Grateful Wed/A Day Late

I'm a day late with my grateful wed, but wait, I have good reasons. First of all, I drove to Lumberton (8 hours round trip) to meet my stepdad half way to get three of my kids who were visiting them in Georgia. THEN I had 12 dinner guests. We cooked shrimp and mahi on the grill, I made a yummy tomato pie. We had a lovely evening although we had to eat inside because a storm rolled in, but then it cleared up enough to light the fire pit outside for a little after dinner lingering. Great friends, sweet kids running around. How could I NOT be grateful? So here's my Grateful Wed, a day late.
1. I'm grateful for really terrific, kind friends who took the time to hang with us last night.
2. I'm grateful for all the little girls running around last night. Now that my girls are older, I miss the little ones running around (there always seem to be plenty of little boys these days).
3. I'm grateful for my mom and stepdad who so generously had the kids for a week and showed them the time of their lives.
4. I'm grateful for a few days away from my kids, so I can completely adore them again in a fresh and new way.
5. I'm grateful for the magic of summer.
6. I'm grateful to be fresh from my Chautauqua experience, looking at the world in a whole new way.
7. I'm grateful for my awesome mother-in-law who came and helped hold the fort down in my absence last week.
8. I'm grateful for all you, my encouraging readers, who came to Chautauqua with me.
9. I'm grateful for our awesome friends and houseguests who traveled here to see us for the next four days. We've missed them a ton and we're so glad to have them here now.

PLEASE share your gratefulness with us all in your comments. We must learn to be grateful in all times and places. Pause and smile over all you blessings.

One of the recurring themes at Chautauqua was the importance of reading. Of course, you know I LOVE to read, but it's often a source of guilt for me. I'm tired because I read too much last night. I need to clean out a drawer in the kitchen, but here I am reading, etc., etc. Plus, I came back from Chautauqua into a nearly impossible writing scenario for the next month. So I've decided that my post-Chautauqua work schedule is a little writing, my daily three pages, but a LOT of reading to get geared up for fall. What do you think? I'm actually pretty psyched because I love to read, and I'm thrilled to be able to 'count' it as work.

My ED is at camp,and I miss her so much. I think this is very good because I know she misses me, too. We get to adore each other again, as well. Not an easy thing when they're 12.

Have a great week. Anyone have a garden in bloom? My tomatoes are plentiful, even a few cucumbers, my herbs are holding out in the heat. Tomato pies aplenty. Life is good. xoxo