I have gratitude today for...
* sleeping in this morning. It was nice after staying up so late last night. 
* doing a 2.2 mile run. I felt like I was starting over and hope I remember what it felt like so I don't let this much time go by again. I also messed up my iPod last night and deleted my running mix so I listened to The Killers the whole time. 
* breakfast at Avalon Family Grille with Andy. We sat outside on the deck on this beautiful day. 
* a nice time at the Cape May Zoo. We attempted to do a day trip to Cape May but it was so crowded we couldn't find a parking spot anywhere. I was disappointed because I had our whole afternoon planned out and we didn't even get out of the car. The zoo was a nice "B" plan.

* happy hour at The Real Enchilada. Andy & I had a couple of tacos, chips & salsa and a few beers outside on their patio. 
* spending time researching camera prices and finally buying the Canon Rebel T3i. I'm so excited to have a real DSLR camera. Now I have to schedule my photography classes! I got a good deal on the camera/lens/bag from Best Buy using rewards zone certificates and my Discover card. 
* remembering our wedding day as we celebrated 52 weeks! It sort of felt like our real anniversary since it was Saturday and the weather was very similar to that on our wedding day. 
* Andy playing our wedding song, Hold You in My Arms by Ray LaMontagne, as I was coming downstairs from brushing my teeth and changing into pajamas. It was so sweet- we danced and talked about our wedding day and how happy we are to be married. :-)

I have gratitude today for...
* going for a 3.5 mile walk with Viki this morning on the bike path through Conshohocken.
* picking up Yangming for Megan & I and going to Narberth to see her and the kids for a bit.
* stopping by the Infiniti dealership in Egg Harbor to look at the different exterior colors for the G37x. I also test drove one (and fell in love!) The guy that helped me was very nice and didn't pressure me at all. I think he knew I wasn't doing anything without Andy being there.
* the cute Halloween decorations I found at Produce Junction. I'm excited to decorate our house for fall/Halloween.
* listening to the whole new DMB album all the way through on my way to the shore. I'm still not in love---I don't hate it but I don't love it either. I will probably never listen to it all the way through but there are a couple of songs I like. I really wish I liked it as much as most of our other DMB friends. I think a handful of the songs sound the same and they're so SLOW. Still hoping it will grow on me some more. 
* pizza from Via Mare. It was really good tonight!
* being able to send a link to Dad for him to download the new DMB album.
* getting more work done on our family photo project. I spent all night on it while watching the Phillies. 

I have gratitude today for...
* a good slice of NJ pizza and a small low-fat peanut butter ice cream cone from Halo Pub. I hadn't been there in so long---there is nothing that comes close to that ice cream. 
* a great session of jin shin jyutsu with Hannelore. She explained to me that there is a lot of stress built up in my body and I need to work on taking time each day to meditate or at least sit quietly. She also commented on how long it takes me to relax (at least 20-30 minutes.) I've noticed that when I get messages too---too much going on in this head of mine all of the time. 
* the beautiful weather we're having. No humidity, sunny, warm but not too warm. It's been perfect!
* spending some time organizing myself when I got home. I really haven't been home in 3 weeks and I feel like I'm constantly packing and unpacking (because I am.) I did laundry, checked some things of my to do list, and arranged my rental car and hotel for my trip to Chicago next week. 
* watching the Phillies with Andy even though they lost. It's been fun having the games mean something. 
* making plans to see Lea while I'm in Chicago. 

I have gratitude today for...
* remembering Andy' dad today and the happy times we shared with him. It would have been his 64th birthday. 
* Brian M. & John H. taking me to lunch at Anthony's Coal Fire Pizza. The food was excellent!
* the surprise "good-bye" party for me at the office today. They had an awesome Snickers cake for me that said "Good Luck Christine." It meant a lot to me considering I've only been working with these people for 10 months. 
* seeing Mom & Dad in person tonight so I could tell them about my territory change and everything else that's been going on. Now I can share the news with others. I am a little overwhelmed at how difficult it is going to be to see my friends & family over the next several months with so much traveling. I will feel better after I send out an email to everyone explaining what I'm going through. 
* dinner and wine at Cookie's house. It's always fun to have a girls night. We had fun catching up---I wish I saw them more!

Couldn't put this up until after Dad's party. Working hard on decorations for the big day!

* Parenthood coming back on the air. I watched last night's episode when we got home. I just love that show!

I have gratitude today for...
* landing safely in Philly after our red-eye flight home from CA, on this gorgeous, somber day.
* keeping the memory of 9/11 alive within me. I felt like the coverage of 9/11 today was minimal and I find that nothing other than unacceptable. How can we be forgetting so soon? How can the Kardashian's play on the Today show without the moment of silence in NYC interrupting? My friend had to beg her principal to lower the flag at her school to half staff. Are we already forgetting what that day felt like? The pain and chaos and fear and everything else it brought to everyone of us? This is a day that can not be forgotten. The people that died that day deserve more than that. I wish all of the daytime and evening news shows covered the lives of the many great people that died on 9/11, or their families will to move on with their lives. No, we don't need to see the planes crashing into the buildings over and over again---but the lives of those affected should be honored in the media. The major networks should be embarrassed by the lack of their coverage today. 

* John being able to let us park at the airport lot during our CA trip. 
* watching the Phillies game tonight with Andy. It looks like they could have a chance to make the playoffs after all---pretty crazy after this letdown of a season!