Grateful Grams Thanksgiving and Grand Magazine News

I hope you all had a warm and wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. We had seventeen crowded around our table this year. A brief review of the highlights: cousins running around outside, one sardonic teenager strumming a guitar, and a trip to the ER later that night. (Grandpa had an allergic reaction of itchy hives and swollen lips.) I'm forbidden to share the pics, but let's just say when the nurse came into the room and asked, "So what seems to be the problem?" I about took a swing at her. Are you kidding me? Right, my husband always looks like a duck!

NO, you can't have my sippy!

Standing room only...

Forget the turkey, I'm going straight
for the Oreo dessert!

Turkey's not the only thing
 in the oven. (7th grandchild) 

I noticed that many people on Facebook used the month of November to list things they were thankful for. I thought that was a great way for those that post daily to use the space. I'm not that consistent on Facebook, so I thought I would take a moment to share just a few things that I'm thankful for this year. 

1- I'm so grateful that as our first couple years adjusting to an empty nest my husband and I discovered we still like each other and prefer to spend our time together, rather than apart. 

2- I'm so happy that all my children are busy creating their own lives, independent of our meddling. I find it so exciting to see these talented and thoughtful people making daring and exciting life journeys.

3- I am blessed that all my children aren't miles and miles away. It gives me the opportunity to see them when busy schedules permit, have my grandchildren over and participate in our grandchildren's activities. 

4- I'm very thankful that my limitations, while they have slowed me down, haven't kept me from doing things that I love: writing, reading, bird watching, walking and learning.

5- Each day I wake I'm grateful for another full day to choose my path, how I'll spend my time, what my attitude will be, how I react to life and what I will bring to others. 

I could probably go on and on, but suffice it to say, the joys of living are not lost on me. I've arrived at a place where the list of to do's are more like suggestions, not an endless list of ways I'm not measuring up. I'm more alive than I've ever been—because I've learned to be in the moment, instead of anticipating the next one or stewing over yesterday. Life is good, very, very good. Not easy...but highly satisfying. 

Now for some fun news. I'm now a Grand Ambassador to the state of Washington for GRAND magazine. If you haven't checked out the magazine before your missing out on some great resources. I will now have a say in content. If you're from Washington and you have an ideas of what you'd like to see covered, cool people I should interview, or information we could share with our readers, shoot me an email. torres dot pam3 at gmail dot com  

If you're interested in advertising in their magazine, shoot me an email and I can make sure you get personal attention. We are also looking for Ambassadors to other states so if you are in a state that has yet to have an Ambassador send me an email and I can hook you up! 

I'm hoping over the next couple of years to hold a GRANDparents America Expo like they did in Florida this past year. It was a great success and I'd like to showcase resources and products that can benefit grandparents right here in Washington state. If your interested on working on that project... send me an email.