Just Surrounded by Gratitude

I spend so many days just surrounded by gratitude.  I am living in a house I love, with a husband I adore, a child who delights and challenges me, in a lovely neighborhood, in a beautiful state, with many wonderful friends.  What I have now is what I have longed for all my life, some of it I never ever thought I would be able to call my own.

Yesterday we had some rough waters, with superhuman efforts exerted to avoid a nap, impatience during Mom's favorite tv event of the whole year, lots and lots of cleaning and cooking and hoping things will work.  But when the time came to sit down and enjoy the fruits of our labors, I had a big, round feeling of great peace and happiness, kind of in the bottom of my stomach.  It was a beautiful thing.

The traditional Chocolate Soy Pudding of the holidays :)