Gratitude again.

1. I had an unexpected day at home today. I am having trouble unplugging from the political and pandemic anxiety these last few days. I'm still keeping up with the yoga and centering prayer, and I'm still sleeping better than I would expect considering the thoughts I can't seem to shake. That's a gift, for sure.

2. I've found that cooking and cleaning help some with the stress. I've had a request for bread, so that was my plan for today. My mixer has been a little iffy since the day I made applesauce this fall, so I've been mixing bread by hand again. I also needed to tweak my recipe. The oatmeal bread wasn't rising the way I expected it to, so I called my favorite bread expert and got advice, which worked well. Today it rose like a dream.

The whole wheat came out nicely as well.

So I penciled in my changes in the recipe book in hopes that I will be able to repeat this success.

3. Someone offered respectful facts in a discussion on facebook. Unfortunately it did not impact the receiver, but it did impact me.

4. I was invited to a group of women discussing the history of women in office, and how women contribute to state and national policy when they are in office. It was nice to hear women talking about the impact of women on public decision making. It was great to think about women in office making a difference,  to hear discussion of how to build bridges across political divides, and sharing sources for where to learn more.

5. West Wing. Last season. Great candidates running clean campaigns. I know, make believe, but what if???

6. A gift from my sister arrived in the mail today. She had cut one of Mom's old tablecloths into pieces so we could each have a part of it. It was a heavy, beautiful, darkly patterned cloth with good memories linked to it.

7. Chuck was in charge of shredding/burning old documents from his parents' old files. He doused them with diesel fuel and repeatedly stirred the fire to make sure all was destroyed. This was a couple of days ago, so when he saw something white at the north edge of the burning pile, he picked it up.

Checks written to the hospital and the clinic for his birth, among other things.