Day 7 of 365 days of being Grateful

     

our backyard

I wrote this a few days ago when the storm hit. 

     Today I am grateful for the snowstorm. It is the first major snowstorm of the season!  Everything looks so beautiful blanketed in white

. Olya is still home from college, she is not leaving for two more days.  Olivia's new job texted and cancelled due to the weather.  And Dan hasn't left for work yet. There aren't that many times when we are all home together any more.  So I am grateful for that! The kitchen seems to get a real "workout" on snow days! I wonder why that is? We didn't run to the store yesterday because of the storm.  That cracks me up when the supermarkets get crowded and run out of eggs, milk, and bread when there is news of a storm. I am also so grateful that Olya was still home from college because she shoveled the driveway and walkway.  Last year, some of the neighbor friends of Olya's shoveled and I paid them.  They aren't doing it anymore. So we would have been stuck without Olya here. Olivia can't shovel because she has had a spinal fusion.  I can't shovel because of my bad back and Dan's too old to shovel!  He needs to stay healthy so he can continue to work and support us since I am retired now..  We had a service for a few years but their prices became outrageous. So we will now have to find a new snow service. Where are all the teens who are looking to earn some cash???

  Today I am also grateful for my warm and cozy home.  The older I get, the colder I get.  Maybe it is just my tolerance for the cold is less.  I totally get why people move south! Dan and I would never move because we wouldn't leave Amy.  Our gas insert is the best thing since sliced bread! That song that starts with "Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful," is certainly something I can relate to! I love our gas insert fireplace! It keeps our family room warm and cozy.I really love my home.  It is the home I always wanted for my family.  It has a large yard, about an acre, a large in-ground pool, and a huge basement for the kids to have friends over.  Everyone has always had their own bedrooms.  It is a shock for kids from an orphanage to go from sleeping in a room with about thirty kids to sleeping in a room alone.  For the first year Olivia was here, she had to sleep with the light on. She would never go upstairs alone at night.  It seemed she would get the heebee geebees when it was bedtime. She would never just go hang in her room.  She was always downstairs with us until she hit the teen years. Then her bedroom became the place to be!  Now she hibernates in her room daily! Olya does the same thing! Teens treat their bedrooms like a sanctuary!

The ceramic vase next to the fireplace was made by Olya in art class.  It says, American grown with Ukrainian roots. The top of the vase is the American flag and the bottom is the Ukrainian flag. In the corner of the Ukrainian flag is the tryzub.

The Tryzub (pronounced “treh-zoob”) is the ubiquitous symbol of Ukraine. The ancient symbol is believed to have originated as a tribal symbol; today it is emblazoned on the country’s flag, on postage, money, business logos, even Easter eggs! The highly stylized version seen almost everywhere in Ukraine originated as the family crest of Volodymyr, a tenth century Ukrainian Prince.

Today, the tryzub is worn as a symbol of national pride, as a symbol of the Christian trinity, or as a synthesis of the divine elements of fire and water in the manifest world.