Overdue Gratitude: Domesticity Edition

Don't know what this is? Consider yourself lucky.

Today is Thankful Thursday, and although gratitude is my constant companion, it has been a while since I've written about it here.

Today there is a weather warning in our area. I mean a "special weather statement." It states:

... A CHANGE IN THE WEATHER IS IN STORE FOR THE DISTRICT...

AFTER SEVERAL WARM AND DRY DAYS THE WEATHER WILL BE CHANGING ACROSS NORTHERN AND CENTRAL CALIFORNIA AS THE FIRST IN A SERIES OF PACIFIC COLD FRONTS MOVES ONSHORE THURSDAY.

Reader, they use the term 'cold' loosely out here, but the wind is gusting, the temps are falling, and the hulking grey cloud bank over the Santa Cruz tells me this ocean means business. So today, I am grateful to have a roof over my head, sturdy walls between me and the wind, and the furnace as a last resort (tempting, but I haven't turned it on yet).

And I am grateful for my mom who, although I didn't realize it at the time, taught me how to run a household, how to cook healthy meals, and that a house isn't made into a home by accident, but by intention. And now, the list of planned meals for the week, the pot of beans soaking for soup, the hum of the dryer, the ability to make dinner, kiss a scraped elbow, and drill someone on their math facts all at the same time -- all such a comfort to me. I confess, I think I learned from the best. Thanks, Mom.

I am grateful for all the tools we have in these modern times that make keeping house so much easier than it once was. Hello, washer and dryer, dishwasher, oven, coffee pot that automatically turns itself on ten minutes before I wake up, you guys are the best! Vacuum, I like you, too, but not as much as I like Broom (I confess, it's true).  Also, Lids-off, I was hoping not to meet you until I was much, much older, but thanks for opening the pizza sauce for the kids' lunch today.

I am grateful for learning, albeit the hard way (chronic illness and the standard-lowering but adorable third child) to lower my standards in the housekeeping department. To resort to store-bought pizza sauce once in a while. To step over the piles of laundry between me and my writing desk. To concoct a not-quite-dinner out of almost nothing. To sleep in instead of putting the laundry away......... again.

Also, front porch, you are the best place for en plein air art projects, and Sister and I love you for that.

And, Whole Paycheck, I mean Whole Foods, thank you for your two-fer on roasted chickens every week. One for dinner, one for the freezer. I am not afraid to say you roast chickens better than I do.

Did you know that the average food stamps recipient has to feed him/herself  and his/her family on about $4.00 per person per day? I am so grateful not to have to worry about how I'm going to feed my kids tonight. I am so grateful that my kids have never gone to bed hungry.

For having learned delayed gratification. For resisting the temptation to play hooky on my household responsibilities today. For knowing, knowing that our weekend would be stressful if I did. For waiting until tomorrow to have a day at my desk (.....oh...... it hurt, Reader, it did).

Yes, for all things domestic: for windows, house keys, rugs, lamps, bookshelves, a warm bed, hot water on demand; for delightfully comfortable beds, flannel sheets; for clean, dry towels; for a kitchen table taking on the patina of hard use; for hungry children who need to eat every time I turn around; for being the CEO of this small enterprise called Family; for all this, I am grateful indeed.