What a year.

So many changes.  So much growth. Such very different lives.

Here, just a few days late, is my annual Gratitude List.  A few items a day, for 365 days, to breathe a little positivity into the last wakeful moments of each evening.  

What varied worlds this list represents, and what unexpected appreciations.  At the beginning, Devan getting me “Mr. Propre” (Moroccan Mr. Clean) to save me an unpleasant outing to the grocery store on a Monday night; at the end, the sounds of laughter around my mom’s table, with all of the family gathered for our first Thanksgiving together in four years.  In between, everything from donkey treats to doodle books.

Intrigued? Walk with me through a year of thankfulness:

  • Devan’s Mr. Propre
  • ANNE MARTINAT
  • Multiple cakes
  • Such nice Wednesday afternoon classes
  • Being an auntie
  • The conveniences that outweigh the inconveniences
  • Picking apart other people’s grammar instead of my own
  • Circuit training being bearable
  • No one peed on my rug today
  • A big enough apartment
  • Not having a dog
  • RAM still serves airplane meals
  • Directions to the highway
  • Google maps offline
  • And starred locations
  • Snacks
  • Arrival
  • Cars with guts
  • Google maps again and again
  • Good directions
  • Plenty of snacks
  • Plenty of hiking gear
  • Just enough sun
  • Laurel trees
  • Getting sent to the right bus
  • Finding French fiction
  • A shorter taxi ride home
  • Days off
  • Watercress soup to go
  • Heat-on-demand
  • Pouring rain, but cozy indoors
  • Quiet, peaceful, forested days
  • Straight roads
  • With three lanes
  • On flat terrain
  • And a pumpkin car that follows directions
  • Free books
  • French/piano swaps
  • Toilets that accept toilet paper
  • Not finding worms in my suitcase
  • Excessive prep time
  • Small bodies in small classes
  • I have a back-up mac
  • Lizard sorties
  • Indoor plumbing
  • The secret blue room
  • Taco day
  • Susie’s class was so brilliant
  • The vomit (?) escaped the carpet
  • This macbook sure is handy
  • Morning worktime
  • Good ideas
  • Not going to parties
  • It was a 4-hour lunch, not a 6-hour lunch
  • Hot chocolate by the fire
  • Someone doesn’t talk too much
  • Clean bedding
  • Wearable blankets
  • When my brain shuts down, I can just go to bed
  • Or grade papers
  • I didn’t break the soundboard
  • French is close to English in the drop-down lists
  • I got things done today
  • Haircuts
  • Clearing skies
  • Dry laundry
  • Edible soup
  • Donkey treats
  • Produce paradise
  • Chicken bouillon cubes
  • Feeling normal
  • I have a dull course to distract me from the boredom
  • Three meals
  • A quiet house
  • A choir possibility
  • Stick notation
  • The tupperware lid fell face up
  • My clicker works sometimes
  • Excellent vegetables
  • There’s zumba in my life
  • Piano fun
  • It’s so easy
  • Finding the bike tubes on my first try
  • Finding a stray grocery cart in the aisle
  • Lasagna day
  • Pens that work
  • Not being doomed to live out the rest of my days in a corrupt regime
  • Practically painless mammograms
  • My first French interview
  • Not being evaluated
  • Second breakfast
  • Phones that take pictures
  • A message from Eliane
  • A bicycle tire
  • Le ciné-club!
  • Not going out in the rain
  • Bean bag rock & roll
  • People with whom to share my soup
  • Finding my French SIM card and number
  • Finding my French R
  • Chez Eliane feels like home
  • 1st day back was easy peasy
  • Writing resumes is fun when you have hope
  • Giggles
  • Bubble wands
  • Not going to trivia night
  • Not doing burpees
  • Responses
  • Optimism
  • Not doing track
  • Accidents that aren’t my fault
  • Accidents without damage
  • Soon I will leave this place
  • French choirs that aren’t snobbish
  • Sunrises that aren’t unbearably early
  • Another one bites the dust
  • Suzanne found the fuse box
  • People are chill
  • Being overloved
  • Warm boots
  • Lights outside my classroom
  • Friends who get it
  • Not getting lice
  • Liking Zumba
  • Nail clippers
  • Being missed
  • I enjoy solitude
  • I know the passé simple
  • My afternoon by the fire was almost uninterrupted
  • Not going out
  • Spare time for movies, shopping, and writing
  • A cart with almost-normal wheels
  • Two weeks
  • Saved lives
  • Thoughtful Stacey
  • And more new acquaintances
  • Diversions
  • Daydreams
  • Fine pronunciation
  • No news is good news
  • Freedom to study
  • I sleep easily
  • Laminating complete
  • I don’t have to go out there if I don’t want to
  • Not having a doctor’s appointment
  • I wasn’t on the freeway when the wiper flew off
  • I don’t have to go to the medina for money if I don’t want to
  • The last people at the party are the most interesting
  • Rollerblading weather
  • A really nice bedroom
  • Camembert
  • The cop couldn’t speak English
  • I have an interview!!!
  • Not being locked out of my classroom
  • When the kids are cute and I laugh
  • No more marching elves
  • Email reduces the need for speech
  • Open doors
  • Unattached
  • Family cheer
  • Tender roast beef
  • Unlimited borscht
  • Comfort and predictability
  • Activity
  • Hockey sounds
  • Everyone getting along
  • Peaceful days
  • Portfolios
  • Mona
  • whatsApp
  • Lowlights
  • The bank
  • People who get it
  • Only being 10 minutes late
  • Not caring if I sleep through the hockey game
  • Bacon feast
  • Cancellations
  • Extra family time
  • The telephone
  • Information
  • Saviours
  • Catching flights
  • It could always be worse
  • When jet lag isn’t awful
  • Back in the land of delicious oranges
  • Not going out
  • Confident, competent, wide-awake me
  • Liking my job
  • Earmuffs
  • Heat management techniques
  • Stressless assemblies
  • Fun with the Unruhs
  • More fun with the Unruhs
  • Comfortable friendships
  • Playground encounters
  • Quitting things that stressed me out
  • Thermal underwear
  • Progress, hope, connection
  • Uneventful errands
  • The bean lady
  • Spending less than 90 minutes at Marjane
  • Moving on to the next thing
  • The pizza arrived
  • I found my receipt
  • I found Anissa’s house
  • I lost my tongue, but found my ears
  • Chatting in the sun with the neighbours
  • Tate cracks me up
  • Kids like choir
  • I like kids
  • For the moment, all is well
  • Two eyes for two functions (near and far, dark and light)
  • I’m taking a MOOC
  • At least I have a sense of humour
  • An empty day ahead
  • Not going out
  • Superintendents
  • And those who know them
  • Nice choirs
  • Progress
  • Not being cold
  • All the right people in my life
  • Having a classroom
  • Not going anywhere
  • Not being so horribly cold
  • Pasta
  • Wine & cheese
  • Not having a dog
  • Feeling happy
  • It will all work out
  • Another round of empty promises
  • Being a Green Lantern at last
  • Books
  • Omelettes
  • Sunshine
  • enter-Tate-ment
  • Spring
  • Eliane is okay
  • The best part of my day was my nap
  • And my chocolates
  • Not having pressing obligations
  • The pathetic Moroccan pizza hit the spot
  • Four birds one stone
  • Successful phone calls and book reviews
  • An interview in the works
  • Lessons salvaged
  • Hopes and plans
  • Dashed hopes = new plans
  • Spring in the air
  • Kind wishes from others
  • Plenty of sleep
  • Chocolate
  • Rules
  • Extra days
  • A clothesline on my balcony
  • CN+E RT-U #8
  • Back-up tea
  • Conversation
  • Safety
  • The cockroach has been expelled
  • I managed it all with good cheer
  • Spring
  • Ginger candy
  • Weekends
  • Leisure reading
  • A portable lounge chair
  • Neighbours
  • Gardens on demand
  • Batheable sun
  • A reasonably good possibility of a decent skype connection
  • Kids who are fascinated by ancient Egypt
  • Being less cold than usual
  • Tomorrow is a new day
  • Good for me for trying
  • My inner and outer worlds managed to separate themselves today.  I felt grinchy, but I acted kind.
  • Chocolate
  • More chocolate
  • Getting the keyboard set up in time
  • Lu, who put it away
  • One week off
  • A week in Europe does marvelous things
  • A new mindset: live, not endure; hope, not expect; let it go
  • A calm choir
  • A calm day
  • Ideas
  • Conversations
  • Insights
  • Good humour
  • Bonnes relations
  • Being at ease
  • Not being stalked
  • Blogging clears the mind
  • Undamaged cars
  • Parking mercies
  • Laps, points, laughs
  • Warm acquaintances
  • Books worth reading
  • Upswings
  • Entertaining musicals
  • Easy bouncing
  • Clear-ish vision
  • Kaoutar, who calls and advises
  • Portable salads
  • Gonoodle
  • I have teeth
  • No more supermoons
  • Maybe by Monday I’ll be cheerful again
  • I can use my itunes card to rent Harry Potter in French
  • No shortage of fruit salad
  • Smoothies for a week
  • Instant oatmeal (for smoothies)
  • Sectionals
  • At least the blender still works for really thick smoothies
  • “It’s supposed to be hard.”
  • N. is asking for help
  • My choir can sing
  • Music in 3D
  • Not being depressed
  • At least one room in this apartment has wifi
  • I am glad there is such a thing as children
  • Clearish skies
  • Feeling normal
  • Not feeling overly stressed
  • Not going anywhere
  • Nice vegetables
  • Enough food
  • Retakes
  • Fixing the speaker
  • The last piece of cake
  • Mechanical pencils
  • Buffets
  • Careem
  • TedX
  • French classes
  • Resilience
  • Oatmeal
  • Plans
  • A clothesline
  • Imitrex
  • Sharing soup
  • Pronouns
  • Bug spray
  • No recorders this year
  • The best admin ever
  • Slovenia
  • Taco day
  • No more ants in the dishwasher
  • My power point clicker
  • Banking help
  • Not drinking the moldy avocado juice
  • Restorative naps
  • Chocolate fondant
  • Enough French
  • The helpful guy at the bank
  • The first sunburn of the season
  • Not doing auditions
  • Thinking thoughts
  • The power of snacks
  • The M. school!
  • Possibilities!
  • Charmaine
  • Hope
  • Nailing Niska Banja
  • Summer’s Spanish
  • Kaoutar’s Arabic
  • A successful day
  • Things to look forward to
  • Relaxation
  • Napping as desired
  • Family being family
  • Books exist
  • Solos
  • HOTSPOT
  • A good day
  • Skype
  • Ideas
  • Second interviews!
  • DATA
  • Finding lost children
  • Finding my sunglasses
  • Teacher appreciation breakfasts
  • Nearly nailing Niska Banja
  • Fan club
  • People to give tofu to
  • Tomorrow will not be today
  • Videos done and sent
  • Ramadan time has its perks
  • Diversions
  • Appliances
  • Plumbing
  • Blogging
  • Rollerblading in the sunshine
  • In a day or two I’ll feel better
  • Setting up the sound correctly
  • Bouncing back
  • Finding Zerktouni
  • Speaking up
  • G.M.’s leaves
  • The first warm day of the year
  • People are buying my stuff
  • Sandals, short sleeves, and capris
  • Someday I won’t have to listen to this annoying racket day and night
  • Pickles
  • Rebounds
  • Ideas
  • Tasty soup
  • Perfect temperatures
  • 5-part harmony
  • Sibelius and SeeSaw
  • Informers
  • Feedback
  • Good meetings
  • Ramadan is half over
  • I cleaned out the bathroom
  • Calm roads
  • Oatmeal
  • Executive ideas
  • Plan M
  • Cleaning ladies
  • Not worrying
  • Not driving
  • Not parking
  • Not taxi-ing
  • Not zumba-ing
  • Not driving illegally
  • Contrôle de technique — reçu
  • No more French Institute for me
  • Perfect weather
  • Progress
  • Grade 5 Orff prodigies
  • Bedtime
  • My committee makes my day
  • Parting with possessions is liberating
  • I’m going home soon
  • Pyjama Sundays
  • Teachers who let me have their kids
  • Netflix
  • Riser-movers
  • Not being on a Moroccan bus
  • Empty spaces
  • A calm morning of Marjane
  • There won’t always be cockroaches in my silverware drawer
  • A slam-dunk Friday
  • Introvert parties
  • Soup to share
  • People who help me move instruments
  • Things that come together
  • Again
  • CM and CM who did the sound
  • SM and LM who did the leaving well
  • Unexpected cheer
  • Concert improv
  • Helpers
  • Musical magic
  • So much sleep
  • Paintings are liberated
  • I talked to E at last
  • It all worked out
  • And so will the next thing
  • Redeeming relationships
  • Balcony weather
  • Figuring things out
  • Getting stuff done
  • By 4pm
  • Got the cash
  • Got pampered
  • Got home
  • Finished the interview
  • Time with mom
  • All the usual things
  • I have a family
  • The staples guy
  • Errands with mom
  • Weight loss
  • Cash for stuff
  • Humour
  • Wise counsel
  • Quiet days
  • Helpful hands
  • Chat time with my n & n
  • Lots of options
  • Too many options
  • Cash to buy a car
  • And the people to find it
  • Bbf time
  • Navigation
  • Optimism
  • Thrift stores
  • Fixed stuff
  • Dining music
  • Rosé sunset
  • At least the rest of the car still works
  • Car advice
  • Funny peppers
  • Veggie shopping
  • Kale is back in my life
  • Responsive references
  • Picnics
  • Life-giving words
  • A flat tire on the Greenway is no big deal
  • At least I don’t have to work tomorrow
  • Micah likes me
  • Books for Micah
  • Options abound
  • London it is!
  • Egg on toast
  • Companionship
  • Murdoch with Nathan
  • Humour
  • Connections
  • Family feasting fun
  • Apartments
  • Books to share
  • Sales
  • Wortley Village
  • Migraine sleeps
  • Wearable shoes
  • Swimming with Joc
  • $25 notary services
  • Successful day at the DIA
  • Finding acceptable apartments
  • Decent avocado juice
  • Not going to Morocco
  • Making decisions
  • Small diversions
  • And diverters
  • That blessed five-digit number
  • I got the apartment!
  • And a truck!
  • I’m moving!
  • Too many jobs
  • A job is an adventure
  • All that I’ve worked for has come to this
  • Tireless tirelessness
  • Perfect places
  • Groceries
  • A functional kitchen
  • The kind ones
  • A functional home
  • A room of my own
  • A library with stained-glass poetry
  • And butterflies
  • The Thames Valley Parkway
  • John’s Value-Mart
  • Libraries abound
  • The day has ended
  • I lost my job!
  • Freeeeedom
  • Exploration
  • Soup bars
  • Navigators
  • Sun time
  • Old glasses
  • Finishing mundane tasks
  • Westmount Pharmacy
  • Finding things
  • Possibilities
  • Free will
  • This home feels like home
  • 3 episodes of Ideas in one day
  • Framing sales
  • Ta première année!
  • Art in any language
  • The top choir
  • Classical rep all year long
  • Community
  • Students to love
  • Neighbourhood art receptions
  • Possibilities
  • French friendships
  • L’araignée
  • Vibrant churches
  • Fun French classes
  • Pleasant parents
  • Helpful teachers
  • Helpful kids
  • Things that don’t really matter
  • B & imitrex
  • Fine pasta
  • When the timing works out
  • Tomorrow won’t be Monday
  • WAZE
  • They learned
  • There is hope for outdoor recess tomorrow
  • I’m an LTO
  • They didn’t get my old macbook
  • Or me
  • It was a beautiful drive to Ilderton
  • 5 fewer kids = 15 more successes
  • Everyone else had a bad day, too
  • And the insurance will be okay
  • 500-500=0
  • A bikeworthy village
  • All that’s good is still good
  • And all that’s not shall pass
  • Magnifying glasses
  • Doodle books
  • Bicycle lights
  • New leaves
  • Not caring about things
  • Home without jet lag
  • Tender roast
  • Apple crumble and earl gray tea
  • Finding missing things
  • All of the family, well and strong, gathered together to eat
  • And all the ringing laughter

…and if you read to the end, and still want more, there are five more lists in the archives: