Grateful

My lovely blogging friends Cait and Allison both posted gratitude lists recently—10 things that made them feel happy and hopeful on a particular day—and I want to jump on the thankfulness bandwagon. (Have you seen this band? Gorgeous.)

The first one is a biggie:

1. Trust.

There are areas in which I feel like I can't trust myself, but I can trust that I won't hurt myself when depression pulls me under.

They get a little lighter now.

2. Soup weather.

As soon as September rolls around, I start chomping at the soup-making bit. Problem is, in early September, things are still reasonably summery around here. Now that fall has really fallen, making giant pots of soup feels exactly right.

3. I have a new dishwasher! And an awesome father who happily installed it for me (and turned the box into a playhouse for Westley)!

When you cook from scratch as much as I do, a dishwasher starts feeling like a necessity and not the luxury it truly is—and nothing will make you realize this more quickly than having your dishwasher die unexpectedly. I complained loudly and often during our week of dishwasherlessness, but I was also quietly thankful: thankful that I have abundant clean water running directly into several rooms in my house whenever I want it; thankful that washing several loads of dishes by hand each day is not the norm for me; thankful that replacing a major appliance didn't break the bank (in fact, we had money already "banked" in the budget towards appliance purchases!); thankful for a partner who'll wash while I dry; thankful for a handyman father who says, "Just lemme know when the new one comes in and we'll go pick it up!"

4. Art.

The "junk drawer" has now become the "lid drawer," so I can answer Trenton Doyle Hancock's "call to color."

5. Music on...YouTube?

I love that if I have a hankering for a particular song (especially one I haven't heard in years), it's probably on YouTube. And, on a related note...

6. Fans.

I haven't participated in an organized fan community in more than a decade, but I'm grateful for fans' devotion to their niches on an almost daily basis. For one thing, they upload everything. So when you get a hankering for that song you haven't heard in years? It's already on the Internet! Someone may even have done their own, acoustic cover of it! Or parodied it! Or blogged a scholarly analysis of it, complete with footnotes! (Nothing says "I am passionate about this" like footnotes.)

7. "Date night" every night.

When Rob and I have a movie we're intent on watching together, or a new game to play, every night is "date night."

8. Vegan marshmallows.

9. Westley the parrot.

I know that if I say something around Westley—even once!—he'll repeat it. This isn't always a good thing ("We are done having this discussion!"), but often results in him dropping a big old empathy bomb on me. My back, which had been doing really well, went out last week (I guess I should have known better than to assume "Gentle Yoga I" wouldn't torque me up), and Westley was all, "Oh, I'm sowwy. What can I do to helwp?"

10. Westley singing.

Songs he learned at preschool, songs on the radio, songs he just made up... He's my favorite station.

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