The Gratitude Division - January 2024

Dog Memorial Christmas Tree - Buena Vista Park

January 2024 as been a cold month, making it more challenging to get outside on a regular basis for that daily dose of vitamin D. But despite the deepfreeze, there were still many delights this month! So, here is my round up of appreciation and joy for The Gratitude Division!

A book I read:     Darius the Great is Not Okay, by Adib Khorram

This book was my book club's recent pick and it was SO good! A really great story about family, identity, and going through that phase of life where you're trying to figure out where you fit in. It also illustrates the impact of prejudices on the people who are labeled as being in the out-group. And it explores all these themes with charm, wit, and compassion. What I particularly liked was how it told the story of a friendship in the same way that love-at-first-sight romances are often told and I really appreciated that notion of romanticizing platonic love. I don't know about you, but in my life it has been my friendships that have been magical and transformative! I was often looking for that in my dating life when I was younger, but I've found love and acceptance more often in my friendships. So I appreciated the way that this book portrayed friendship, by infusing it with meaning and showing its impact. If you're looking for a feel-good story I would highly recommend this book. I did the audiobook version and the narrator was fantastic; it was available from my library on the Libby app.

The experience I had at Insight Medical Imaging (West End)

Stay with me here...  know that this seems like an odd item for a gratitude list. I had to go for some imaging and it's one of those things that no one wants to do - but sometimes you have to do it. And if you have to, you want it to go as smoothly as possible. My experience was not only smooth, but efficient. The staff were friendly, making me laugh, and the procedures were not as bad as I thought they would be. In fact, I left there feeling like "that was fun!" I just so appreciated a team who was communicating well and coordinating their efforts like a well-oiled machine. It seemed like everyone there had just decided they were going to have a good day, and so they made it a good day. I have never had that experience before in a healthcare setting. From the reception, technicians, interview, doctor - I saw five people and all of them were friendly, efficient, and clear. If you're in the position where you have to get medical imaging done, this is the experience you want to have. Even in travelling there that day, I had all green lights on the way there and I found parking easily when I arrived! It was an unprecedented success. It was like the universe's way of giving me a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down and I'm grateful that was how I experienced it. I hope the folks at that location know how much their positive attitude is appreciated and that the universe gives them green-lights and easy parking too.

Date Night with my husband at Buco Windermere

Usually once a month my husband and I will go out for a date and because we'd been to this restaurant before my fella was on their email list to be notified about upcoming events. Well, we saw tickets for an evening billed as a Mediterranean Breeze, with a guest chef and sommelier, and decided to give it a try. I'm so glad we did! The menu included tapas, a warm starter, entree, and dessert, along with wine pairings. The food and drink were almost as good as the company! The highlight for me was the calamari in a tomato salsa! With the grilled lemon that accompanied it, the dish was so fresh - it was amazing. I see that this restaurant group does these event nights periodically, with different regional themes; we will definitely be back to try another.

I hope that this month has given you things to be grateful for and I hope that, in the stress and bustle of of life, you were able to pause and appreciate them too.

All the best,

Petrina