#givethanks on thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving, and I'm feeling thankful for so many things: Taylor Swift and her new documentary, donuts and kickball at the school behind our house, not ruining my Grammie's famous sweet potato casserole or Uncle Jason's green bean casserole--both my responsibility this year, bread--especially Ashleigh's, Kate and Brendan and the absolute joy it's been living close to them, James and the relationship we share, my siblings and their spouses, my angel parents. I'm grateful that James let us start decorating for Christmas today, even though he has a strict no decorations until after Thanksgiving rule. I'm grateful to spend time with my Noni and hear her stories after so long being apart. I'm grateful for TWO working fireplaces in our home and the warmth they bring to my constantly chilled body. I'm grateful to be the mom to four wonderful, interesting and silly little friends. My life, man, it's not perfect and this last year has most definitely been the most difficult and messy of its existence, but I look around and it's hard not to recognize that I have it really, really good. I'm blessed and I'm thankful and I'm happy. (And I'm full!)

#givethanks

#givethanks my best friends

 

There are a handful of women in my life that are literal lifelines for me--I honestly don't know how I would or could live without them. They have held me up when I was tripping over life, partied hard with me during the very best times, and not judged when it took me two hours--or two weeks--to respond to a simple text (I'm the WORST texter). I love them with my whole heart and it gushes for them, Niagara Falls level gushing. Many of us are scattered now, and I long for the days when we were together, but these are girls I'm holding onto tightly and you better believe I'm planning on a together forever type partnership. #givethanks

#givethanks for my enneagram 9

I took an enneagram test yesterday after what has felt like a solid year of the internet begging me to do so.  When I first saw the pop-ups I laughed and decided that only people with way too much time on their hands were taking this test...but then my favorite podcasters started talking about their results, friends reached out wanting to know my type, and what finally sealed the deal for me was Ash showing up to the park telling me all about how she had taken the test. #fomo Yep, I'm now one of those people hyped up on enneagrams and my sister made me do it. #influencer It's weird to think that at the beginning of this year I had never heard of enneagrams, Covid or even Zoom calls, but look at how much I've learned in 2020! I could have gone without Covid and Zoom, but honestly, I should have jumped on the enneagram bandwagon sooner and taken the quiz because it gave our family a full evening of entertainment! 

I’m a strong three, followed quickly by type one and two. No surprises there. I’m ambitious and energetic, confident, strong-willed and yet sensitive of what people think about me. I read it and thought, yep! In good ways and bad it almost eerily sounds like me. My family all took the test--parents and siblings and spouses and even Noni. We were a mixed bag at the table, covering almost every number from one to nine and each finding ways that our results felt foreign and at home. Ashleigh is all the way on the other side of the spectrum from me, she’s a nine: peaceful and kind, conflict-averse, giving and chill. Basically, she’s perfect and again, yep that’s her! She's everyone's favorite person, and the easiest to love.

Living by Ashleigh for the last six months has been as wonderful and sweet as I always imagined it would be. Forever I would talk about this far-fetched dream of raising my babies side-by-side with my sister and frankly, it was nothing more than idol chatter, but somehow 2020 has made this our reality, and it's amazing! She is everything that I'm not--nurturing and domestic, patient and level-headed, a great teacher and the definition of femininity. She is beautiful and fun and also a home-body who I've learned needs a nap in order to not be tired out by my ca-ca-ca-crazy. She makes me bread, does Coco's nails, is Quinny's favorite teacher, annoys James like a true little sister, spoils the boys while also taking care of her own family and life and makes it all look easy. She is the real deal and I'm so much better for knowing her.

This post was supposed to be about how grateful I was that Ash and I could enjoy a 7 am run (instead of a 6 am run) since our husband's were both working from home and believe me, that is something I really am grateful for! But this post has turned into something way more important. I'm grateful everyday for my best friend, my baby sister and my perfect match...my enneagram 9. Love you so much, Ash. And I'm forever grateful for you. #givethanks

^^^The internet agrees that Ash and I make the perfect match^^^

(Also a 9, James Wigginton! I love me some nines!)

#givethanks Monday at 10:56 am

I'm sitting on a bench at our neighborhood park. It's quiet here, with only a few other kids besides my crew climbing the colorful towers and sliding down windy tunnels. I'm still getting used to seeing empty parks that would have been crawling with kids back in the city. But we live in the suburbs now...the suburbs in a pandemic no less. So it's quiet. So my kids are playing. So I'm sitting and thinking.

As I walked from my magical minivan to this lonely park bench and realized I'd have a few minutes before being joined by my sister I knew that it would be the perfect opportunity to squeeze in today's #givethanks post. But those best of intentions were quickly washed down by this thought: what are you truly grateful for? Not what you should be or could be grateful for, but what makes your heart burst with gratitude? Because a post is of no worth if there's no love and depth behind it.

Humph, good question. I'm first and foremost grateful for the quiet inspiration that caused me to sit, to listen, to think and to feel. What am I truly grateful for at Monday at 10:56 am?

My new pink lipstick--Mary Kay Coral Bliss. Sitting in direct sunlight. The thought of hosting family pizza night at my house. The memory of James hanging pictures and putting together furniture late into the night this last week to help me feel happy and ready. An empty park. My children's laughter. The brilliant fall leaves everywhere I look. Cinnamon graham crackers from Trader Joe's. My Stanley Cup. A peaceful heart. Family.  

#givethanks world series champs

In a year when so very much has gone wrong, I'm so grateful that my Dodgers won the World Series! As super-fans, we've been hoping for a ring for so long (last one was in 1988, people!) and this year was our year!!! I know it may seem trivial, but you cannot imagine the joy our family experienced during 2020 postseason baseball--it was electrifying and energetic and just. so. fun. to cheer on the Dodgers together as a family...and recruit some cousins while we were at it. Our Wiggy crew bleeds blue and we are anxious and hopeful for a healthy California so that we can go celebrate with our city and our boys. I promised the kids a front row seat at the victory parade if the Dodgers ever won the World Series and I plan to make good on our deal...in 2021?! #fingerscrossed #rootrootrootforthedodgers #givethanks  

#givethanks in line at winco

I was in line at Winco of all places, four masked babies in tow, when the old man in front of me looked back and smiled warmly.

“You sure have a lot of helpers,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “I had two boys, but I wish I could have had some girls as well!”

We talked about how grateful I was for my children, and him his. We talked about the craziness going on in the world right now. Heck, we even talked about how you could get a free turkey if you spend over $100 on groceries, milk and booze excluded. And then he looked at me, more earnest than ever, and said, “A few days ago my granddaughter came over to my house with a present. I opened it up and saw some kind of cloth inside. I pulled it out of the bag and kept staring in confusion.” He looked at me, tears rolling down his wrinkled cheeks. “I’m going to be a great grandfather,” he said. “I can’t believe it, they got married earlier this year and it was baby clothes! Now they’re having a baby.” He was so overcome that he stopped talking for a second, allowing his mask to catch the tears draining from his eyes. 

There are moments where if I allow myself to be still and present, I can almost tangibly and magically feel the connection in humanity. This was one of those moments. We shared our lives for maybe five minutes, but it was real and sincere and so beautiful. It was nothing, and yet it was life-changing.

Even before President Nelson challenged us to post our thankful hearts on social media I knew I had to write it down, memorializing this moment that meant so much to me in a season that has felt so empty. But life got in the way—homeschool and house projects and a myriad of other tasks taking their place on my to-do list. But then President Nelson spoke with the same tenderness and love and twinkle in his eye that I recognized from Winco, and I knew the love I felt emulating from both of these men was calling me back to my words, to this story, to connection and gratitude and story-telling. I’m grateful for this challenge which has encouraged me to do what I already know brings me so much joy: write. I have a lot to be thankful for. #givethanks

#givethanks a weepy walk

My early-morning running routine has taken an arctic turn and you shouldn't be surprised to learn that my whines have equalled the number of layers required for my finicky body to fight off hypothermia. My weekly miles have been shrinking along with my ambition because frankly, I'm freezing, and a cold Heather is usually a grumpy Heather. But that's why a few mornings ago it surprised me when the tears rolling down my cheeks were from the ocean of gratitude instead of a murkier source. As I walked around my quiet neighborhood, bundled like a baby, I couldn't get over the vivid reds and oranges and yellows painted through the trees and before I knew it the beauty of this earth and my ability to live on it caused me to weep. It's been 17 years since I last lived in Sacramento and does a teenager ever really appreciate the magnificence of their hometown? Well, this one didn't. But I think now I do. This year, for the first time maybe ever, I'm looking around and feeling gratitude down to my core for the passing seasons, for the colorful trees, for my life and family and our home. The cold, I fear, will never be my favorite but am I willing to experience it in order to see those leaves become fireworks? I think I am. #givethanks

Living in the 'burbs

Life lately feels awfully suburban. Wonderfully suburban, if you ask the children, who live for daily walks to our neighbors' horse stable and late afternoons spent on the ball field directly behind our house. It's so different than any mothering life I've ever known and yet it's good. It's calm. It's convenient. It's safe. The kids asked me the other day what it means to live in "the suburbs," not completely sure if they understood my verbiage. "Remember when we used to spend our Saturday's adventuring around the city?" I asked to their nods. "Well, now we spend our Saturday's doing house projects." Yep, totally the definition of suburbia. And right now, we're here for it.