2026 Gratitude List

This man, this home, this life: it has been a year of unprecedented blessings, both large and small. Here is the daily breakdown, as per my annual Thanksgiving tradition.

• Quality time together
• Getting better at Palestrina
• Bach in the car
• Good rollerblading weather
• Many boxes
• Travel planning
• When students engage
• Diwali dances
• Next week
• R will help me with the catastrophe 
• (it’s all just one big catastrophe)
• Swimming helps
• A man who loves me so much
• R appeared
• Cinnamon toast and quiche
• Junior choir is the highlight of my week

• Discovering Bruckner
• Miracle drugs
• Miracle days
• A happy sushi-versary
• When the beef is tender
• Cozy, rainy Sunday afternoons
• Picking paint colours
• Choosing not to die on hills
• Palestrina and Bruckner: luminous moments after a rough day
• M, who always sees things clearly
• It’s not me
• Finally, a good day
• Happy faces and sad faces
• Seeing the house again
• When classes are not completely derailed by their teachers’ absence
• Getting chores done
• 7 boxes done
• An okay day
• Packing help
• Christmas shopping
• New shoes
• Band friends
• Gift cards
• Lasagna
• Getting the outdoor chores done
• Getting the soup made
• Him
• Okay days
• Leaving early to listen to the ball game
• When children are excited to come to music class
• Wooing M back to the music room
• Distractions
• Functioning
• Comfort
• When the rain starts after my yard duty
• Choosing repertoire
• Having a cute hallowe’en costume
• Finally, a good day
• It’s just baseball
• Finishing a room
• Being an okay musician
• Being an okay person
• When long social engagements finally end
• Repairs
• Choir is awesome
• Dieppe poppies
• Apartment progress
• Photocopy paper boxes
• Half days off
• Benign polyps
• When slow-moving farm machinery turns off the highway
• When my boyfriend finds my phone and delivers it to me at school
• Safe drives to St. Thomas and back
• Sage advice
• The Singing Revolution
• Meaningful conversations with thoughtful children
• Sort of purging
• An almost perfect day
• Back to the cottage
• G & S will take the apartment
• Not going out in the cold
• Happy, snowy Sundays at the Bend
• Clear roads for the drive to work
• Normal classes
• Uber on a snowy day
• A mostly full choir
• Shovelling help
• A sympathetic ear
• When I’m observed teaching a good class
• When people go to the office for ice
• When I share things but not everything
• (by that I mean the bass xylophone and metallophone)
• Getting stuff done
• Packing help
• A quiet day
• Not being asked probing questions
• Office Space is still the funniest movie ever
• Online shopping
• Not going out to rake leaves
• Tasty shawarma
• Food in abundance
• Not shovelling snow
• Not driving in the snow
• An okay day
• Not hitting that car
• New rims
• Moving soon!
• Eventless drives
• Lamb chops and Mahler 2 with my love
• Another room packed
• New choristers
• Free, accessible vaccines
• Shopper’s Drug Mart
• When he makes meat loaf while I laze on the couch
• Singing joyfully
• Remembering what it’s all about
• Driving past the new house
• Not getting hit by a bus
• Reconnection
• Walking to things
• Reassurance
• Supper on the stove when I get home from the gym
• And a little blue car in my driveway
• Pep talks
• Hugs at choir
• Beautiful concerts
• Friends at band
• Friends at choir
• Happy days
• Successful errands
• Movies at the Hyland
• A day together
• He who shovels at 4am
• Absences
• Electronic staff meetings
• When the CRA is actually helpful
• Being almost ready for Christmas
• OTIP
• Good lawyers
• Helpful people
• The Amen Chorus
• Paradise
• My junior choir
• Gym, concert, cottage, happiness
• My French book club
• Not driving home from the cottage in the snow
• Anticipation
• Paperwork is coming together
• E-transfers and cash withdrawals
• Helpful bank people
• When people pick up the phone
• Kiwanis!
• Acceptable insurance letters
• Only shoveling twice instead of three times
• Successful transactions
• Everyone makes mistakes
• Fluffy snow
• Smooth dress rehearsals
• Nice hardwood floors
• Someone to take the carpet
• And the dishwasher
• A beautiful big new house
• And it’s all ours
• No more staples to pull
• Fresh ceilings
• Parking in the garage
• Such a wonderful kitchen
• Packing progress
• When children love to sing
• When I finish cleaning the carpets
• China in my cupboards
• House house house house house!
• A very patient painter
• Murphy’s soap
• Rejuvenate
• Safe night drives in unfamiliar terrain
• My heating pad
• Leftover borscht
• So much to bask in
• Finishing the floors
• Pockets with mom
• Coming home to a new house
• Christmas with the fam
• When the power comes back on
• When the paint comes off the floor
• When the curtains are on the windows
• I love love love love love this house
• Art on the walls
• A teeny tiny garbage can
• Friendly neighbours
• Main floor done
• TV set up
• Hamburger soup made
• It is so easy to wash a big pot in a big double sink
• He who shovels
• Finishing unpacking and organizing
• Such a tidy house
• Being warm and snuggly at the cottage
• Coming home to a home I love
• When my friends come over for tea
• When I forget to plan my lesson but then find myself with 50 minutes of prep
• At least the power isn’t out
• Getting the photocopying done
• Functioning acceptably as a 1st flute
• Other people make mistakes too
• A functioning furnace
• Tender words
• A hammock stand
• An evening off
• A 4-minute drive to the gym
• A goose-down duvet
• The classes that get it
• I just feel so lucky to live in this house
• When I have a much-needed good day
• Broccoli
• Sleeping in and then having two naps instead of practising
• When the snow melts
• And I can see our new garden
• A programmable thermostat
• New curtains for the music room
• I am thankful every time the furnace comes on
• A beautiful, beautiful home
• A man who always comes to the rescue
• A garage door that closes
• A man who does dishes
• And loves me so
• SNOW DAYS
• They are so restorative
• 4 successful rehearsals
• No more cabbage roll casserole
• Art makes me happy
• Tuckey’s Home Hardware
• When he drills holes for me even though he doesn’t feel like it
• Our music room is done
• The choir will be okay
• E was cool with my gaff
• G is not in a ditch
• Our furnace works
• Our walls are beautiful
• A marginally better day
• Practice leads to progress
• Reunions
• When concerts start to come together
• When my choir sings beautifully
• When teachers appreciate me
• And students do too
• When more teachers appreciate me
• And my choir wows my colleagues
• This is where I live now
• One more concert done
• Demos at the art gallery
• Tea with C
• Finishing two batches of report cards
• When I sit with interesting people at the pub
• When I don’t sit with interesting people at the pub but I eat ½-price apps and leave early
• Finishing the stupid report cards
• Walking away
• SOS pads
• A successful assembly
• An okay day
• When I catch up on my marking and lesson planning
• A sunny winter walk to clear my head
• Duck dinners
• Boxes sorted
• Packing help
• Not paying rent
• Finishing the boxes
• Kitchen complete!
• When I finish all my marking the day it is produced
• When it’s -5 instead of -20
• When I am patient and unfazed by little irritants
• When the streets are plowed
• When I teach in English and everyone is happy and engaged
• T’s book about Haitian music
• The classes that speak French
• Grade 5
• When certain people leave
• Shepherd’s pie made with love
• Recorder progress
• This day finally ended
• Carnaval!
• Not being oppressed
• Living in safety and security
• A winter wonderland walk
• Slowing down the podcasts
• Yummy corn chowder
• He’s always doing the dishes
• J’ai du bon café dans ma cafetière
• J’ai perdu le do de ma clarinette
• When I nail the bassa nova
• And she doesn’t
• A VP who believes in consequences
• Having one true friend at work
• And one true friend at home
• When E’s class is inexplicably angelic
• A rare good day from start to finish
• This beautiful house
• And the beautiful person I share it with
• Narnia
• Valentine’s Day songs
• Adapting
• Double snuggles
• A happy birthday
• Daisy art
• Calm children
• A wonderful choir
• 4 good school days in a row
• Clear roads
• Dinner out with my love
• Talking in the staff room
• A 5-day streak of good days
• Curtains hung
• When students pull shenanigans that make me laugh
• Snuggling
• A winter walk in the neighbourhood
• Another lovely weekend at the cottage
• Coming home
• Feeling relaxed at pub night
• Having practised Brahms
• Not being a supply teacher
• Compassion
• When we go swimming and feel energized
• Orff instruments and recorders
• Keen kiddos
• Musical dot spots
• Teachers who follow up
• Teachers who are friendlier than others
• Mechanics who make time for bad brakes
• And are a 10-minute walk from home
• On a sunny day
• Bondi’s pizza
• A restful day at home
• Back to the gym
• Bills paid
• Sunshine
• Melting snow
• The garden appears
• It’s just a sore throat
• One who cooks, vacuums, and does dishes
• Staying home and sleeping
• When my sore throat only lasts a day
• When my tolerance is high
• When C drives me to band
• When another concert is done
• When the choir does okay even with ¼ of them absent
• When nighttime drives are fine
• When most of my classes are perfect
• When we play Orff instruments and everyone is engaged and we make real music and it’s so satisfying
• When I don’t have to teach drama any more
• (this is hypothetical)
• When I make jokes about Donald Trump in class
• And make up silly dialogues that make the kids laugh
• T, who offers perspective, sympathy, and clarity
• C is there
• It was at church
• The doctors and nurses are taking care of her
• G will look after me
• Back pain has eased
• I have a solution for the concert dilemma
• Well, sort of a solution
• Finishing drama for another month
• She is feeling a little better
• P is going to be just fine
• I am feeling a little better
• My neti pot
• A clean house
• Ready for the move
• Last move done
• I hope
• M is feeling better
• We got the loveseat down the stairs
• C & A are rock star movers
• The floors are mopped
• The laundry is done
• The art is out
• An uneventful drive on Wellington
• Getting enough sleep for a change
• Being productive
• Figuring out the puppets
• Help cutting the puppets
• Spring weather
• A walk with elbows exposed
• Finding a companion song to Al Yadee
• Finding the futon frame screws
• Successfully assembling the futon
• The house is nearly perfect
• Well it’s always been perfect
• But it’s nearly decorated
• Rediscovering my snazzy red boots
• Art art art
• Pancakes on McKenzie Ave
• Reunited with the piano
• An okay return to school
• When rehearsals end 8 minutes early
• Sitting in the second row between J and C
• When someone is giving away Dr. Pepper at work
• Two okay days in a row
• Having instruments to play when the internet goes down
• When the internet is working again
• Finishing the chores
• Daylight savings time
• Opening night with the Blue Jays
• Hanging the art
• G is safe
• Cooking and grocery help
• A quiet day
• Fish and chips with C
• Unwavering support at home
• Sleep and choir make everything better
• A fabulous VP
• Every day is a new day
• WAZE
• The puppets turned out well
• When all things I need at the grocery store are on sale
• A mostly great day
• Enough chaperones
• Setting up the hammock
• And the patio set
• Post-concert visits with C
• Fixing the kitchen floor with a crayola marker
• My family’s coming tomorrow!
• Rotisserie chickens
• And a roast that was not quite a disaster
• Moving Easter music at St. James
• A restful day
• Details for Kiwanis are in place
• I can play most of the band music
• The ones who can keep a beat
• Kiwanis is done and it was a success!
• A good day
• Felicitations
• 3 good days in a row
• When the Blue Jays make a comeback
• And so do I
• When I can do something to help
• A walk on the beach
• Travel bookings done
• Restoration
• When G is home on a Monday
• Staff meeting snacks
• Flexible teachers who let me take their kids for much-needed impromptu rehearsals
• When people talk to me at band
• And in the hallway and the staff room
• When G is here on a Thursday
• Conflicts averted
• When I don’t have to go to parties
• Using the nice crystal
• Time to rest
• A new lawnmower
• A modestly successful social outing
• Choir, which always makes me feel better
• Deep sleeps
• A home filled with love
• Diversions
• Being 47 days late
• The first bike ride of the season
• And the second
• Finding Mr. Right
• The bungee chair
• PA days
• Parent council lunches
• Colleague chats
• Art tours
• Bad dreams are just bad dreams
• Leslie’s, Bayfield, and the perfect black pants
• When the waiter puts on the baseball game
• A day to do whatever
• Hammock time
• Yardwork
• Yummy soup
• He makes casseroles
• Super-soft mallets, strategically placed
• Rehearsals that go unexpectedly well
• A house full of flowers
• Successful rehearsals
• Doing okay in band
• Breaktime conversations
• New shoes
• Evening walks in the neighbourhood
• Superb dress rehearsals
• Pie
• Concert success
• Concert finished
• An afternoon of reading, sleeping, and eating on the couch
• Yardwork
• When G cleans my car and buys groceries
• A day at home
• A day off
• Stairs
• Feeling a little better
• The laundry room
• Leftover pizza
• Getting 22 in basketball
• Tickles and giggles in the basement
• A tolerable day
• Feeling much better
• When my electric pencil sharpener starts working again
• Jump Rope for Heart = lots of prep time
• Lots of happy kids
• Lots of happy teachers
• Win win win
• NHB and happy socializing
• Normal headaches
• Weeding and pruning in the sunshine with the Blue Jays and my love
• Carpooling to choir
• A decent day
• When children sing in the halls
• Everything just feels different when I have a day off
• The Saunders plant sale
• 10 plants for $8
• Gardening all afternoon
• Stable mammogram results
• A man who drives me to Heeman’s and Canadian Tire and Home Depot and No Frills and is so patient the whole time
• When C reappeared
• When G does the laundry while I’m at work
• A double sink
• Basketball, baseball, and a walk in the neighbourhood
• English experiments and successful drama classes
• A map, eight scrolls, and a day of pure happiness
• Engaged!
• Making announcements
• Summer weather
• Helping strangers
• Showing everyone my beautiful ring
• And my beautiful smile
• 30 degrees hammock weather
• The adults who are interested
• Sandals at work
• Getting stuff done
• Having yardwork to do
• A musical community
• When annoying things finally end
• A trip to Heeman’s
• Planting
• The Mandarin and a walk in the park
• Planting
• Sundresses
• Neighbours
• When AI helps me with my seating plan
• When I don’t stay late at work
• When I play basketball and win
• Blue skies
• Our back yard
• New power outlets
• New hair
• Writing report cards in my hammock
• Enjoying long afternoons in the back yard
• When band is fun
• Walking and biking under clear blue skies
• A man who likes doing dishes
• When choir is fun
• When there are snacks at staff meeting
• When yard duty is warm and sunny
• When I post a blog and get comments
• When I find French music resources
• When I can walk to the dentist
• A beautiful back yard
• Easy days
• June
• The Adelaide Street underpass
• Hammmmock
• This man of mine
• Who assembles BBQs and peels potatoes and mashes them and washes dishes and never complains
• When socializing isn’t exhausting
• Sunshine for the 5K
• Dinner at R’s
• Ice cream with T
• Planning a wedding
• Returning the BBQ
• Long, sultry days
• Reading in my hammock instead of going to the gym
• When the rain stops before my yard duty
• Central air controlled by me
• I don’t teach Grade 2
• I don’t teach social studies
• 1 Friday until freedom
• Cottage life
• Going on a band trip with my love
• Someone to water the flowers
• A house to stress about
• C, who knows exterminators
• A relaxing day at the cottage
• Looking at white dresses on Temu
• Being one of the last to leave the choir party
• Not caring if I don’t finish a lesson
• Not doing constant assessments
• Just teaching for the love of it
• When my principal tells me I can speak English
• Ham dinner in GB
• I don’t have carpenter ants that are turning into owls to be eaten or worn as slippers
• New BBQ!
• Being productive
• Counting down
• When parties are fun
• The Koodo guy who helped me
• G, who drove me to the Koodo guy
• Twice
• And bought me an Orange Julius
• And did the dishes
• And made burgers
• Easy school days
• Noticing the leak before there was a flood
• Fertilizing
• Finally finding the ideal setting on my classroom thermostat
• We are ready for the antman
• Poison
• Tennis, dinner, and basketball
• Putting the house back together
• Car jacks under the bed
• C is looking after the bagels
• The concert was only a little rained out
• Getting my room packed up with time to spare
• Keeping my Grade 5s for another year
• Another BBQ
• When the concert finally ended
• He did the yucky vacuuming
• Being ready to travel
• The view of the big trees from my hammock
• Taking off my compression socks
• Pizza by the beach
• Sweaters, jackets, and scarves on the plane
• Yummy Croatian food
• Finding the bus
• Blue skies
• Gelato
• Charming villages
• Independence
• New acquaintances
• An engagement candle
• A big bathtub
• Tuna tartar
• The artists’ village
• Beautiful things for our new home
• Cave cheese ravioli
• Reassurance
• Self-understanding (his)
• A lovely walk and swim at Lake Bled
• Authentic Turkish dining in Slovenia
• My macbook air
• Train station wifi
• The people who opened the doors for us
• Toilet paper
• Arriving
• Being tipsy on the French Riviera
• Surviving 6 hours of French
• Ushering my clothes from the washing machine before their certain destruction
• Translation success
• Readjusting to life in French
• Beaching in the south of France
• Eliane’s dress
• Affirming words
• People who love me
• Catching all the trains, buses, planes, and vans
• Enough food for the journey
• All is well enough at home
• 5-hour naps
• Back to the gym
• Cell phone bill is sorted out
• CAA bill sorted out
• Happy to be home
• Triumphing over Koodo
• I might not need a new computer yet
• Pruning the mulberry tree
• Back at the cottage at last
• The first swim at the cottage
• New teaching resources
• Hammock time at the cottage
• Safe travels
• Rollerblading
• Free Apple TV
• When I have fun at parties
• Finding my cantata files
• Biking, swimming, and baseball
• When it’s supposed to rain, but doesn’t
• When other people do the things that require energy
• When my package is delivered and picked up
• When my bike tires are firm and my seat is the right height
• Another triumph over Koodo
• Successful errands
• My new decathlon shirt
• Listening to the Blue Jays win in the pool
• Wisdom from M
• $5 pyjama shirts
• Paying all my bills and still having $ to save
• Successful driving events
• Home again with my love
• Not ovulating
• Sharing my cantata with St. James
• Someone who comforts me in the middle of the night when I have nightmares
• Rain for the garden
• A boring day
• A 20 km bike ride for ice cream, solo
• Beach time
• A dress that fits
• Biking, swimming, and hammocking at the cottage
• Deliciousness
• Finished lesson planning
• A beautiful house to come home to
• When I win basketball games
• When pilates is bearable
• A new ice cream place
• Hammock time
• Bike rides with my love
• Back yard bbqs
• Zumba!
• A man who loves me so much
• M is feeling better
• Company tomorrow!
• J, who knows fashion
• To the cottage with M
• A mostly not-rainy day
• A beautiful back yard
• A (barely) functional computer
• Almost ready for school
• Getting the laundry done
• My dress from St. Tropez
• At the theatre with my love
• A perfect summer day at the cottage
• Tasty chicken BBQ
• Winning basketball again
• Being ready for September
• An extra week of summer
• Remembering what it feels like to have friends
• Honest, intense conversation
• Nostalgia
• A rich, full life
• People to help
• Safely home
• With a snazzy new ‘do
• A successful dinner party
• When G is painting in the neighbourhood
• Computer back-ups
• Tacos in the rain
• Fleece
• Bike rides with my love
• When I get a swish
• This beautiful house
• When I try a new recipe and it’s great
• Burning 500 calories at the gym
• Beautiful August days
• Help with the dishes
• Trying to help
• Being appreciated
• Standing his ground
• C and J
• Tea and a BBQ
• A place to entertain
• Swimming, biking, rollerblading, and playing catch
• A playful life
• More dresses
• Time with family
• A new dresser
• Finishing in my classroom by noon
• Hugged by the VP
• Collegial conversations
• A honey who likes to BBQ
• Basketball weather
• Not going to work
• PA day: all is well
• Not tumbling all the way down the stairs at work
• Clarifying conversations
• Support from the top
• Three people who spared me the hassle of a flat tire
• The burgers we didn’t burn
• Yummies from the Mennonite market
• Having my leave approved
• When we get lots of sanding done
• When we get lots of exercise
• When the waves at the lake are huge and we frolick
• Cottage food
• We still talk every week
• Another beautiful Sunday at the cottage
• A computer that always works
• Not cutting my head open when somersaulting
• Talking to people at the block party
• G, who bought and cooked the sausage
• A beautiful day
• J helped me with the buses
• Everyone listened
• The children who can find their own buses
• Liking what I do
• A short work day
• When my package from France arrives
• When I take no nonsense
• When the wee ones are happy
• When the whole week is good
• When there is hope for the year
• A wind-swept walk on the beach
• Cooking help
• Pancakes
• Always pancakes
• The first night back at choir
• An okay day
• My cantata is “cool”
• When I still win at basketball
• When I sit down at the end of the day
• When the gym is only 4 minutes away
• When G brings up the laundry for me
• When I am calm and competent
• When my classroom is not too cold
• Having someone to miss
• Metadance
• PD nuggets
• G who drove me to Waterloo and back because he loves me
• G who made me pancakes, cleaned the bbq and did the dishes
• Tailors from Turkey
• Kids being kids
• Yin yoga
• Holy Spirits
• The classes that do go well
• Heating
• A cottage bbq
• Getting some staining done
• In the September sunshine
• When I like my book
• Not dreading work
• Frisbee and basketball at the cottage
• New acquaintances
• C at choir
• I don’t teach math any more
• Orange Shirt Day lesson success
• Getting the lawn fertilized
• Not buying a new spreader
• Nice neighbours
• Systems that occasionally work
• When I am missed
• When it rains just after I fertilize
• When I am chatty at work
• When kids are cute and affectionate
• When C comes and plays the piano for me
• When I am ahead of myself and have nothing to do
• When the chili is good
• When I don’t use all my points for the day
• When I bike 36 km in one weekend
• When the weather is warm in October
• When we have a new basketball
• When I can pay for my gas without leaving my car
• Chuck
• 5000 steps
• I am a good teacher
• I have lost a pound
• G, who took me to Tim Horton’s
• Surviving a long and loud open house
• My Grade 6s are smart
• A beautiful day for Terry Fox
• My black Croatian shirt
• No more watching TV alone
• Summer sunshine in October
• a blesssed life