Centered in the Saddle

I’m a little late to the party on this but I loved stumbling on this bloghop via The Everything Pony and started over on In Omnia Paratus.

As this whole pandemic continues and our stay-at-home order has been extended to the end of May, it’s a great time to reflect and remember all the things I’m grateful for. It also helps when the general anxiety of living through a global pandemic sets in.

Gratitude list:

• My husband. No one I’d rather be confined to the house with!
• Our home. I am grateful to have such a lovely place to shelter in, and we have been taking advantage of this time to check projects off the list.
• My job. I am so thankful to have a work-from-home-able job.
• Family and friends. We’ve done a fair amount of video hangs, and played games on the Houseparty app. We’ve also gone on a few socially distant walks/hikes.

• Health. I’m so, so grateful that I and all those family and friends are staying in good health.
• All the people who do things like deliver groceries and go to work for essential functions, so that we can stay home. I do not underestimate the fact that this is inconvenient for me, but dangerous for them.
• Our snuggly cats. Even when they loudly proclaim their need for snuggles during conference calls. Every. Single. Time.

• Taking joy in smaller things like hot tea on a gloomy afternoon, or ice water with lemon during a home workout.
• Nature. I’ve had a chance to slow down and notice things like all the birds in our yard. Usually we see plenty at the feeder, but I’ve seen more like thrushes, bluebirds, and wrens that don’t come to the feeder. The other day a goldfinch sat on the feeder and just sang and sang. It was lovely.
• Projects and tasks. They give me a sense of accomplishment and purpose when it would be easy to just read or watch Netflix for hours and hours.
• Reading or watching Netflix for hours. Sometimes it’s nice.
• Cooking and baking. Instead of it feeling like a chore or something to do quickly between work, going to the gym or other weeknight activities, making dinners has become a relaxing activity. It’s time away from screens. I often put on an audiobook and spend the evening cooking dinner and baking something. Latest: Blueberry banana bread, based on my great-grandma’s recipe. Another big hit were Toasted Oat & Cranberry scones. I’ve been exploring the America’s Test Kitchen cookbook that we got for our wedding and everything has been delicious so far.

• Stretchy pants. ‘Nuff said.
• Branching out into new at-home activities. Puzzles are clutch. Why did I not do these before?
• An adjusted sleep schedule. I like staying up a little later and waking up a little later, since I don’t have to do nearly as much to go to work.

What are you thankful for?