It’s been a roller coaster week, so putting this blog together is something I’ve procrastinated today. Roller coasters are exciting and definitely not boring, they also can make you uncomfortable to the point of being sick. So, yeah. And some of the things happening are not things I’m free to share, so it’s hard to list some gratitudes and not blat out things I shouldn’t.

#1 – I’m so grateful for friends who have skills and knowledge that I don’t. Sometimes you find yourself in situations where you need help to face something you can’t do alone.

#2 – Meigi (May-ghee) is in a good restaurant working with a chef, who is willing to help her learn and do new things. She is loving it, and also learning to deal with the flirtatious nature of Italian men.

#3 – The Glassblower’s Children by Maria Gripe, is back in print, in hardcover, and I can read it again. Maria was recently named the winner of the Hans Christian Anderson Medal for Lifetime Achievement In Children’s Literature. It’s been many years, but the idea of a husband who’s main focus in life is to grant his wife’s every wish, and what the consequences of that could be, is one that captured my imagination as a ten-year-old girl and never let go.

#4 –

The ability and opportunity to learn new things. Everyday, I am amazed by the ease with which we can learn whatever we dream of, because of the way technology has advanced. In high school (1983-1985), I did all my English homework on my dad’s Kaypro II portable computer, the size of a carry-on suitcase. I had to get special approval to turn in my homework printed on a dot matrix printer. She had forbidden it, but because mine printed with square dots, she granted me an exception. I never would have guessed back then that one day, I would sit on the couch, with a thin little computer sitting on my lap, that held more capability and access to knowledge than computers that, back then, took up rooms and rooms of space. What an amazing time we live in!

#5 – Socks. I love socks. They protect my feet and keep my shoes from getting stinky. They also collect dog hair from the floor. Oh well, I still love socks.

#7 – Friends who post funny moments from their day on Facebook. It’s great to see how the perpetual debate over what to fix for dinner can result in the suggestion of “you could make a codpiece” from a teenage daughter who didn’t know what it was. Yeah, I didn’t know either. You look it up, It’ll give you the laugh of your day.