This morning I got up early (as I generally do, being one of those disgusting morning people you often hear about). I trooped downstairs, and threw together a smoked-salmon on a bagel sandwich, something I had been craving for days. It was kind of a light pre-breakfast, before the actual breakfast I was planning to make for the family.
I decided to make them my Pancake Squares, which are amazing. Don't they look good?
Once you get them all mixed up and in the baking dish, they take a good 25 minutes to cook.
While I was waiting I noticed some stuff. The recycling really needed to get gathered up and bagged. There was some trash that needed to go out.
I'm not the only person in the house who could do this, but these things do typically fall on my list of things to do. I decided to just get them done while I was waiting. I picked up a few other things, straightened up some stuff too.
I just wanted to do nice things for the people I love. It got me thinking.
The whole reason I decided to do any of this was because of what was right in front of me. When I woke up this morning, Missy and Richard were curled up in our big bed. (Yes, we can sleep three abed, and yes I love that.) They didn't particularly ask me for pancake square goodness, but by their lovable, cute nature, and my love of them it felt just like a very good thing to do.
Ditto the thing about doing house chores long before they became requested or necessary.
I was telling my friend Squee about this a bit later in the day. I said.
"I'm aware of something - about life in general. The universe is fucking noisy - if you stop making noise and listen, you can hear it telling you all sorts of things. This morning for example it told me I could take out the trash and the recyclables while I was cooking breakfast, because it would be nice to do, and because it's a change I can make in the world right in front of me.
I think my gratitude today will be about that."
Oh look, it was.