Picking up where I left off last time, I am excited to offer you another dose of Anne Lamott.

Day 200: September 24, 2015

Hey Sister, This is Day 200 of my year of letters, and here are some more Anne Lamott quotes on another of my new Trader Joe’s cards:

“I wanted to wake him up and tell him that it was okay that he wouldn’t be who I tried to get him to be, that it was okay that he didn’t cooperate with me all the time - that ashes don’t, old people don’t, why should little boys?"

“This was sort of frustrating, but one of the immutable laws of being human is that the people who show up are the right people.”

“I had a stern talk with myself, about getting out of myself to be a person for others.”

“I got out of the car and walked toward the crowd. The grass was wet and my shoes got wet, but I’d forgotten: You can get wet, it’s okay."

“If you have a body, you are entitled to the full range of feelings. It comes with the package.”

“He watched her have her morning cry."

“The snow is beautiful and a nightmare, and I will never voluntarily go into snow again."

“I thank God when my obsessive looping is alleviated. Oh, God, thank you - ten whole minutes just passed without one thought of a cigarette or a drink or the horrible ex.”

“Astonishing material and revelation appear in our lives all the time. Let it be. Unto us, so much is given. We just have to be open for business."

“It’s time for trust and surrender. These two things are almost all I want, but unfortunately, neither one is my strong suit.”

“But it turns out I’m less of a brat than before, and I hit the reset button much sooner…"

“I’m a devout, if terrible, Christian."

“Another damn wind. I hate wind so much. It can make you feel hopeless, even in world-class beauty."

What’s with all the weather quotes?! Rain. Snow. Wind. LOL. Does it bother you at all that I didn’t put which books of Annie’s I took all these quotes from? I felt that would take too much time and space. It was hard to pick favorites because all the ones I’ve copied in my Blank Books are my favorites. It’s like picking which sunny day is better.

How was your morning without Hazel? Do you find it easy to relax, or hard because there are so many things you’d like to do? I’d be the latter, I’m sure. I really want to find a good babysitter soon because I want to take some time for myself on some Tuesdays and Thursdays when the boys are at school and only Story and Sailor would need to be watched. I keep thinking I want to start collecting my thoughts on the book I hope to one day write about this letter project, so I could use my free time for that too. Okay, that’s all for this time. Only 4 days till Say-Say turns 1!

Love, Ginger

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These thirteen quotes are from the following Anne Lamott sources:

(#1, 2, 3, 4) Traveling Mercies (#5) Grace (Eventually) (#6, 7) Imperfect Birds (#8, 9, 10, 11) Help Thanks Wow (#12) From a Facebook post, a long time ago (#13) Help Thanks Wow

It is my desire and hope to write some blog posts in the future in which I share a particular Annie quote and then share why it lights my heart on fire. Annie wins hands down, of course, but I also love words from the works of Alexander McCall Smith, Gretchen Rubin, Lauren Winner, Marisa de los Santos, and more.

As it turns out, my Blank Books are not so blank after all.