May has been a restful month filled with lots of sweet treats and birth. It’s my birthday month and now two dear friends also have May babies, literally.

I’ve been appreciating sleep, rest, and nature; really admiring the garden and blooming flowers out on dog walks. I’ve been grateful for life and food, the most basic of things, yet the most important.

I’ve also been educating myself on productivity tools and systems in both home and work, perhaps it’s a little OTT, but with an ever growing list of things to do I feel I need something to sort it into digestible chunks – and it seems to be working ok so far.

So, here is May’s gratitude journal:

1 Grateful for purple flowers, the wisteria is growing and also more irises have opened up too making the garden look very colourful. Grateful for Artemis who has been super adorable, sleeping on me most of the day.

2 Grateful for life, as a friend had a baby today! Nothing like a newborn to bring things into perspective. Also grateful for Chinese dramas, currently finishing The Sword and the Brocade and – obviously it’s OTT – but it’s good to wind down with some OTT drama that would never happen in real life.

3 Grateful for being able to drive and grateful for sat nav, getting me home safely this evening.

4 Grateful to be able to vote today, as it was local elections. Grateful to carve out some time for a family dog walk this evening. Grateful that it was pretty smooth sailing on the way home this evening as I had strategically waited for the crashes showing on the sat nav to subside.

5 Grateful for sleep, as I had a little lie in today. Grateful for a new colleague who has joined very recently and I’m feeling tasks are finally leaving my plate and I’m getting a little breathing room at work. Grateful for greenery and flowers, as I’m seeing flowers on the apple tree and buds on the wisteria in our little garden.

6 Grateful for sleep again, as I slept in till 10am which is the latest I’ve slept in in absolutely ages. Grateful for milk chocolate covered shortbread biscuits, as they are so very tasty and moreish – especially with a cup of tea!

7 Grateful for savings, as I’m excited about trips in the future that we’ve now managed to book. Grateful for chocolate biscuits, which I’ve been devouring lately and dunking in my tea. Grateful for Nandos, which I haven’t had in a little while – mmm tender stem broccoli sure is tasty.

8 Grateful for rest and recuperation, as I’ve spent this long weekend just chilling. Grateful for organisational tools, helping me stay organised and aware of things I need to plan and book. Grateful for having a little breather and being able to take stock of my life right now.

9 Grateful for progress, small progress is better than no progress. Grateful for walks, as I had a nice morning walk with Artemis and the weather held up quite nicely. Grateful for easy dinners, as I was super hungry by dinner time so a swift cooking session was much needed.

10 Grateful for being alive today. Driving to work on a roundabout and a coach was veering into my lane, the driver was obviously not looking where they were going, or chance-ing it. On that same roundabout, another driver cut in front of me when they should have exited the roundabout and would have clipped the front of my car had I been going faster. And then driving home in the slow lane and it was torrential rain, the car in front of me in the overtaking lane drove through a massive puddle and all the water hit my windscreen and I couldn’t see anything. When the windscreen cleared I noticed I had veered into the overtaking lane and I’m so grateful that the car behind me in the overtaking lane must’ve seen what happened and braked. Too many aggressive drivers out there today. I’m so grateful to be alive and grateful to be safe and grateful that there are other considerate drivers out there too – I just wish there were more.

11 Grateful for being in the room where things happen and listening to very interesting conversations. Grateful for Artemis, as she was cuddling up to me on the sofa today. Grateful for the hubby for being super supportive, listening to my issues, advising me, and also standing up to a bully who was bullying a kid in public in broad daylight while the hubby was walking the dog. Also grateful for life, as another friend gave birth a few days ago – this month sure is a month of new babies!

12 Grateful for a different dog walk. Artemis and I went somewhere with absolutely amazing views, and it’s amazing that it’s practically on our doorstep – it was sublime. Grateful to be able to see such vast nature after a long work week.

13 Grateful for the hubby, listening to me and offering super sound advice and helping me form an action plan. Also grateful for the hubby for helping me wash and clean the car! Grateful for Artemis who has been using my lap as a pillow all day – she is so adorable!

14 Grateful for sleep, as I had a really long lie in this morning. Grateful for slim clothes airers that can fit through doorways, allowing me to dry clothes in the garden and to bring them in easily at the end of the day. Grateful for music and instrumentals, as I was listening to some really relaxing tunes this evening.

15 Grateful for walking and being able to walk today, as I walked to the hygienist, past a lovely park and it was sunny and bright and lovely. Grateful for Artemis who was using me as a pillow this evening and snoring away so adorably. Grateful for music and instrumentals, as I was listening to piano instrumentals again this evening and find it quite relaxing.

16 Grateful for dog walks, as I walked Artemis in our local park this morning and it was glorious – the sun was gleaming and Artemis was having a whale of a time. Grateful for clothes airers, as our new airer is drying stuff really quickly – and I can finally dry things outside in the garden again!

17 Grateful for calendars today, I’ve come to rely on my calendars so much lately that I can’t actually imagine life without one!

18 Grateful for clear open roads, as it was lovely driving home this evening. Grateful for mint choc chip ice cream, my absolute favourite flavour, which I haven’t had in years! Grateful for sunshine and sunny weather even though it means taking a really long time putting sunscreen on.

19 Grateful for open and honest dialogue, people giving me advice and reframing things for me. Grateful for Artemis, who was napping on me this evening and just being an absolute joy – she is so adorable.

20 Grateful for sleep today, having a lovely epic lie in and recuperating and resting well. Grateful for sunshine, helping the clothes dry in the garden and also it was lovely walking Artemis out in the sun today.

21 Grateful for sleep again as I practically slept in till noon! Clearly my body is needing time to recharge and recuperate. Grateful for pasta bakes, which I cooked this evening and it was super good. Grateful for a Chinese drama I’ve just started watching which is absolutely hilarious. And grateful for calendars, helping me stay organised and productive.

22 Grateful for calendars and productivity apps, increasing my productivity, though I have yet to settle on one and am still looking at quite a few – but I am optimistic that I can only be more organised.

23 Grateful for the hubby today, organising for gifts to be delivered today in preparation for my upcoming birthday. Grateful for tulips, one of the birthday gifts – my all time favourite flower, brightening up the house. Grateful for Artemis, who although was annoying hanging around the front door at every delivery, was absolutely adorable and cuddly this evening.

24 Grateful for colleagues who got me a card and cake for my birthday and also decorated my desk – it’s nice to feel special. Also grateful for family and friends for sending birthday cards, some even managed to get dogs on the cards that look just like Artemis! Grateful for open conversations, as I’m better understanding the nuances of life.

25 Grateful for the hubby, celebrating my birthday with me today and helping me park in a literal tight spot. Grateful for Electric Shuffle, as it was really good fun and a very well designed game and layout. Grateful for Artemis for being absolutely adorable and practically sleeping on me. Grateful for cake and brownies and biscuits.

26 Grateful for sunshine and warmth, walking Artemis today and it was lovely and sunny. Also grateful for the sunshine drying the clothes in the garden. Grateful for tasty biscuits too, especially when dunking in tea.

27 Grateful for good weather, as we were outside most of the day. Grateful for dogs, as we attended a dog festival for the first time. Grateful for Mr Whippy ice cream and flake, which I had for the first time in forever it seems. Grateful for caffeine, keeping me awake. Grateful for Artemis, for being absolutely adorable. Grateful for vets, helping to keep our dogs safe and well and also for teaching us canine first aid today.

28 Grateful for sunshine and breeze helping to dry the laundry outside. Grateful for headphones, blocking out loud music from neighbours. Grateful for Artemis who was practically trampling over me this afternoon while I was napping. Grateful for Brooklyn 99, being absolutely hilarious and also diving deep into the feels.

29 Grateful for productivity YouTube videos, I’ve been educating myself on how to use tools and apps to be more productive and aim to follow through and utilise to the fullest extent. Grateful for Brooklyn 99, we’ve finished the last season and it was sad yet I couldn’t think of a better ending actually.

30 Grateful for those productivity videos on YouTube that I was also grateful for yesterday, as I put into practice some of the tips and it definitely helped me feel less overwhelmed. Having one to do list and then transferring some of those items to a deadline driven task list made my to do list more digestible and manageable. I actually do some of these tips in my personal life but for some reason hadn’t considered transferring those same tips to my work life – transformational indeed.

31 Grateful for one of my colleagues who has been super helpful setting me up on some new tasks. Grateful for being in the room where things happen, where I can bring forward my knowledge and experience to create efficiencies.