Yesterday was Family Day here in Ontario, and I have a pretty celebration-worthy group. Child is home from university for spring break, so he requested a menu of his family favourites, and we had a lovely dinner full of laughs and great conversation. While my Gentleman Associate and I have fallen to the habit of eating in front of the TV, not talking to each other, when I have the opportunity for a dinner party with my parents, friends, and family around a table, those are truly the golden moments of my life.
So what else is am I grateful for this week?

The recipes handed down to me for all of child’s favourites – impignulata, chicken soup, cutlets, beans and potatoes. All simple things that are so satisfying to make and share and consume.

The wider re-opening of things like theatres (Yay date-night! Even MORE yay for theatre popcorn!)

The wider re-opening of things like gyms, which means it isn’t so hard to get into aquatics classes anymore.

Clean ducts! King Louie of Dogswald wasn’t a fan of the vacuum truck; he’s a delicate soul, he is. But all the dust and dog hair and other undesirable things are all gone. For today, anyway. Time to start re-spinning those webs, spiders!

Dog groomers who really care about their charges. King Louie went to the spa last week, but he isn’t the young buck he used to be, and standing for 2 hours is more than he can bear now. So when we got out to the parking lot, his legs just gave out from exhaustion. When I phoned the groomers to ask them if anything weird had happened, they were all upset that something was wrong. We (the groomers, the vet, and I) figured out that it was just depleted muscle strength that was the problem since he recovered enough to walk around on flat ground within a few hours, and while he needed to be carried up a flight of stairs to bed that night, by the next night, he could do it on his own wheels. But the groomers called to see how he was. And that’s what makes them exemplary humans.

The amazing pillowy Polish doughnuts – Paczki – that are the harbingers of Lent. And the Lent project that ramps up in just a few days!

If you can choose to be anything this week, friends, choose to be grateful.