Ten on Thursday

Today I thought I'd try a blog meme, since the chance to answer silly quiz questions is really 1/10th the fun of having a blog. I found a neat list of memes on this website: www.profitablemommyblogging.com/have-fun-with-blog-memes

Unfortunately, Thursday appears to be an off-day in the world of blogging memes. So I thought, why be constrained by day of the week - a Tuesday meme will do just as well. And that leads me to the questions posed by this site: www.yanowhatimean.com/tuesday

It hasn't been updated in quite a while, but there are plenty of questions regardless. So as to be seasonal, I've gone with a November set, which leads me to today's 10:

10 Things to Be Thankful For

1. The internet. Blogging is fun. Reading other websites is fun. Stay tuned today for a list of my favorites.

2. My family - particularly my daughter, Bella, my dad and stepmom, and brother, Jack. I feel blessed right now that we're all in such close proximity to one another, after a long period of Bella and I living on our own and quite far away.

3. Good friends - unfortunately, most of these we have traded chances to see for the close family, after leaving them on the other side of the country. But, thanks to #1, still able to keep in touch!

4. Story in all its forms - movies, books - and especially for those privileged days when you think of one yourself, rather than simply taking in others'. The boundless capacity for a story to entertain you and make you think - make you see more of the world around you.

5. Insulin. My daughter has diabetes, so without it...well, for as much as I would love a good jaunt in a time machine, I am grateful that we were born in this time, and not 100 years earlier. And that it comes conveniently dispensed in a nice pink pump, and not through a glass syringe that we have to boil and reuse.

6. Free information. Primarily a function of #1, the public library, and you know, crazy old-fashioned things like talking to one another. But I am grateful that in this time and this place, we seem to enjoy an unprecedented historical capability for learning and communicating as a culture.

7. Our church. Because no matter where you move, you know that once you find a good church, you've found a home again.

8. Food. Particularly chocolate, sushi, Nutella, and Indian food. Also things you make yourself. There's something really satisfying about baking - like a magic trick, taking lots of disparate elements and combining them together into something beautiful and tasty, if you're lucky.

9. Our pets, Solo, Obi, and Zeus. Picture of at least one forthcoming.

10. This blog has had a few readers already! And I know that at least three of them were not me or anyone I know. Hello, out there! Happy Thursday!

Well, readers, how about you? What are you thankful for?