Thanksgiving Notes

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! We have a family day ahead, which will be lovely and relaxing and entertaining and comfortaing....and food filled. Everything Thanksgiving should be!

And of course I'm thinking of the many, many things I'm thankful for. I know it's corny, but I talk with Caroline about this all the time and we try to take time to tell each other and we enjoy making our "gratitude" lists together.

Of course, my list always includes my family and friends and our animals... they are a given. But there are other things, big and small, I've been thinking about lately:

Our county library system, for keeping me in books to feed my voracious reading appetite (and for putting the catalog online so I can order books from other libraries and get almost anything I want! It's fabulous! And FREE!)

My Bernina and Juki sewing machines, for being so reliable and easy to use and for always just working right. The errors are always mine.

The Thanksgiving Day parade, because I've watched it almost every year since I was a tiny and it's how Thanksgiving should start. (One year my mom suggested to my sister and me that we draw pictures of our favorite things in the parade. So of course, that became part of the annual parade-watching tradition. Laura always drew the horses. Me, I varied but often honed in one of the big balloons. ) Any day that starts with a parade is a good day, don't you think?

Good coffee in the morning, from my Starbuck's metal car mug that keeps it hot forever and allows me to sip leisurely all morning long.

Great fabric. Aren't the fabric manufacturers making great stuff? Great patterns, wonderful colors, and always new and inspiring designs. It just keeps coming.

My mail lady, who is so nice about bring all the catalogs and packages and magazines to us, every day. It's not HER fault thatI don't get my Quilting Arts magazine for MONTHS AND MONTHS after everyone else in the universe has theirs.

Martha Stewart, for making the housey, foody, crafty stuff I do seem interesting and creative and worthy of time and attention, and for doing it gracefully. She's an odd duck, Martha, but she's an inspiration. And even inspirations make mistakes.

Our big bathtub... and being able to use it again, FINALLY, after a bathroom remodel forced by a building defect. It's deep and perfect for a long, reflective soak.

Kathy Alexander, Caroline's teacher--she's experienced, enthusiastic, wonderful with the kids, energetic, firm, and genuinely excited to see them learn. She's everything you'd want for your child in 4th grade. I truly don't know how she does it...and then how she come back the next day and does it again.

My Ipod. I LOVE my Ipod. Have I mentioned that before?

And This American Life, my favorite thing to listen to on the radio. (And you can stream it over your computer, for FREE. Anytime!) It's alternately funny, poignant, deep, silly, thought-provoking... This and "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" are my weekly listening "musts." And I can download them to the Ipod!

The blogs I read and the blogging friends I've made--you give me a glimpe into your life and keep me smiling and thinking and learning. Thanks for sharing who you are and what you do!