Day 14

Today I was happy to find a beautiful new rose beside my bed. This is one of the lovely things my husband has taken to do for me lately. It just makes me smile.

Day 13

What made today lovely was this little girl. It's so fun having a daughter who loves to dress up in mummy's things.

Day 12

Today I was glad to have a husband with a sense of humour!

Day 11

In the chaos that is my life at the moment, I have had several posts building up over the last few days.

I am grateful for this girl - my childhood friend Noni - who is the most generous and caring person I know. She made dinner for us one night round at her house.

Day 10

Today I am glad for the hollyhocks growing outside my bedroom window. In these busy, chaotic days of moving house it is nice to pause for a moment and enjoy their beauty.

Day 9

Today, on this hot Canterbury day, I was very glad for the air conditioning! Worth every cent!

Day 8

Today I am glad for the hour I spent with my 7 year old son. He wanted me to play with him on moshimonsters.com and we had so much fun with the rocket game. I made it to Level 14! He was so impressed with my skill that he gave me an award, made and presented by his very self!

Day 7

 Today in the midst of the heat and busyness of sorting through stuff, I was glad for a 10 minute break with my husband relaxing in the cool living room, idly chatting with a cup of aromatic homemade chai.

Day 6

We spent the day at Hanmer Springs today. My children absolutely love the place. But I can't say I'm overly fond of it - not being big on swimming. It turned out to be a super hot day, and we missed a 5.0 earthquake in Christchurch, so I am glad that we went and after the changing and the sunscreening and getting Alice to stop screaming everytime a toenail touched the water, we all enjoyed the day, but I have to say that mid-afternoon icecreams are what made the day for me.

Day 5

 Today I am glad to be a New Zealander!
I heard of a Aussie friend today who is married to an American, has a child born in America and was denied citizenship over a technicality. It reminded me of my own debacle with the US immigration many years ago and the frustration and anger over a system so tied up in red tape it's hopeless. They seem to let in the baddies and keep out the goodies. Rant over. So even though I love America and my dear American friends, today I'm glad to be a Kiwi and at home in my own land!

Day 4

I am glad that I have old friends (that's me on the left about 20 years ago. A nice way to spend an evening is talking to them on the phone for nearly 2 hours, even if they do live in a different country.

Day 3

Today we had someone coming to look through our house. So most of the day was spent cleaning and tidying up, which is not my favourite thing to do. But I was so glad when it was all over to come home from the park in town to a lovely clean, tidy house. So it was worth the effort just for that.

Day 2

Today I am glad that my husband decided to clean out the attic. He found my old diary that I kept from ages 13-18. I spent most of the afternoon reading it and laughing so hard at my funny old self. It is full of tragic poetry, accounts of my school days and my ups and downs with boyfriends.

A good laugh really is like medicine!

Day 1

Today I am grateful for this beautiful woman, Mrs. Marjorie Foulkes (pictured here with me on my wedding day). It is one of my favourite photos, even if it 14 years old.

She is my husband's elderly aunt - now in her 90's, and she was the first one to phone us today to wish us a happy new year, and she made me realise all over again what a lovely family I've married into. She is one of the most God-fearing people I have ever known. She has had a lot happen in her life and a really, really difficult year in 2011, and she never grows hard or bitter, but keeps on loving and trusting God and is such an example to me of true christianity.
She prays for us, she phones us regularly, and always is interested in what we are doing, and what our children are doing. We love her so much!