2007 Posts
• 7/21/2007 9:50 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Today I say thanks for realising the importance of just being, and enjoying the ride. And I say thanks for getting this message out there…
• 7/22/2007 5:39 PM Sam – Aust wrote:
Thank you for this blog.
• 7/23/2007 4:44 PM Karen – Aust wrote:
Today I acknowledge the million wonderful things surrounding and fulfilling my life! Most of these ‘things’ living of course because memories are the best. I say thank you for my mother’s wonderful family filled 60th birthday- campfire oven with all our family in attendance… delicious food, great company, and the comfort of being ‘out the back’ in the driveway between horse yards, chook pens and back gardens and it was wonderful!! I say thank you to the wonder of children.. lots of them! Laughter that fills the heart and soul. I have such gratitude for the special friends, including my husband of course, who help me be level, yet lift me to the moon with their unconditional love and support. And I am extremely grateful for ‘make a memory’ days when I do stop and treasure them with action. Thank you to Nicole for reminding us to see the little things.
• 7/25/2007 9:50 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Today I say thanks for the desire to keep questioning, regardless of how many answers I get. I say thanks for licorice bullets. yum. I say thank you for being able to witness children learn the art of thanks – for desks, carpet, shoes, warm beds and all those other trivial things that had been taken for granted, until now. I say thank you for husbands who want to hear about your not so great days – and who listen without judgment. And every single day I say thank you for the two ‘angels’ that I have the privilege of calling my children. They fill my heart with joy unimaginable with one simple, cheeky, toothless smile.
• 7/26/2007 12:55 AM Bernie – Aust wrote:
Today I say thanks for my children who challenge me to be the best that I can be, even when I seem at my worst! I say thanks for dear friends who support me to reach inside myself and to also discover all that I am capable of, for my family who are an unbelievable source of love and colour and purpose! I say thanks for opportunities, big and small and for the love of a beautiful man. I say thanks for the quiet of the night and the freedom and ability to write and sit quietly with myself. FOr fun and laughter and for the ever increasing abundance that is washing over us.
• 7/26/2007 9:36 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Today I say thank you for the rain, even though I just washed my car…! I say thank you for the support of fellow teachers who offer assistance at every turn, yet ask nothing in return. I say thank you for the cheerful, freckled faces of warm-hearted students, and the pleasure of meeting their parents on interview night, and telling them how proud they can be. I say thank you for the wonder of the world wide web, that allows for the sharing of thoughts when distance should, by all stretch of the imagination, prevent it. I say thank you for good health, and the realisation that I can do so much more when I am healthy! And I say thank you for my little family…for loving me for who I am, every day of my life.
• 7/29/2007 7:31 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Today I say thank you for being able to sit and laugh and reminisce while watching Seasons 1, 2 (…oh, and 3…) of ‘Friends’, and share the experience with my children, who are now fans of The Rembrandts and know the characters by heart Thanks for the chance to make sushi for lunch with Japanese friends, eat it all, and be full until 3 pm…only to have the opportunity to then go to the neighbour’s birthday party (and still be too full to eat cake!!) What a life. Thank you for the insight to know that it is indeed a blessed life that I live, every day of it. (I do believe I hear Season 4 calling….)
• 7/29/2007 7:56 PM Nicole C – Aust wrote:
I am thankful that i have friends to support me in everything i do and certain choices that i have to make, and also for the friends who are willing to challenge me. I am also thankful for arnotts premium chocolate chip biscuits without which my life would be meaningless. oh oh and thanks for harry potter, one of the greatest books ever!
• 7/29/2007 8:41 PM Erinn – Aust wrote:
thanks for the headbanging tunes, picnics under the moon with torches, sitting in a old tin boat, dancing in the rain, power, handstands, jumping with someone on the trampoline. hula hoops, skipping ropes those bubble blower things, laughter, cheesy grins, floating down the channel in a tyre, sun showers, boogie boards, lemon and mango gelato from bertoldos, jelly, cookies, friends, little notes, long conversations, junior spenkee, sunflowers, cheeks sore from laughter, twinkles in eyes! finding old coins, bad jokes the pool, my dolphin called rainbow. buttons. adventures on the willow/tree river route, inside jokes, infact any A G O O D S T R E T C H !
theres a start for everything
• 7/30/2007 9:49 PM Bernie – Aust wrote:
Today I am grateful for my day off, my fathers health, the closeness of my family, the growth of my business, the friends that continually enter my life and for the generosity of strangers. I am so grateful for my children being so happy at school and for all the opportunities we have at out feet. I am so grateful for some peace at the end of the day and for the realization that there are always so many things to be grateful for. I am deeply grateful for my own health and the many many ways I am blessed.
• 7/31/2007 5:39 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Today I say thank you for children who question just as much as I do and remind me to stop and pay attention because what they have to say is very, very important to them even when I am trying to do other things and they keep talking and questioning and talking and asking and doing and asking and showing and doing and I wonder how they can do that without even taking a breath!! and then they look up and smile and I can’t help but smile back and take a reality check… I say thank you for living in a society where I have so much choice that I can never decide what to have for dinner. I say thank you for the students who always stay behind after the bell and just want to have a chat. And I am thankful that I want to do the same.
• 7/31/2007 8:42 PM Andrew – Aust wrote:
Thanks for the human ability to be able to tell a good story, thanks for a flock a birds when they fly away when you run at them, thanks for the inside voice, blankets, the internet, the seven seas, human independence, thanks for the mighty boosh, laughter, talent, imagination, colour, raisin toast, the sky and all of it’s moods, brilliant minds, words, time, all animals great and small, wind, secrets, adventures, all genres of music, thanks for the movies, for monopoly, tetris, hiding spots, dreams, mornings, friends, photo moments and crime scene investigation shows.
that’s pretty much it for today.
• 7/31/2007 10:59 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Thank you for the opportunity to see our students shine on stage, lost in the rhythm of their soul’s calling, oblivious to the endless sets of eyes that are envious of their pure talent and fortitude to follow a dream, regardless of the perceived sacrifice. And thank you for this rare opportunity to be a witness to the gratitude of the people around me, and for the honest, humorous and enlightening ways that you are all contributing. It makes me sing on the inside (and that’s a good thing; it sounds better that way!! )
• 8/1/2007 6:40 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Today I say thank you for living in a small country town where it is still safe enough to be able to give a student shelter from the rain as she walked to school – and in the process, get an insight into her heart and hear the story that I had not truly listened to before. I say thank you for chocolate, because…well, do I really need to explain that one? Thanks for days when you are so hyped up with lack of sleep (because you were writing poems in your head and trying to remember them until morning!) that it actually makes you feel more alert, albeit very silly in the eyes of a certain Year 10 class!!…. And thanks for freedom of speech, and having something to say.
• 8/1/2007 7:48 PM Morris (Aust) wrote:
thankyou for teachers that believe in a student enough to give them a chance.
(I just finished it)
• 8/1/2007 8:33 PM Brianna (Aust – aged 7) wrote:
Today I say thank you for having a nice dinner, playing with my friends, getting a rock with my fairy’s footprints on it, and writing to the tooth fairy and she always writes back.
• 8/1/2007 8:36 PM Kiara P – Aust wrote:
Today I say thank you for going for a nice treat after school, playing the play station with my auntie, sleeping, and getting a stamp for hand-writing and it said ‘excellent’.
• 8/2/2007 6:07 PM Nicole P- Aust wrote:
Today I say thank you for opportunities to fill up the bank account. I say thank you for those moments that make you glad you are a teacher, like when a student is devastated because they have to miss one class…yes, it actually happens!! I say thank you for students who turn up to lunchtime language sessions, for no reason except to exercise their brain and enhance their life through language. I say thank you for that 3.30 bell, because sometimes it is the sweetest sound on the planet. And I say thank you for a life so full that I am exhausted at the end of every day.
• 8/2/2007 6:49 PM Yemisi – Nigeria wrote:
I am grateful for breathing and for (and to)God.For green tea.And opportunities.And friends that love me.
I am thankful for compliments from complete strangers,and little gestures that mean big things.I am very thankful for weekends!!!And holidays!!!And any day i dont have to work!!!!But I am also grateful I have a job in the first place!I am thankful for good moods,deep breaths,solitude AND company. I am so so so grateful for men!Life would be much less richer without them(albeit much simpler Lol.) I am grateful that I have yesterday to look back on ,today to be in, and tomorrow to hope for.
• 8/2/2007 8:39 PM Francis Achi wrote:
I am indeed grateful to for blessing me with a baby that have a perfect resemblance with me. Grateful for a beautiful wife that loves me so much, she really made me beleive that after all the disappointment in my previous relationship , love can still be found, and i did find it in her and my cute baby.
Equally grateful for the oil mineral resources God deposited in my country at the Niger Delta Region where i come from. Grateful to some of the youths who are begining to laid down their weapons and embracing peace instead of war.
i am thankful to the new president of my country (Nigeria) who in just short while has been able to instill integrity and respect for the rule of law , the sky is bright and there is a light after the dark tunnel of Olusegun Obasanjo inhuman policies.
Also thankful for the technology behind the internet where we all can communicate thereby eliminating the borders of seas,air, land as if we are indeed in the same neighbourhood.
There are so much more to be grateful for , kudos to all the members of the Grateful Hearts Club, i am indeed grateful for the spirit behind this club. Thank you Nicole for your idea and concept. Have a beautiful day.
From: Francis Achi
Abuja, Nigeria.
• 8/3/2007 5:29 AM Diana Rosario wrote:
Today I am grateful for the nice conversations with total strangers. I was sitting in a nail salon today and met a wonderful elderly woman. It was nice to listen to her thoughts because she is older than me, and much wiser. I never met her before, or seen her in my neighborhood, but it was nice to talk to her. It’s the little things that make this world worth living in!
• 8/3/2007 10:39 PM Morris (Aust) wrote:
thanks for all the most terri/b/le things and thanks for all the /b/est things.
• 8/5/2007 11:34 AM Nicole.c aust. wrote:
i am thankful for rain because it means i can stay inside all day and not feel guilty. and i am also thankful that it gives me the time to do my religion assignment (oh how blessed am i). i am thankful for music which can change your mood in a matter of minutes, i am also grateful that humans have the ability to remember the words to songs, so they can sing together then! good times.
• 8/5/2007 10:45 PM Nicole P- Aust wrote:
Today I say thank you for the miracle and safety of air travel, that can transport me in a matter of minutes rather than hours. I am thankful for new friendships that develop over short periods of time, the kind of friendships that give you the feeling you have known that person your whole life. I say thank you for honest conversation and trust. I say thank you the time to people-watch, and for eyes to take in the diversity around me, and be able to appreciate it without judgment; well, I’m learning. And I say thank you for the beautiful feeling of ‘home’, no greater than when I have my arms wrapped around my children, and my husband’s hand in mine.
• 8/6/2007 9:09 PM Nicole P- Aust wrote:
Today I say thank you for being able to stay at home and take care of a sick child. I say thank you for the fact that this is a rare occurrence, and that medicines are readily available to ease her through the worst of it when it does happen. I say thank you that my work allows for parents to take carer’s leave so that I can be home with her on days like this. I say thank you for toast and Vegemite. And I say thank you for the blessing of being able to send the family to bed with a full belly every night, because it means that we really do live an abundant life.
• 8/7/2007 6:53 PM Nicole.C aust. wrote:
i am thankful for human initiative. i am thankful for the ability to be able to perform under pressure/serious stress. i am thankful for beautiful days where the weather is perfect and for entertainment, which without it in my life i was be a bit bored.
• 8/7/2007 7:24 PM Nicole P- Aust wrote:
Today I say thank you for the maturity and wisdom of certain teenagers! I say thank you for chocolate…again. I say thank you for the health of my children and for vitamins!! I say thank you for the end of the day when the work is over momentarily, and I get to just sit and think and write and enjoy some ‘me’ time…and I say thank you for all those people who worked so hard to bring me the conveniences of modern existence, so that I can do just that.
• 8/8/2007 6:03 PM Nicole P- Aust wrote:
Today I say thank you for efficient office staff who make schools run smoothly, and make teachers look organised! I say thank you for the luxury of having a computer on my desk, when many others do not. I say thank you for time. I say thank you for the kind of students who ask to get together at lunchtimes to talk about their goals and dreams. And I say thank you for the funny faces my daughter makes when she eats an orange
• 8/8/2007 9:05 PM Nicole.C aust. wrote:
i am grateful for the abilty to speak another language (sukoshi anyway, hehe bit of japanese jargon for you all)i am thankful for patience and people to talk to when you need help, and for photos which preserve memories for all time.
• 8/9/2007 2:53 PM LEIGH – USA wrote:
Many things have happened to me in the past few months. I filed for bankruptcy, my ulcerative colitis became very active and I had to go on high doses of steroids, my college loans are now maxed out and I am borrowing money from my boss to go to school and I have to work extra hours to pay her back. All my bills are falling behind and I have no idea where the money is coming for them. Things around my seem to be falling apart – little things like a car window, the chain on my toilet, just little things but they add up to $$$$ that i don’t have to fix things. Most of my so called friends forgot me on my birthday. I am now in menopause. I live alone and there are no prospects. Two couples – both dear to me – are separating/divorcing. So much sorrow and stress and still for some reason I feel grateful. Grateful for those who DID remember me on my 50th birthday. Grateful that the illness is abating. Grateful for music. Grateful for my pets who are there to hug and kiss. Grateful I have what I have. I know that there are times when everything is going right and sometimes I forget to be grateful for the good times – it’s ironic that when I am at one of the lowest points of my life I remember and still feel blessed in special ways. I don’t know if this is a soulful response or just a survival mechanism – probably both. I just know that until i see that light at the end of this particular tunnel i am going to cling to that gratitude for all it is worth – and right now it’s worth my health and my sanity. thanks for being here to share this with me. i wish i could be really uplifting but a gentle sense of appreciation for what i have is all i can offer right now. and for now, maybe, it’s enough. Blessed Be!
• 8/9/2007 8:22 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Today I say thank you for the trust placed in me by others to mind their precious child, and for the pure joy of holding a tiny little miracle-baby in my arms for hours at a time. I say thank you for an hour to escape into a cappuccino with a best friend and catch up. I say thank you for being able to be in constant contact with people via text-messaging! I say thank you for the growing list of ‘thank-yous’ on this site, and the way it is being used, slowly but surely, in the way it was intended. And thank you to those who speak so honestly in sharing of themselves, and then feel it is worth passing on to friends around the globe – this gratitude thing just may catch on!!
• 8/10/2007 1:34 PM LEIGH – USA wrote:
I don’t text, but i AM thankful for myspace! It’s kept me sane and helped me k.i.t. with folks when i am too busy to visit.
• 8/11/2007 7:33 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Today I say thank you for beautiful weather and the feeling of Spring in the air – the kind of weather that motivates you to clean out and clean up! Thank you for patient husbands and easy-going children. Thank you for champagne (in moderation of course!) and the company of good friends, great conversation, and silly jokes. Thank you for the technology that keeps us in touch with each other between cities and around the world. And thank you for every day being a new beginning and an opportunity to do it all a little bit better than the day before.
• 8/12/2007 10:03 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Today I am grateful for the chance to see my two children perform in a tae-kwon-do tournament, and even win a place! I am thankful that they have the courage to get out there and DO, not just think about it or watch others do it for them…I say thank you for digital cameras that capture those precious moments for grandparents, and for grandparents who love to email as much as I do! I say thank you for friends who give up their time to coach other people’s children. I say thank you for a house that is big enough to make me tired after I have cleaned it all!!! And I say thank you for fresh sheets on the bed that I retire to at night, after a day well lived.
• 8/13/2007 10:24 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Today I say thank you for being able to see the musical beauty in a child; to watch her shine and appear so vibrantly confident that it radiated from her – at least in my eyes….Today I am just thankful to be the mother of that child, and am giving myself permission to be unashamedly proud to be just that!
• 8/14/2007 8:32 AM LEIGH wrote:
It’s a wonderful thing when a child is given the freedom to explore all that is beautiful within them.
• 8/15/2007 10:07 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Today I say thank you for the courage to say what I feel, at the risk of being judged. I say thank you for words that come freely, even if no-one else hears them or reads them. I say thank you for the years of experience it has taken to become a more professional teacher, and for the unspoken rewards that go with that, knowing that I still have a lot to learn. And I say thank you, always, for the unconditional love and patience of my family.
• 8/16/2007 6:03 PM Nicole.C aust. wrote:
i am grateful for piano, freedom of speech, the right for women to vote, for having friends who can speak their opinions even if they’re not altogether welcome at times. i am thankful that people can smile and laugh even if times are rough.
• 8/16/2007 10:08 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Today I say thanks for poetry and the words that make them rhyme; I say thank you for computers, and clocks to tell the time; I say thank you for electric storms and the moon beneath the stars; and thanks for the reliability of modern day cars; I say thank you for risotto and Parmesan cheese, and the freedom everyday to do as we please; I say thank you for ironing boards and clothes to wear each day, for holidays and thanks a lot for regular paydays; I am grateful for the blessings I am given every hour; they make those 2 words ‘thank you’ have an ever greater power.
• 8/18/2007 12:08 AM Victor E-Nigeria wrote:
Iam grateful that today I avoided a potential financial embarrassment by things turning out EXACTLY the way I prayed for.Only two days ago the gas in my car finished exactly in a gas station enabling me to refill without any anxiety.
• 8/18/2007 8:50 AM Bernie R wrote:
Wow…thanks for great friends, life saving knowledge, freedom from credit cards, the taxman’s generosity, a great place to live, opportunities abundant, my beautiful children and family, a new litte baby on the way for my brother, the unconditional love and support family, Christmas’ in July, health, a successful business, organised office and wonderful life!!!
• 8/20/2007 3:54 PM Liliane Grace wrote:
Thank you for coming up with this idea, Nicole! Thanks for keep it going with so many lusciously detailed points, because you inspire others.
I am grateful for the approaching spring and today’s sunshine; for my husband coming home early and helping me in my business; for my daughters’ busy and relaxed creativity; for the success of my book, The Mastery Club, for the many people who write to thank me or offer help; for good wholesome food; for music and dance; for the friend who explained how to get our sewing machine to work today; for my son’s opportunity to work on a friend’s farm; for my writing ability; for love; for growth; for my dog, who makes sure I get out and walk every day; for my reliable car; for opportunities; for laughter; and for the fact that it’s my daughters’ cooking night tonight!
• 8/20/2007 10:03 PM Nicole P -Aust wrote:
Today I say thank you for the wonder of universal messaging ( since I was thinking of Liliane today!)and for all of you wonderful people who are sharing a part of you every time you comment. I say thank you for being able to spend hours lost in the luxury of conversation with a lifelong friend, and for a safe journey home afterwards. I say thank you, once again, for being able to watch my youngest daughter smile so hard with enjoyment that her face hurt at the end of her singing debut up on stage!! And thank you for the tooth fairy that leaves very special messages to tell her things that she sometimes has trouble believing about herself…. complete with fairy dust!
• 8/21/2007 9:34 AM Joe Kennedy wrote:
I am thankful for my next breath. My next happy thought and even my daily frustrations working online. Promises kept and some that are not, they were most likely not ment to be. The great energy I get out in my garden jerseygarden.blogspot.com I post for your enjoyment. We all start as seeds. with great potential… now grow to your potential. Be the You of your dreams. NowYouBeYou.
• 8/21/2007 6:34 PM Kiara and Brianna wrote:
Thank you for being able to have two fantale lollies at my aunty’s house and for frozen chocolate mud. Thank you for a yummy lunch and biscuits. Thank you for being able to finish reading two books about fairies in one night and one day. Thank you for me.
• 8/21/2007 8:16 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Today I say thank you for the healing hands of a masseuse and for the time and means to be pampered in a luxurious setting. Thank you for spa baths and soft towels. Thank you for cuddles and kisses and the knowing that I am loved unconditionally by my family. Thank you for games in the sunshine and the sound of children’s laughter. And thank you for a husband who loves to cook!!
• 8/22/2007 6:48 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Today I am grateful for the freedom of honesty. I am thankful for all of the extraordinary experiences available to me because of knowing a second language. I am thankful for the human qualities of diligence and patience and fortitude. And I am grateful for true love.
• 8/25/2007 7:03 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Today I am grateful for the quiet and absolute reassurance of knowing I have one of the best friends one could ever hope to have in a lifetime; one of those friends who can read your every thought and feel all the same crazy things, and still want to hang out with you!! I am thankful for time-out and for time alone in the car to sing out of tune with my favourite songs. I am also grateful to be able to come home to a house full of people who love me. I am grateful for beautiful weather and a perfect setting in which to enjoy it. And once again, I am thankful for the works of Neale Donald Walsch and for a mind that is open enough to appreciate it.
• 8/26/2007 8:51 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Today I say thank you for sleep-ins, hot showers, clean clothes, fresh juice and big hugs from little kids. I say thank you for music, lawn mowers, vacuum cleaners, hair dryers and the Hill’s Hoist. And most of all, today I say thank you for being able to be the Mum of two adorable little girls.
• 8/26/2007 11:33 PM Bernie wrote:
Well, today I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to make a difference in ways I never dreamed!!!! I am grateful for the vision of others and the courage to be able to step forward and pass the flame. I am grateful for my journey of self discovery, and for the ability to turn suffering into growth, strength and wisdom. I am grateful for a wonderful weekend, the ability to laugh and dance and sing and dress up and the ability to enjoy serendipitous encounters of immeasurable value. I am grateful for the many wonderful people who continue to flow into my life and for the beautiful family I have to come home to. I am grateful for the opportunity to reward their love and faith in me, with limitless experiences, love and an abundant life. I am grateful for dear friends who bought me lunches and dinners, for the chance to witness lives being renewed and health being restored. I am grateful for atlantic salmon, honey macadamia nuts and hot chocolates and for the chance to dress up in affro wigs, red satin dresses and glitter! I am dearly grateful for my friends and family who continue to go from strength to strength and whose same abilities enrich my own. And finally I am grateful for deep and renewing sleep after a day well lived with no regrets and to be able to close my eyes , khowing that another day will soon begin with hope and promise.
• 8/27/2007 7:30 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Today I say thank you for people who say thank you. Thanks.
• 9/1/2007 12:10 AM Bernie R Australia wrote:
Well, today I am grateful for Mind movies, the ability to spend hours making them with my son, for his clarity and vision and as he say the ability to ” dream big” ! I am thankful for the joy of giving, for karaoke’s and the unexpected blessings of work. I am grateful for good food, discipline and determination and for the endless positive and inspiring people who flow into my life. I am grateful for renewed conviction and faith and for mentors and the ability to listen and do! I am grateful for my daughters stripey tights and the opportunity to delight in her father’s day creations and for a week well lived. And I am now grateful in advance for tomorrow’s sleep in!! x
• 9/1/2007 6:12 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Today I say thank you for those extraordinary quality moments with children that make you wonder what on earth you ever did to deserve such grand reward as a parent. I say thank you for changing seasons and the corresponding change of attitude that invariably brings. Thank you for the experiences I get to choose every day, and the growth that those experiences bring me. I say thank you for long distance phone calls that keep us in touch, and more than that, the desire to do so. And I say thank you for a body that works, a mind that questions, and a heart that is fulfilled.
• 9/2/2007 10:11 AM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Today I say THANK YOU to fathers everywhere this Father’s Day. (God knows we would not be here without them!!) I say thank you to my own father, for being a never-ending source of unconditional love to all of us, and to his own brothers. I say thank you for the role model he is, in so many ways, but mostly for teaching me to be an openly affectionate and honest parent. I thank him for special childhood memories; for all of the ‘aeroplane rides’, the bouncing on his knee, the silly jokes and goodnight kisses. I thank God that he is always there to give me his pearls of wisdom, whenever I have ever needed them. And I thank my Dad for being an amazing father in law to my husband. Thank you Dad x
• 9/2/2007 11:41 PM Bernie R wrote:
Today, I too am thankful for My Dad, who continues to be such a wonderful father and grandfather and from whom I continue to learn the most dearest of life lessons. Dad, you are amazing. I am so grateful for my own husband who is such a beautiful father to our children and husband to me. I am grateful for the sunny spring day which allowed us to luch with friends up in the hills and for the subsequent trip to the movies, in which we laughed adn laughed. I am grateful for this internet, which keep me connected with friends and with knowledge that empowers us and keeps us informed. I am grateful for the week ahead and the opportunity it brings, and that noone minds my typos on this fabulous blog!!!
• 9/3/2007 8:58 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
I am grateful to be able to start this day (and most others) with an early morning snuggle from my two incredible daughters, who whisper ‘I love you’ in my ear before they depart on their grand adventures for the day. I am also eternally grateful to be married to my man, who believes in me more than I do, and who is with me during the times that I need him most, even when he is miles away. I am thankful for a friend who thought to bring me my favourite cappuccino in the rush of her work day, and that we can get over silly obstacles in our friendship, without scars. I am grateful for the opportunity to watch my students perform under pressure of a speaking exam, and watch them surprise themselves with their knowledge! And I am grateful to work in an environment where new ideas can be openly tabled, and even happier that those ideas are being embraced and taken on board!
• 9/4/2007 8:38 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Thank you for the time to help my own children with their homework, and being able to witness the determination and diligence they display at such an early age. Thank you for patience to deal with troubled students and work with them, rather than against them. Thank you for morning tea and lunch breaks to catch my breath. Thank you for bookshops and coffee shops and ginger bread men and pies with tomato sauce. And thank you for intelligent conversations with parents at the end of the day.
• 9/9/2007 2:37 PM Andrew (Aust) wrote:
Thanks for our history, because if it wasn’t there we wouldn’t be able to realise the people we have always been and the person we want to become.
• 9/12/2007 7:23 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Today I say thank you for good food, fresh water, a choice of clothing, breaking through the tough exterior and seeing the mushy side of a little boy, great conversations about life, death and the universe, good music, fine wine, good health, the ability to read and analyse, emails, catch up phone calls, walks with my children at sunset, and for whatever greater power allows all of this to be my experience of life.
• 9/14/2007 8:35 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
I am grateful for precious moments with family, the valued conversations with co-workers, the smile on a child’s face when they answer a question correctly in class, the willpower to resist chocolate for a whole week (!?!!) and online bookings for Paris hotels!!!
• 9/15/2007 12:02 AM Bernie R wrote:
Well, I am very grateful for cuddles with my little ( and getting bigger!) people. FOr eprfect timing that allows moments of growth, for time with family and unexpected challenges. For stolen moments with special people, for friends who pop into my life like stardust, and for good food, powerful knowledge and healing wisdom. I am very grateful for our safety and the ability to sleep securely in a warm bed, knowing that all those I love are also safely so. I am grateful for where I am 12 months from now and for the will and vision to see us arriving there. I am grateful for cocoa and sugar ( which are not yet contraband!) and for my house cleaner who rescues me from woe. I am grateful for my sleep in tomorrow and for a night in, sharing the excitement of COllingwood’s win with my little boys. I am grateful for Karaoke’s, competitions and conferences that allow me to sing and for the internet which keeps me connected not only with my friends and my world, but with myself and these blessings. Thank You!!!
• 9/15/2007 6:37 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Today I am grateful for moments of serendipity, safe travel and great shopping. I am also grateful for discovering the gastronomic delight of nacho flavoured roasted corn kernels! I am thankful for the everyday joy of watching my children sing and argue and cuddle and torment and rumble and perform and be sisters to each other. Thank you for stars in the sky and the visibility in our country atmosphere to be able to see them all… and realise that we are but a spot upon the universe, each playing our part in the grand design, whatever we choose that to be.
• 9/20/2007 8:47 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Thank you for internet phone calls that allow great friends to stay in touch, and the marvel of knowing that there are 8,642,369 other people doing the same thing around the globe simultaneously! Amazing! Thank you for little kids with big hearts. Thank you for little kids with big brains and the courage to show it off. Thank you for big kids with big issues and the will to want to talk to you about them. Thank you for all the kids that love to read and draw and create and learn and talk and sing and tell knock knock jokes. Thank you for a full day and a very small glass of an award winning sweet dessert wine to celebrate life!
• 9/23/2007 9:48 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Today I am grateful for family days and catching up with my own siblings and in-laws. Thanks for the blessing of seeing my nephews laughing and playing with my own children. Thanks for great food and an abundance of it. Thanks for being able to share my father’s birthday cake and his sense of humour. Thanks for bringing my parents home safely from their travels around Australia. And thanks for the beautiful storybooks written by my Year 7 students, that my own kids delighted in reading. Thanks for today.
• 9/24/2007 9:18 PM Nicole.C aust. wrote:
I am grateful that holidays are coming up and will give me time to spend with my family. i am thankful for being able to speak english and to absorb new ideas and cultures. i am thankful for change and people who are willing to accept it. and i am thankful for hair cuts otherwise split ends could get even worse!
• 9/27/2007 10:38 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Thank you for busy days that let you know you are alive, have purpose, and that people need you. Thank you for computers on which to do the endless stream of worksheets, and printers that work on demand. Thank you for confidantes, and for people that challenge me to do better. Thank you for the excitement that builds as we prepare to travel this amazing world over the next 5 weeks. And thank you for students that treat teachers like human beings.
• 11/12/2007 8:58 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
After five weeks away, I have much to give thanks for – the list would be too long to write in detail; suffice to say, I give thanks for the absolute miracle of air travel, for the pilots that took us right around the globe and back in safety, for the wonder of foreign cultures and languages, and for the desire to do it all over again!
• 11/21/2007 3:30 PM Jess S wrote:
In a space that is limited to 3000 characters there is no hope that i will fit everything i am grateful for in. But for the ability to try i am grateful. For being able to set goals that your whole body, mind and soul love i am eternally grateful. To the fantastic friends that embrace you and your goals i cannot thank you enough. Trying to put into words how grateful i am for good times and bad times is driving me crazy. For these times, friendships and everything else in between i am grateful. Because they have made me a better person!
• 12/3/2007 9:17 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Today I say thank you for time and space to collect one’s thoughts and reinvigorate the mind. I am so grateful for books that open up to us a world of unending possibilities. I am thankful for card games that engage children. I am thankful for students who have such a burning desire to achieve a goal that they will do whatever it takes to get there. I am so thankful to be part of that process. I am so happy that I have stretched my wings and done the ridiculous, and in so doing, seen a whole other reality that exists on the other side of the globe; had I not traveled, it would have remained a mystery to me. I feel blessed that my children have met their cousins, and that they were able to witness the intrigue of a dinner-table conversation being carried out in 3 different languages all at once! I am so thankful that I get to start each day like yesterday never happened(…well, did it?) and to make my mark on every new dawn as if there were no tomorrow(….well, is there?) And I am thankful that I have come to the realisation that I don’t have to be outrageously happy every day of my life to experience joy, and that every emotion has its place… and for that I am deeply grateful.
• 12/4/2007 11:05 AM Joe Kennedy wrote:
I am grateful for new snow to ski in. Fresh winter mornings that make my skin tingle. To me Skiing is the closest thing to feeling the ones with this earth. Living a true free life to do what I want to do, allow all my senses to come alive, with true freedom comes responsibility to help others find their way. Time is now…… WAKE UP
• 12/4/2007 9:33 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Today I say thank you for drought-breaking rain, with real thunderstorms and lightning…Thank you for the excitement on the faces of kids who have not seen such a thing for more than half their young lives. Thank you for water in the dams and actual PUDDLES on the ground!!! I am grateful for a day when I can take my students out for dinner and a hot chocolate and get a big hug at the end as a thank you I am grateful for days when I really see the sunny side of life. I am so thankful that I chose the family that I have, and that they chose me. I am grateful for a world connected by technology, that we can share our thanks, even when we are literally at polar opposites! (Have fun in the snow up there guys!! It’s hot down here!!)
• 12/5/2007 8:27 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
I could not be more grateful for days like today….for the time and opportunity to spend with kids and witness their creativity, and to share a scrumptious morning tea at the end of the school year. More than that, to get the best gift any teacher could ask for: a thank you note from a student. These are the things that make all the crazy stuff so worthwhile, and remind me why I do what I do. Thank you, girls – you know who you are. You have made my day, my week, and my year. Thank you.
12/8/2007 10:31 AM Jess S wrote:
Miss you are a legend!
• 12/8/2007 11:35 AM Jess S wrote:
Today i am grateful for friendships that will last a life time. I am also grateful for a special teacher who is the compass on my journey(to the top).
• 12/10/2007 6:35 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Wow – I’m not sure who else is reading all this, but Jess – thank you! You made me cry!! I am so humbled, really – I don’t know what to say!! Thank you for making teaching feel so worthwhile. On days when I feel that I want to give up, I will remember students – people – like you. And you know what? You have already made it to the top. The rest is just icing on the cake…and you deserve the biggest bite!! Thank you for today, and every day that we get to make a difference – no matter how small. It obviously counts.
• 12/11/2007 7:46 PM NicoleC aust wrote:
firstly i would like to say thankyou to jess for reminding to come back on here! and yes miss you are a legend, your blog made ME cry! thankyou for friends who are there to have fun and for cuddles and for us to have pools and EVEN if people pick you up and put you in them and you dont really want to be in that pool, we are very privileged to have them especially in summer. i am thankful for the ability of humans to have the characteristic of determination and that they can achieve anything they want (even B’s in PE! crazy business eh) i am also thankful for the percentage of the population that has aim and a purpose.
• 12/11/2007 9:40 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
OK – enough of the love fest…we will start to scare everybody!! (You girls are pretty awesome though, just to clarify.) Thank you for days when you get the chance to say what you think. It feels great. Thank you for the festive feeling around the place; that air of excitement as summer holidays loom and freedom beckons. Thanks for the choice to live every minute like there is no other, and for good people to live it with. Oh, and did I mention that I am always, always grateful for CHOCOLATE!!
• 12/16/2007 9:27 PM erinn keely wrote:
“True happiness consists not in the multitude of friends, but in their worth and choice.”
- Samuel Johnston
I am thankful for friends.
the friends that will steer you back onto the correct path when your acting irregular and unlike your normal self.
The friends you can share a laugh with and in return the small gestures, like the quick shuffle of hands or movement of eyes that you can interpret from the closeness of the pair.
The ones that offer subtle criticism, and being able to take this without being offended.
The ones with the opinions that bring a wealth of knowledge and can change your understanding of the topic.
That friends that share your memories.
The friends that are there to lend a hand or shoulder.
The friends that stay by your side.
Most of all, I am thankful for the gift of friendship, as im told that a great relationship lengthens your longevity.
• 12/23/2007 9:42 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Today I am thankful for the place that I call ‘home’, knowing that as I complain about how much cleaning there is to do, there are those who are literally dying for a place to live. I am grateful for the two precious souls that have given me the privilege of calling them my own, at least for now…for the crazy and silly faces they pull while I am trying so diligently to be stern, and for the fact that their efforts to distract me from whatever it was that was bugging me, succeed every time. I am grateful for the abundance of rain we have received and the sight of near flooding in the main street!!! I am grateful for time at home in preparation for Christmas, a multitude of presents under the tree, and the excitement in the children’s faces with the talk of Santa Claus’ arrival in less than 48 hours! And at the risk of sounding far less than humble, I am so grateful for this place in cyberspace that allows me to get myself back on track, to look at what really matters, and be able to share it with kindred spirits. Thank you for everyone who joins in and keeps the gratitude list going. Is anyone keeping count??
• 12/24/2007 10:14 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
How thankful am I, to have Christmas Eve spent with my parents and the people I love the most. I am grateful for every minute that I am able to drink in the wisdom of 2 lives very well lived. I am thankful for having grown up in a safe and lovely home, and my Christmas wish would be that everyone have memories of a childhood just so. But everyone does not, and I am very well aware of that. I can never know what that might be like – not in this lifetime anyway – so I can only be grateful for the life I have had, and continue to remember that it has been a privileged one indeed. There are never enough ways to say thank you for all that I have, but I’ll keep trying. Happy Christmas everyone, and if Christmas is not your thing, I hope tomorrow is yet another day that you are grateful to be alive, and make a difference in someone else’s. Peace, and much chocolate, to all of you. :O
• 12/27/2007 12:57 PM Jess S – Australia wrote:
i am grateful for unexpected chances. they can change a persons future. i am grateful for the unknown girl that could not play in th team, she has helped me. i am also grateful for Neil McKay who, thanks to my mother, has offered me a place in the 16 yrs Riverina cricket team. i am grateful for this chance i have been given and will give my all to be the best that i can be.
• 12/30/2007 2:08 PM Nicole C-Aust wrote:
I am thankful for christmas as it helps to bring family together. For friends who are there for you and taht you are willing to tell anything to and are always there to give a helping hand. I am grateful for people who tell you that they admire you, because then it gives you cause to keep on going and to be the best person you can be. i am grateful for jessics stolls italian food.
• 12/30/2007 2:55 PM Nicole P – Aust wrote:
Today I say a big thank you for holiday sleep-ins and for children who understand the value of staying away from Mums who are enjoying holiday sleep-ins!! I say thank you for the absolute abundance of food and beverages that we are able to consume at this time of year. To that, I would add that I am very grateful for treadmills… I say thank you for being there to witness the faces of kids when they saw Santa’s sleigh tracks in the driveway on Christmas morning, and reindeer poop on the gravel…messy buggers… thank you for time to spend being silly with old friends, honest and open conversations about life, death and the universe, and all things in between. And I am very grateful to have time on my hands to do absolutely nothing, and relish every moment of it!!
