The Grateful-Fors: 50 things I’m grateful for today

Inspired by (a) the fact that it’s American Thanksgiving today, (b) Havi Brooks’ brilliant take on The Lentil Game, and (c) my heart’s desire to acknowledge the happy amongst the hard right now, I present a list of 50 people, things, ideas, happenings, etc. for which I’m grateful in big and small ways.

This list is neither exhaustive nor ordered. Exclusion does not indicate a lack of gratitude, but merely acknowledges that I’m working with a self-imposed limit of 50 items.

50 Grateful-Fors, 2009 Edition

1. My folks & bros, my support system and biggest fans: Mums
2. … and Daddio
3. … and Alex
4. … and Chaz
5. my smart, funny, passionate, independent sister-in-law Jilayne, and her family that meshes with ours in such a perfect, how-did-we-not-know-each-other-sooner? kind of way
6. Jennifer Hofmann…
7. … and Charlie Gilkey: You are each equal parts inspiration, mentor, teacher, perspective-giver, super hero… and friend.
8. My clients.
9. Havi, my first client whose idea that I should work with her (and be her Pirate Ship’s First Mate) quite literally changed my life and opened the door to what became Can-Do-Ology.
10. Grandma.
11. Rosco: My dog and esteemed Vice-President of Creative Napping
12. Ernie: My dog and esteemed Vice-President of Customer Relations
13. iPods
14. peanut butter
15. Sharpie pens
16. my iMac
17. road trips to Bloomington and to northern Virginia
18. the incredibly low cost of living in Ossian, where I can own a beautiful house for a lower monthly payment than many folks have to pay in rent
19. Rock Band/Guitar Hero (and a brother willing to share his xbox with his sister despite her obsession with a song he can no longer stand)
20. Music! I love music.
21. The colors pink and chocolate brown. They make me happy.
22. my trampoline
23. Taos, New Mexico, and Jen Louden‘s Writer’s Retreat
24. Lisa Updike, a friend from my lawyer days who’s never made me feel foolish for my career choices & has already spoken for the position of Can-Do-Ology’s counsel when I “hit it big”
25. spiced apple rings
26. Daddio’s sugar corn
27. working from home…
28. …and never using an alarm clock
29. Twitter
30. Goddess Leonie: She can brighten a room from half a world away.
31. Ossian’s police chief Dave Rigney: he’s a great police chief as well as a great family friend.
32. Allie Towers Rice, who took my website from “meh” to “marvelous”
33. Facebook
34. frozen meals that are actually really tasty and not chock full of chemicals and crap
35. TiVo
36. Let It Be: a favorite song & a beautiful mantra
37. Women Who Rock (& Inspire The Hell Outta Me): Gwen Bell
38. … and Colleen Wainwright
39. … and Naomi Dunford
40. … and Danielle LaPorte
41. … and Pam Slim
42. Mums’ embroidery business
43. office supply stores (new notebooks and pens are instant motivators and inspiration-inducers)
44. Gala Darling’s “Things I Love Thursday” series
45. Abundia and the women who make it such an incredible group
46. Emusic
47. morning coffee
48. online shopping
49. the Roo Blue Subaroo & its impeccable and no-repairs-needed performance (knock on wood!!)
50. only needing to fill up the car every six to eight weeks because my morning commute is a 12-second walk from bed to desk