AND to those who aren’t in the US, oh well, I’m glad you’re here too! I am SO grateful and thankful 43t was started, many of my best friends are here.

Make joyful noise—

jkd 5 months ago

384 That I have alternatives. I woke this morning crying, in the midst of kidshit that a dream apparently brought on. After a while I woke up enough to realize I didn’t have to stay mired where I was and got out of bed. Yay for alternatives!!!

385 Again, as always, for my husband. His hugs are a wonder drug against the kidshit.

386 I was waiting for DH at the bookstore and found a book, Madame Chic’s Life Lessons (or something like that). which may just change my life. Because of what I read, I started googling “French women, clothes” and such. Many things I already do are listed, others aren’t. Not not going to be hard to do, mostly a shift in attitude, and that’s it!

387 Superbetter.com which I’ve been using for the past few months. They havea “to do list” which has none of the emotional baggage that MY to do lists generate. I can do the items on the list and that’s it. I just get them done.

388 That all of the October/November money woes seem be finally over: someone got my cc number, because of Sandy the payment we’d set up hadn’t arrived at our insurance company and was nearly late, a reimbursement from DH’s company seemed to be missing, etc.

389 That despite the fact that I’m 2,000 or so pieces behind where I should be, I’ve still managed ot purge a lot of stuff this year 7,852 pieces as of the last formal “count.”

390 That, with or without my birth family, I have found other support networks: 43t, SB, DH’s family, etc. my life would be much poorer without them and all the work would be much harder! 6 months ago

379 We are getting some necessary work done on the house. Yay!

380 I have not heard from anyone in my “family” in > 2 months. GRIN (that’s the people I share DNA with). My life is much happier without them.

381 That because of 379, DH & I have spent the past 3 days getting the yard cleared and organized. (I made 4 trips to the dump, for example.)

382 That because of the hard work the past 3 days I’ve actually gone to bed and just slept for the past 2 nights. (Seems unlikely to be repeated tonight however, sigh. )

383. I am grateful for my garden which produces whether I water, weed, mulch & trim as much as I think I should, or not. We’ve got patty pan squash, zucchini, 3 kinds of beans, fennel, sorrel, tarragon, thyme (3 kinds this year!), watermelon, parsley, chives, mint, onions, potatoes, carrots, argula, cabbage, kohl rabi, and 5(?) types of tomatoes this year. The lettuce has gone to seed and the Jerusalem artichokes haven’t flowered yet. I can’t feed us, but I sure make our produce bills smaller in the summertime!

jkd 8 months ago

378 I was going to make a U turn at sunset. Facing west, I could barely see. I almost went, but then didn’t because I saw something circular in the middle of the glare? The circular thing resolved itself into my HUSBAND on his motorcycle. He waved and went past me.

Boy am I GRATEFUL I waited as long as I did!

jkd 8 months ago

377 I am grateful that we sold a 2nd anthology; the contract was signed today. Yeah!!!!

jkd 9 months ago

369 I am grateful that we have sold a 2nd anthology. YAY!!!

370 I am grateful that you can (FINALLY!) see a difference in
the quantity of boxes in my livingroom. (It was a LOT of work.)

371 I am grateful for warm weather that isn’t sweltering or blisteringly hot.

372 I am grateful that I have some really great neighbors. (We have some clunkers too, but doesn’t everyone?)

373 I am grateful for SB and my allies there.

374 I am grateful to be alive and so content.

375 I am REALLY grateful that I can say the previous (#374)!

376 I am also really grateful I found 43t 7 years ago today.

JKD9 months ago

362. I am GRATEFUL that I wasn’t hurt last night when I backed into a stone wall in the pitchblack and snow.

363. I am GRATEFUL that I had 361 of these entries already done before today!

364. I am thankful it’s Thansgiving!

365. I am cheered by the fact that it’s supposed to be warm today, so the snow will melt, mostly, they tell me.

366. I am GRATEFUL that relations with the unfriendly neighbors seems to be slowly getting better. I hate having neighbors I’m at odds with!

367. I am GRATEFUL for DH, who decided to make a Dutch Baby pancake for our holiday breakfast. (yum!)

368.I am GRATEFUL that my epiphany has made it so I could respond immediately and positively to my brother’s holiday email. 18 months ago

353. That I still like my yogurt bread, though I have made probably 100 loaves of it by this time.

354. That I am (sort of) looking forward to Thanksgiving this year, although this week is hard for me, no matter what.

355. That I got some serious help w/the memoir from my writing group.

356. That although it starting SLEETING this a.m., it got covered up with snow. I really don’t like just ice storms, they scare me.

357. The feel of bread dough just before it’s ready to be panned for rising.

358. That I found a wholesale pkg of yeast, Red Star, which unfortunately is made in Mexico. After I use this up, I’ll start looking for a mail order source for U.S. yeast.

359. That I just gave 2 loaves of bread to my not so friendly neighbors, and although they didn’t invite me in this time either, it wasn’t as unfriendlly as the last time. Progress!

360. That I really truly am okay with not talking to my family, even though Thanksgiving is traditionally a family holiday. I’m GRATEFUL that the holiday no longer has the mixed feelings/mixed messages that it used to. It may be less convivial this way, but it’s less dysfunctional too!

361. That I have a group of people I CAN and DO wish a HAPPY THANKSGIVING! with all my heart. (Hey 43’ers!)

jkd 18 months ago

352. That I have enough to eat, unlike many.

jkd 18 months ago

345. That my physical assessment was surprisingly good! I’m 15 lbs over what they think I should be for my height, my ldls are a bit high, but not dangerously so, my blood pressure is fine, my triglycerides are also a bit high, but not dangerous. My heart rate with exertion and back down towards normal also are acting the way they should. All in all, I’m pretty healthy! I have no idea how I did that, but I AM grateful.

346.That buying the fridge has caused us to accerlate the changes in the kitchen. The kitchen has been sort of forgotten in the midst of all the office moveabout.

347. Living with someone who makes me laugh and that I can make laugh as well.

348. Leaves changing color. Isn’t it wonderful? Think how dull it would be if they all just turned brown and dropped to the ground.

348. That there is broccoli out in my garden, still. Yum!

349. Ditto celery.

350. That in spite of being discouraged, I/we are still plugging away at the accumulated stuff.

351. That I found a scale so that I can finish my cuz’s mobile before a YEAR has gone by (maybe?).

jkd 18 months ago

341. That I know my limits well enough that I told my brother “Thanks, but no thanks.” about dinner, and I was strong enough to take care of myself.

342. DH & I are working on getting a new fridge, we are FINALLY whittling down the possibilities. It used to be there were like 5 brands and 3 or so options and that was it. Not anymore, there’s many manufacturers and very little real data about the differences between them. So the process, to put it mildly, got a lot muddier than it was the last time we did this (> 20 years ago).

343. That I made bean soup for a late lunch, knowing we’d be out & about tonight. Bean soup makes a GREAT instant dinner!

344. That my physical assessment deal is tomorrow, finally! 18 months ago

331. That as frustrating as it is to NOT be done, that things ARE getting done. (Yay!)

332.Socks on a winter’s morning.

333. Sunshine

334. Being (mostly) healthy

335. The textures of foods: the crunch of a carrot, the smear of cooked garlic, etc. think how impoverished we’d be without the different textures to go along with the different tastes.

336. For my many, talented and brilliant friends: artists, writers, scientists, professors, etc.

337. Thos. A. Edison’s invention of the light bulb. Can’t imagine reading by candlelight!

338.Tissue paper: love the stuff, it’s cheap and pretty.

339. Actually, more than tissue paper, just paper. Inking on scraped hides would be difficult, and I imagine papyrus is the same, not to mention chipping rock, and all the other media folks have used for writing since it was invented.

340. Calligraphy, awesome stuff!

jkd 18 months ago

Boy am I behind on this goal, ‘eh?

326. DH (always)

327. Carrie Necomer’s music, which I love

328. Ditto John McCutcheon.

329. That I’m going to actually (probably) get rid of the 8044 things I set out to this year.

330. Hot baths and tea.

331. The Saint, Nero Wolfe, Val Con/Miri, Lessa, Lark, Thorby, etc. the fictional characters I’ve liked for years and continue to still like. :D

332. Being literate, which in someways pretty much saved my life.

333. Swimming.

334. Measurable progress on the household/my current life goals.

335. Flannel shirts, soft wool socks and other clothing that make winter bearable.

336. Learning new habits and that not being as hard as it once was

337. Getting books shelved instead of just heaped around and in boxes.

328. Finding new recipes that are made with “real” ingredients, don’t take 85 steps, etc.

329. Alphabets, to write with and libraries and other groupings of things to make some order of all the ideas contained within. How impoverished I’d be without written communication!

330. Magic, the magic or fiction that becomes “science” ... microwave ovens, the internet, computers, airline flight, moon walks, reality TV, etc. Sir Arthur was right about magic and science!

jkd 18 months ago

322 That I found a blender. I’ve been looking for a cheap one I can use for gardening stuff, not food!

323 My work week is over.

324 That Joe now has the last of the bookcases and shelves. Yay!

325 That when I got the stuff that I got at the white elephant today I immediately went to work finding homes for them or dealing with them otherwise. Different than times past!

jkd 20 months ago

315 That DH and I like my bread, enough that I’m simply making it these days. grin

316 That I haven’t been truly depressed for a LONG time.

317 That I really haven’t talked to/dealt with my family, also for a fairly long time. (Direction connection maybe?)

318 That I haven’t given up on myself or the long-term goals, although they ARE daunting!

319 That making decent bread and being a decent human being are more important to me than money, status, power, etc.

320 That I took all those remedial English classes so I could fill in the blanks where my writing skills were concerned. (Not being “intellectually proud” sometimes has its advantages!)

321 That I’m me (Conceited? I don’t know, mostly this is a counter reaction to years of self-loathing I think.)

jkd 20 months ago

308. That my veggie garden was better this year than last, and better last year than the year prior!

309. That the veggie garden still is fairly neat & tidy, I was determined this year to not let it get ahead of me, and I haven’t.

310. That I found aomething that works for waterbath canning, rather than having to buy a container.

311.That I can count change.

312. That I’m a pretty good cashier.

313. That I live in the neighborhood that I do, pretty and a lot of the people on this end of the street are just good folk.

314. The the nieces liked their letters (tried it, to see if they would?).

315.That the end of the shop cases, the ones DH built, will go into the house, as planned, sometime in the near(?) future, we hope!

jkd 20 months ago

305.Tomato & mozzarella with pesto sandwiches.

306. That DH & I agree, my bread is better than the loaf we bought from the local artisan bakery. Their loaf looked more “artistic” (a baguette with flour on it) but mine TASTES better!

307.That the alternate plan I unfortunately had to do at the last minute worked out.

jkd 21 months ago

302. That I am not willing to be bullied about anymore.Since I know I’m hypersensitive to this, I tend to discount my feeling attacked, unless it’s really obvious. I’ve just gotten to the point in my life where I’m not willing to put up with feeling unliked, disregarded, ignored, unimportant.

If that’s true; that’s fine, but I don’t have to willingly associate with you.

There’s a lot behind this which I won’t go into, but I’m grateful that I’m no longer willing to just PUT UP with it, no matter what.

303.That I have vision and practicality. I can imagine the way things SHOULD be, then move it towards the practical, and see what the next step might be. I don’t know that I’ll get (whatever) accomplished, but it would be horrible to only have one part of this and not the other! Or worse, not have it at all?

304.I grew “yard-long beans” this year, it’s a beautiful plant, long triangular leaves, orchid-like flowers and the beans are the flower stamen, at first it looks as if the dried flower is sticking its tongue at you! The beans are purple and then turn green. It’s pretty enough that if I can manage it, I’ll pot it up and bring it indoors for the winter.

Here’s aflicker image of the flower:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9118629@N05/2724568795/

jkd 21 months ago

301. I got rid of 82 books, 2 tapes, a basket, and a sweater today. and I finished cataloging the next wholesale box, 56 pieces. I was BUSY! Then I came home and made dinner. I am GRATEFUL DH cleaned up after dinner and that dinner turned out all right (we had rice w/ leftovers on top: meat, pepper, onion, veggies, & cheese).

I was worried about the combined stuff, broccoli and chili seasoned meat, and tomatoes and parmesan…sounds awful, doesn’t it? It wasn’t because none of it was overwhelming the other flavors, but I was tired and not up to doing anything other than basically dumping it all into a pan an hoping it would be edible. It was! 21 months ago

291. For the daily visit of a hummingbird to the bean trellis, I always feel like royalty has been to visit!

292.This is more than likely in several places, but sorry, it’s my husband again. Who listens to me yabber on most of the time and still (after 32 years!) cares. Absolutely AMAZING!

293.Although I’d rather NOT have fall coming, the small red maple leaf, nestled in the green grass today was stunning.

294. Confirmed sale: 14 bookcases. Yay!

295. Compost…wonderful stuff! You put shit (from the over the fence beefalo this year) and veggie “trash” in a heap and it becomes FOOD FOR FOOD! I mean what kind of a miracle is that?

296. I cleaned out a new area today. If I get off the computer soon enough, all the stuff piled up that was removed from said place may actually…get put away! And if not, well, I’ll do it tomorrow. (In other words, there’s progress, still/again.)

297.Blueberries in the afternoon, warm off the bush. A blueberry cobbler in miniature, without the fat & carbs!

298.That DH dragged me outside to ask my opinion about something he’s doing/show me what he was planning. (smirk)

299.Ironing, when I’m doing flat stuff (tablecloths, napkins, etc.) like I was today, I find it relaxing and satisfying.

300.That unlike the past 4 (?) years, we will have SOME home-grown summer squash this year. We’ve had 3 zucchini (ate 2, gave 1 to a neighbor who’s always giving us food) and there’s two baby yellow squashes out there too. The pumpkin and acorn are blooming, and have been, but I have no idea if anything will set before the first frost. However, I’m GRATEFUL for even the 3 zucchini, it’s been a LONG time since I was able to get any of them to produce at all!

If I get any more domesticated, I’m going to start mooing, ‘eh?

jkd 21 months ago

285. That I am 59.2% complete on ny goal of purging 8044 things in 2011.

286. I made a new friend today! grin

287. From this new friend I found out I’m both missed and talked well about at my former job. big grin!

288. Dinner, although impromptu, worked: gazpacho, corn on the cob, HM bread, peas.

289.That it was a beautiful day today, not real hot or humid.

290. Saw my first woolly bear caterpiller today of the year. No stripe. ALL brown! Does this mean we’ll have an endless winter or NO winter? Maybe it means that he isn’t done yet for the season…? 21 months ago

282. That our marriage is better (we agree) than it was say 2 years ago. :grin:

283. That we’re going to save some money on our various insurance policies

284. That I’ve been baking all of our bread all month.

jkd 21 months ago

277. That the great move around project we came up with for the prototype bookcase/catbench, etc. is complete! This took a lot of my time today and I am TIRED!

278. That I will make a little money this summer. I will end up working about 40 hours this summer. (Lower cc bills…yay!)

279. That the old catbench works just fine as a stand for the temporary Ben & Jerry’s/photography bits sink in the garden. In fact it works perfectly! Now if we can just figure out how to jigger the hose/faucet, we’ll be all set!

280. That my cat has decided that putting up with the noise of the vacuum is worthwhile since it removes LOTS of fleas/flea eggs. Much easier than flea combing a cat with sensitive skin, easily pulled thin fur (she’s 1/2 Persian). It’s bizarre vac’ing a cat, but if it works, I’m ALL for it!

281. Things are getting done!

jkd 21 months ago

273. That not talking to/having contact with my family is not that hard to do, and oh it makes my life SO much better. (Not including DH’s family or my cuz flutterbyflyby3!)

274. That although I had a full-fledged kitchen disaster two days ago, I could back up enough to laugh at myself, and did.

275.Our car is out of the shop.

276.It’s sunny! (What more do you need?)

jkd 21 months ago

269. That I keep finding things to interest me, things to DO towards my long-range goals and that I haven’t given up, yet.

270. That my vegetable gardens are more productive, year by year, so obviously, I’m learning something!

271. That I have a new wholesale order.

272. That I’ve sold 9 bookcases and will probably sell a good many more.

jkd 21 months ago

268. That I am not selling books for a living anymore! Odd as this is, being at a dealer’s room all full of books and NOT selling although weird, was a relief. No hauling stuff down to a con, no waiting behind a table or two hoping that enough people will buy my books to pay for hotel room/memberhips/tables.

On the other hand, what I did spend was all out of pocket, except I had a roommate, so it was 1/2 of what it would have been otherwise.

Hopefully, the investment will be worthwhile. I went to tout our follow-on anthology proposal AND to see if I couldn’t sell some fixtures. Got polite interest in both cases. If it works out, then I should make enough to pay for the weekend, although I won’t make $$ over what I paid for the fixtures. But I probably won’t do that anyway, so….

We’ll see!

jkd 22 months ago

258. That I’m happy! Or, more correctly, that I’m not in pain, the pain/flashback isn’t lurking under the surface or something I have to run away from. It’s there, but it’s as it should be, sort of like the memory of a really painful episode in the past. It’s more immediate than that of course, but not very much.

259. For my resident amphibians, which means my garden isn’t poison to them: a garter snake and a frog. We used to have small, red salamanders too, but haven’t seen any of those in a year or two!

260-261.Dappled sunlight in the garden and a robin’s song.

262. Our new stone steps, all shiny with mica. Like walking up a lit staircase in the midst of the day, always feels magical.

263. The baker’s table I bought. The more I look at it, the more I like it.

264.Cinnamon roll bread pudding from the bakery. Yum!

265.The blueberries, beginning to blush from green to blue. The raspberries, some of them ripe like plump rubies strung together (and yummy too!)

266. Starting to write a social commentary as a piece of fiction and suddenly, there I am, in the midst of an sf story! [Where did that come from?] and it being okay. I’m not crazy, but it IS interesting! (I have to write more however, what I have is an interesting start, needs a middle and end too.)

267. That stuff sells at the antique store, not near fast enough, but it DOES sell…

jkd 22 months ago

244. That it’s summer. Hot? yes, but I’d rather hot than cold!

245. My garden is starting to produce, it always seems to take FOREVER.

246.That I have another wholesale outlet for the books.

247. That a friend is taking some of the store’s bookcases.

248. That I managed contact with my family without a flashback.

249. Ice cream/sorbet in summer…ah!

250. Chocolate, cinnamon, jalapenos, etc. Think how boring food could be without ingredients to make it more radical/interesting!

251.That I can, when I have to, process around 1,000 pcs a month.

252. That I’ve managed to clean/clear parts of the house without a panic attack.

253. DH, always.

254. That some of my neighbors are just really nice people!

255. For my friends, who’re just great.

256.Water, clear, refreshing, nurturing, wonderful stuff.
(sensual place I’m in I guess?)

257.That I have enough, food, shelter, clothing, etc.

jkd 22 months ago