A couple of posts ago, I wrote about keeping a Gratitude Journal.  Some of you decided to join me.  Well, whether you’re keeping your gratefulness in a beautiful journal, or scribbled on Post-it Notes, it doesn’t matter.  Your mind is still processing your life…and what you have to be thankful for.

I found this lovely free and printable 5 Good Things Booklet at the Whisker Graphics site.  Wouldn’t it be grand if we could include our children in such a venture?  The layout is simple.  The design is clean.  Perfect for anyone who might need a little encouragement to spill their thoughts.

Along the same lines, can I just say that I found another blog after my own heart?  Have you seen Kind Over Matter?  Their motto is Kindness is all that matters.  I agree wholeheartedly.  But please go look, browse.  There’s lots of freebies–gifts that can be made, given, or enjoyed.  I became so absorbed in their pages, that my husband had to come dig me out.

This week is my husband’s birthday, and with the way my plans have worked out, not everything can be done on one day, so I’ve told him we’re having a birthday week, which he was all too glad to accept.  Lots of secrets around here.

This past Friday evening (to launch things off properly), I took him to the Dakota Jazz Club to hear Romantica, a great local band.  We sat in a booth, not far from the stage, and it was a splendid evening spent listening and canoodling.  Canoodling is good.  Obviously, it was like a birthday present for me, too.  Funny how that works, huh?

On this last holiday weekend, I give you several quotes and a song from Romantica.  Enjoy!  You are embarking on another year in which to shine.  Go, you!

“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language
And next year’s words await another voice.
And to make an end is to make a beginning.”

~T.S. Eliot

“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.”  –Zora Neale Hurston

And here’s the song.