Once again, our dear Elisabeth is leading us in a daily practice of gratitude with her F.I.G. Collective this month. While I try to think of – and often speak aloud – the things I am grateful for every day, it’s helpful to have an additional reason to do so.
(It’s also nice to have other people with whom to share my objects of gratitude. Carla bears the brunt of my exclamations over our surroundings, and is weary of my gratitude that we live in such a beautiful place. “I know, the snow, I get it, you say it every day,” she said the other day practically the second I opened my mouth.) (We do live in a beautiful place, and I am grateful.)
Sunday, February 1: Sleep – According to my sleep app, I am making progress in terms of getting better sleep. I do not feel less tired or less sleepy, but I have to trust that my body is doing something with the more consistent sleep. One of these days, I’m going to open my eyes and feel rested. Right?
Monday, February 2: Moon – Today we had a fantastic view of the Snow Moon on the drive to school. My photography skills leave a lot to be desired, but rest assured that the enormous glowing moon against a lavender sunrise was magical.
Wednesday, February 3: Cookies – A friend who is out of commission lately mentioned that she could use a home-cooked meal, so I made her dinner. And cookies, of course. I may have made a double batch so we could have a few cookies at home.
Thursday, February 4: Writing Time – My husband’s work schedule and my daughter’s activities schedule have been matching up quite nicely lately. This allows my husband to pick her up from school, which means I only have one hour in the car and I get extra writing time!
Friday, February 5: Book – Julie gave me a heads up that Writers & Lovers is related to one of my favorite January reads, Heart the Lover, and it was available on Libby, and it was delightful, and I devoured it in a couple of days.
Saturday, February 6: Lunch – Today I got to have lunch with my parents! My mom made delicious soup and the three of us sat around her table and chatted for three hours. It was lovely.
Sunday, February 7: Cat – Lenny continues to fill my days with entertainment and joy.
I LOVE that we’re all thinking about FIGs this month! Writers and Lovers… I read that a couple years ago and really, really liked it. Then I read Heart the Lover and really liked that one- and THEN I found out (from Julie) that the books go together! So cool.
One morning when I was taking a picture of the sunrise, my daughter said “Let me give you some advice. Don’t waste time taking pictures of things like that.” WHAT? Why not??? She said I’ll see plenty more sunrises in my lifetime. I mean… sheesh. Thank goodness for my blog, where I can still gush over natural beauty.
Cats… they’re the best. I’m sure we could do a week of FIGs just talking about our cats.
I loved the chance to spend more time with Casey in Writers & Lovers. And I find it so fascinating that King devoted TWO books to her, and that they arrived in the order they did.
Ah, children. One can hope that someday they will see the world with different eyes!
YES. Cat FIGs all day every day!
Lenny is one handsome cat and that soup looks fantastic (thanks for including the link!). So, too, are those cookies — I know your friend was so grateful. And what a wonderful photo of the snow moon. I think I would have done much better with mine if I’d done in the early morning as you did — it’s terrific!
It is SUCH a good soup. I hope you enjoy it! The moon is notoriously difficult to photograph and I did not do her justice, but I’m glad I got *some* evidence of how beautiful she was!
Oh Lenny <3
My deep sleep remains horrendous. Tell me your secrets (when you figure it out)!
Those cookies look DELICIOUS. I know eating one would definitely be a FIG for me.
Ha — I haven’t had that much deep sleep since. It tends to hover in the 30 minute range.
We were reading twins this week! I finished Heart the Lover last week, and then when I read Julie’s post, I checked out the audio version of Writers and Lovers on the spot. I finished it in a couple of days as well. I didn’t mind the “spoiler” of knowing which guy she ends up with.
There are no shortages of FIGS when you have a cute furry companion. Mine is taking her morning nap next to me right now. Speaking of FIGS, I can stay on the couch snuggled up with her as long as I want since I don’t have to check in with a jobby job.
NO JOB!!!! Puppy cuddles!! Best!!!!!
It’s so funny — I completely forgot everyone’s names as soon as I closed Heart the Lover. So I did not even realize if anyone was repeated between it and Writers & Lovers.
I am trying to appreciate the beauty of the snow, too, especially since I don’t need to worry about school closures any more. I am having mixed success. It would be easier if everyone shoveled their walks. We had 7 inches over two weeks ago, not much of it has melted, and even though most people do shovel, enough don’t that it’s still hard to get around on foot.
That deluxe cat tunnel looks like a lot of fun. Mine love theirs and it’s shorter with no intersections.
He LOVES the cat tunnel. He spends so much time in it, and it’s his favorite place to hide while I wander the basement with the cat wand, trying to get him to play.
The sidewalk shoveling thing is super frustrating. In our old neighborhood, no one shoveled the sidewalks. Or, like, two or three people did and everyone else allowed the snow to pile up, which negated the usefulness of the sidewalks that were plowed.
What lovely FIGs! I love your cat tunnel, and I can tell that Lenny does too! I’m in awe of your sleep! I’ve been doing better lately. I’ve been allowing myself to sleep in two shifts, and I’m up for about 2 hours between them. The only odd thing is that my Apple Watch never records the second shift. And sometimes it wakes me up during the second shift telling me it’s time to stand up. I’m about to stop wearing it at night!
Yeah… Apple Watch definitely has quirks. I think it believes that sleep is a very specific thing. I have noticed that if I wake up and lie there quietly worrying, or even if I pick up my kindle and read, it counts those times as sleeping.
I cannot even believe I didn’t know Casey was THAT Casey. I think Jordan/Daisy threw me off.
And also Camilla? Too many names for one person!
I’ve just come from gushing over the Lily Kings on J’s blog. I think she’s quite underrated, and so happy to now you enjoyed both these novels.
I’m glad there’s so much to be thankful for in our personal lives…
I had never heard of King before Heart the Lover got so much hype! I’m really glad to have found her.
One can never appreciate natural beauty too much! The sunsets! The moon! The stars! The snow! Animal tracks! Fall leaves! Flower blooms! <3
I kinda want to count your cat pictures as one of my FJIGs 😀 He’s just so stinking cute!
Awww thanks, Rebecca! He is pretty fantastic.
After catching a cold and several miserable sleep nights, I’m feeling back to normal mostly. What a relief it is to sleep through the night. I didn’t realize how much I missed that. We’re talking about choosing “Heart the Lover” for our next set of Book Club reads. People have said it would be a good discussion book. The snow is lovely! I don’t think we’re getting any this year. It already feels like spring!
I hope you choose Heart the Lover! And I will be very interested in hearing how your book club reacts to it.
Lenny is SO CUTE. Like Rebecca said, he is one of my FIGs.
Birchie clued me in about Casey in both Lily King books, and I was ON THE HORN alerting everyone I knew was reading HtL. Mainly you, Sarah, and Jenny.
I think your moon photo is stunning, and I know how difficult it can be to catch that in a photo, so I can only imagine how much more beautiful it was in real life.
The world is such a shitshow, it is important to remember the good things, both large and small. If that means waxing on daily about the beautiful snow, DO IT.
I hear you re: sleep, I am SO tired. It was my time-travel that did it! I left Hong Kong at 1am on Monday, and arrived home at 11pm on Sunday. My watch is telling me that I need “more sleep than usual” – hmmm, really? I do?
Your snow is so pretty!!
When we come back from the grocery store, I make my husband play The Gratitude Game where we each have to alternate saying five things we are grateful for and I’m sort of annoyed because he always says the same five things, but it does force him to look around his environment and recognize that he, too, likes it when the snow covers things and it’s SO PRETTY. I know there are winter haters out there and I get it. I also hate cold. But the snow IS legitimately PRETTY.
I wish I could link you up with Taco. He loves to comment on how beautiful the snow is. Or anything really. Yesterday I FaceTimed the boys so they could see my hotel room and view. Paul said the view was not great – when Taco saw it he said ‘oh that’s beautiful!’ He is very good about compliments and proclaiming how beautiful something is – or he smells us and then tells us we smell good (I find this cute, Phil finds is weird/offputting. Ha).
Leo is so darn cute!!!
images of long shadows and wintry landscapes are everything. Throw in the moon and it’s over the top beautiful.
Lenny is royalty obv. Do you brush him? Does he like it? His coat is so lux!
I just finished Heart the Lover and it was sooooooo good. I read Writers & Lovers a few years ago and loved it just as much. I don’t know which one I loved more!
Also, I am currently typing this from the grave because I DIED AT LENNY. Look at him sleeping next to you while you work! He is the most perfect cat.
I love reading everyone’s FIGs. Lenny would probably be good any day for a FIG when you can’t come up with anyone else. He’s just so delightful (and beautiful!).
I also love the photo of the full moon – such pretty colors!
I’m picking Lenny as my FIG. He must be a joy on a daily basis. I am, quite frankly, envious. Sigh. If only I had room for a litter box and, well, a cat.