Gratitude

        I’ve been thinking about gratitude lately and how much I have to be thankful for, which inspired me to write about the five things I’m grateful for. 

         First and foremost, I'm grateful for my husband, fantastic kids, and grandchildren that I adore. That's a treasure that brings me joy every single day.

         I'm also grateful for my health. Is there anything more precious than good health? Not in my opinion, and I imagine if you ask anyone who is suffering with a prolonged illness they would agree. I've been fortunate to have good health all my life, and I do everything in my power to maintain it.

         I eat well, get enough rest, monitor my stress, strength train, and move my body every day. Managing stress is easy to say when you're not under a lot of pressure, but when you are, it can be really difficult to manage.

         Another thing I'm incredibly grateful for it to be retired from my day job. I love having the freedom to write fiction fulltime. At the same time, I find I’m incredibly busy and it can be challenge to find time to write, or more accurately, I choose to do things other than write. This means I have to carve out writing time and stick to it!

         Some lifesavers have been taping my first drafts, then using Dragon to transcribe the recordings, which by the way, is how I wrote this blog. I taped it while I was driving. I also tape while I’m out walking or doing housework. This has been such an incredible gift. I’ve heard writers say they just can't do it that way, but after writing for over thirty-five years I've discovered that if you have limited time, you figure out how to make it work. And that's what I've done.

  

       I’m also grateful to be living in a place I love, having a beautiful home, and never forgetting that I have a roof over my head when so many don't. 

         The last thing out of the five things I'm grateful for are all the wonderful people in my life. Friends, acquaintances, Facebook friends, and readers. When you have so many people in your life, you also lose them which is the hardest part, but it’s part of living. 

         As I write this blog, we lost our neighbor and friend from California in February. He and his wife were family to us, and he was Farmer Charlie in the  From the Farm to the Table—Olives book with my husband, Farmer Nick. 

         Charlie was such a special person. We miss him even though we haven't lived next door to each
other in almost a decade. But every time we were in California we’d stop and see them. I'm so grateful we saw him in October and for all the time we had with him. He was a funny, sweet, kind person who made friends everywhere he went. Over the years, I’ve had several friends with that ability, and I always admired that quality about them.

         In honor of Farmer Charlie, I've discounted the print version of From the Farm to the Table—Olives at Amazon and Barnes and Noble to $10.99 through the month of April.

         As you can see, I have a lot to be thankful for, and I remind myself every day how fortunate I am for everything I've been blessed with. What things are you grateful for?

     

Did you know table olives are picked green, unripe, and they ripen after they are picked? Thirty-five-year veteran photojournalist Kathy Coatney (specializing in agriculture) and former olive grower introduces second and third-graders to this amazing crop with photographs and easy-to-read text from the olive guys, Farmer Nick and Farmer Charlie. The olive-producing duo explains how table olives are grown and processed.

The From the Farm to the Table series is designed for second and third-grade readers, each book highlighting second grade vocabulary words.

 

         Thank you so much for stopping by today, and you can follow me @

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