Going along with the being thankful at Thanksgiving theme, I want to acknowledge some of the things I am grateful for right now. While I could write about the biggies like family, friends, health, job, apartment, music, the privileged life of being an American, etc.,--all very meaningful and important to me--I think the little things certainly deserve some recognition, too. So, I'm going to focus on some of the tinys that make my life better. I'm thankful for:

1. Let's start with one of my favorite subjects. Food. If I listed all my favorite treats individually, they would dominate the list and it would go on forever, so I think I'll just get it all out under one number. Here it goes. Lavender cupcakes from Cupcake Royale, egg nog lattes, dark chocolate Raisinettes, sushi, Baskin Robbins mint chocolate chip, peanut butter chocolate, and jamocha almond fudge ice creams, iced tea with lemonade, Longhi's, delicious wine, French 75's, Good & Plenty, hot chocolate at Chocolati, Jai Thai, Santa Fe Cafe, good movie theater popcorn, Panera's, appletinis, See's, Veuve, Twiz, cheese...There is more, but I'm going to stop myself here since I can see I'm sounding like a major junk foodaholic. I actually eat pretty healthy most of the time, but writing about salad is boring, don't ya think?

2. Free parking when I can find it. It makes my day.

3. Places like the Fremont Troll, Gasworks Park, Harvard Exit, Seven Gables, The Guild, High Dive (pinball!), Brouwer's...There are so many spots I love in the city.

4. The great guys in my life who tell me I'm pretty, smart, funny, (enter complimentary adjective here), when my outlook is grim and they know I need to hear it.

5. Paris! I plan to go in March. I want my first trip in my 30's to be to Paris.

6. Pink and white peonies.

7. Curling up all cozy at home during a snow or thunder storm. Soft socks, bubble baths, warm pj's, down comforters, a good book.

8. Christmas lights, candles, cool lamps, firelight. The soft glow of lights makes me happy.

9. Spontaneous outings with friends. Meeting up for breakfast or coffee, and the ease of talking and laughing with the people who are important to me. Along those lines, having such a wonderful group of friends I can just be myself around.

10. The funny things people do or say that I can write about on the blog. I still need a secret blog for all the things I CAN'T write about here. I won't tell you where it is, of course, in case I want to talk about you. :) Sorry.

11. Boggle. (I think Mols would agree with me on that one.)

12. My littlest sister, Brynna's, new found sense of humor. She's become so funny over the past year or two and busts out with hilarious stuff all the time. It still surprises and delights me to catch a glimpse of how her adult mind works.

13. Sprouts! (for you, Shannon)

14. The opportunities I've had to help out with, care for, or teach little Trav. In particular, I'm glad for the times I've gotten to take naps with him and hear all his little baby sleeping sounds, sharing in the sniffing (sniffy-sniff) of his blanket (one of his favorite pastimes), watching him discover new things, like snow, and the sidelong glances he sometimes gives me when it's clear he's wondering why a crazy lady like me is hanging around normal him. Mols and I think his most common question about our family and his place in it is, "Why God, why?"

15. The fact that Kitty's favorite room in the apartment is storage. She waits patiently outside the door until I let her in, and then she rustles around in bags and boxes for ages. I like to think that she is sorting through all the crap I don't want to deal with.

16. How my mom makes wherever she lives feel like home, especially at Christmas.


















Because I am me, my next list will be about things--outside of biggies like war, our current political leadership, crime, religious fanaticism, cranes toppling over and squishing people, etc.--that I do not appreciate. Stay tuned.