The New Normal

2017 is the year of The New Normal, the first year without my dad. I look around my soap studio and see him in all the things he made for me. All my soap molds, display boxes, curing drawers and racks. I can feel him surrounding me as I make soap. He’s in other parts of my house too. Bookcases, end tables, television stands, pictures. And most importantly, he is in me. I am grateful for all my memories and for his guidance.

We celebrated Luke’s first birthday this past week.  I’m grateful my daughter-in-law asked me to make soap favors for his party. Luke is such a happy boy. He loves to sit on his Great-Grandma’s lap. I love how he looks at her in the picture above, and I’m thankful for my son’s mother-in-law who snapped the picture.

I’m grateful Vengo now has a new warehouse closer to home and my husband no longer has to take the train into work every day. He had a one and a half hour commute each way which was cut to literally 5 minutes each way. We can actually eat dinner together now. Since he’s home earlier, it forces me to stop working on soap all night. I have a difficult time with balance. Having him home in the early evening has made me budget my time more efficiently.

I know I’ve said this many times, but I am truly grateful that my day job is in a school system.  When I worked as a Medical Technologist in a hospital, I worked every holiday and sometimes had to cover an evening or night shift. Now not only do I have off every holiday, I also have the summers off. There is no way I could have Alegna Soap® if I worked anywhere else.

What are you grateful for this week?

Yours in Gratitude,

Angela