me to make it home
  • the little boy who brought his skateboard in as his “Mostest special thing, ever, in the world.  Ever.”
  • my darling former student who brought her bunny by after school so I could “finally meet him”.  Henry the Bunny is now my favorite bunny.  Although chocolate bunnies are a close second.
  • this clip from 365grateful.com