Abundance

We had such a fun weekend, spent with Jess and Will, who graced us with their presence (yes, I couldn't resist using both "Will" and "grace" in the same sentence) prior to spending Thanksgiving week with his family in Vermont. They arrived on Saturday night for dinner, which allowed them to avoid all the chores (cleaning the house, replacing the shower head in Lew's bathroom, stacking the cord of firewood - no, we still don't have enough room for it despite the 8' rack we bought and the huge stack in the garage). We watched "The Bucket List" on DVD that night - it was good, I would definitely recommend it.

On Sunday, we decided to visit the Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration. Did you know that Robert Ballard (discoverer of the Titanic and other treasures of the deep) started the Institute for Exploration here in Mystic, CT? And that they now have an MA/PhD program in conjunction with URI in marine archaeology? How cool is that?! It was super cold out, so we did not visit any other part of Mystic while we were there, including the Mystic Seaport. I guess we'll do that another day. But we had a great time at the aquarium. We went to the sea lion show, where they had one enormous sea lion (600 lbs!), one large sea lion, and one young sea lion (so cute! He kept bugging the others!). They had some very beautiful exhibits inside, including a rather captivating octopus who very kindly changed color (red to white, and back again) for us while we were there. I forced the rest of our group into visiting the outdoor exhibits, which actually were my favorite part, despite the cold. We saw the beluga whales (I'm sorry, I can't even think about it without the Raffi song "Baby Beluga" running through my head - it's all Jessica's fault for making us listen to that tape constantly when she was little!), who were both adorable and majestic at the same time. On the left is a photo of one looking at me through a peephole thing they had for underwater viewing. And they had African penguins!! They were also the cutest thing - very animated. Here's a photo of one of them on the right. The sea lions that were outside (not the same ones who were in the show) were also feeling like performing, and they were very vocal. I took a short video so you can see what I mean.


If you'd like to see the rest of the photos from our adventure, here they are: Mystic.

Anyway, you may be wondering about the title for my blog this week. Since it is Thanksgiving week, I thought I'd borrow a bit from my Arbonne Monday Morning Forum call and remind you all to come from a perspective of Abundance, rather than one of scarcity. Speaking for myself, I am tremendously grateful for my family and friends, and the fact that I lead a pretty happy life! We are healthy, we live comfortably, and we have enough to eat, not to mention plenty of shoes! :) Seriously, I just thought it would be worthwhile to count my blessings - if you are reading this, then you are one of them, and I thank you.