Happy Thanksgiving everyday...

Yep, I'm still giving thanks for everything like hot chocolate, music from the 1970s (James Taylor, Chicago, Bread, Elton John, Tony Orlando, The Carpenters, Captain and Tennille, Anne Murray, John Denver), and so many songs from when I was a little kid.

I remember my older sister had a 45 rpm record player and single albums with songs like "Song Sung Blue", "Monday, Monday", "Seasons in the Sun"... Something by the Allman Brothers, the Osmonds, and Elton John. Oh, and ABC, 1-2-3 by the Jackson Five! I think the flip side was "One Bad Apple". Remember "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother (Osmonds?)"? ...and something by the Partridge Family.

Ah, good memories. I used to walk through the wheat fields singing all the angst-ridden love songs from my sister's record collection.

Oh, and remember those little transistor radios? I had a cool orange one. I loved mornings at our house. Dad always had the radio on in the mornings. I think KMOX even played some music back then. It was a mix of news-talk radio with a wake up call to the tune of "Seventy-six Trombones"or some rousing John Phillip Souza piece in the morning. I distinctly remember singing "Delta Dawn" along with the radio while locked down in the kitchen doing dishes.

So grateful for wonderful memories of my family. Sadly, we are scattered around the world.

Still thankful for the incredibly challenging courses and wonderful new colleagues to share new memories with (Yes, I know that's a dangling preposition). I'm looking forward to creating wonderful memories with friends and family this year and in the years to come.

Grateful List

I've been thinking about gratitude again. Sometimes, after dealing with a particularly demanding client, I get discouraged and think that only selfish, grouchy, high-maintenance women are ever attractive to men. I wonder, " Are they happy?" When the paint color in an apartment is enough to send you over the edge...when THAT is the worst, most tragic thing in your life...when you simply cannot live in a luxury apartment which has every amenity you could possibly wish for, but the paint color sets you off...and I think about how some people are struggling to find even 20 cents to pay for a parking meter, and for whom food is a luxury...When I think about how some people don't have enough money to pay their bills and each moment is an exercise in faith, a struggle to overcome despair...Then I think about what I am grateful for...

And today, I am taking the time to savor the little things like a cup of coffee, fresh from the French press my sister gave to me for my birthday. It's fabulous! I love a good, robust cup of coffee, made from freshly ground, perfectly roasted beans. And I love a French press...however, I kept breaking the beakers. So my sis got me one from Williams-Sonoma (I still love that store) which is stainless steel AND insulated, so my java stays like lava! Woo hoo!

And then there's the cup I'm drinking it in...we don't think about vessels like that much. But this one is special. It was part of a pair sent to me from my other sister in Japan. It is blue and cream colored. And when you look inside the cup, you see a handpainted FISH. I can't even do it justice. It's so cute. And then there's the small, antique blue and white plate on which my almond shortbread cookies rest. It was a gift from a dear friend as a thank you for all those cups of tea and late night chats. And let's not forget my Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook from which I got the recipe for those almond shortbread cookies. It is a beautifully crafted resource with lovely images of artisan breads and handmade goodies. I'm grateful that I had ingredients.

Frankly, I'm just grateful that I have a roof over my head. I'm thankful for my generous family. I'm grateful that I have coffee today. I have water in the fridge. I have dogfood for my dogs. I can walk and bike and swim. I can see.
I can see a lot for which I am grateful. In my mind's eye, I can see all my old friends and I have wonderful memories. I'm simply grateful for what I have.

So I'm starting a list of my favorite things; things that make me happy just to think about them:
a cup of chai
my loveable, huggable, cuddly cocker spaniels, Max and Sam
my Webster's New World Dictionary (what can I say? I like words.)
my very old Honda Civic, which still looks nice and runs well (mostly)
old friends
re-runs of I love Lucy
a job interview today!