Pattern Sales

I'm so grateful that Jo-Ann's offers to price match Hancock's sales and that both stores offer pattern to us American's so cheaply.  Today Jo-Anne's had McCall's patterns 5 for $7 and Hancock's had Butterick 5 for $7 and Vogue $4.99 each.  At first the cashier got my patterns without the discounts (or at least some of them) and it rang up $128+.  After finally getting it worked out, it was less than $25 with tax.  I certainly couldn't achieve the pattern hoarding collection without these sorts of sales.

My Sisters

I have listed in previous years about being grateful for who my sisters are and specifics about them, and I am still grateful for them, but today I am particularly grateful for all the work they have done to become those people.  I know so many people who are likely the same person they were in high school or even middle school with just slightly more education and the ability to now drive and vote and I also know some of their siblings.  Both of my sisters are definitely not who they were when they were younger.  They are wiser and have overcome some of their vices and they continue to improve all the time.  I'm so very grateful that not only do I not cringe at the thought of spending time with them, but that I'm super excited at each time we get to see each other.  I'm lucky that not only are they good friends but also worthwhile ones.

Dreams

For as long as I can remember, I have been able to remember multiple dreams a night.  My dreams are almost always wild and different, and I am very prone to having nightmares, but I am grateful for them anyway.  I feel like the ability to remember my dreams and actually influence them is a wonderful gift.  I have my own unique symbols in my dreams that I recognize and say a lot about my subconscious feelings about people, like my ex-step-mother always shows up in my dreams when I am particularly frustrated with someone's stupidity in my life, as one example.  I have written term papers (and not just ones in English) in my dreams.  I have solved work problems, written poems, and come up with all kinds of ideas.  When I did Nanowrimo a few years ago, I would work through scenes in my dreams and it made the writing of them much easier when I came to it.  I really do feel fortunate that I have so many vivid dreams and that I get to remember them so often.

Where we are in technology

I'm actually not just grateful for all the technology currently in our lives, I'm also grateful to live in a place in time where we are not further along.  I'm glad to be able to turn off texting on my phone and not have to worry about the difference it makes in my lives as I suspect my children will.  I'm glad I can read books on my kindle, but I can also still go into a giant bookstore like Barnes & Noble and purchase actual books to read or check them out in the library.  I like having access to the computer in the house in multiple areas, but I also like that it's a room away when we eat as a family or read together in a bedroom.  Technology is a wonderful thing, but I love that I have had an opportunity to live in a world where it wasn't so ubiquitous as it is becoming.

I'm going to add another thing I am grateful for today.  I am grateful for really good reviewers on Goodreads, especially my friend Shannon who has never steered me wrong (though I haven't read any of her romance or erotica suggestions).  She writes wonderful reviews that really give me an idea if I'm going to like a book or not and some of her hits have been phenomenal.  In a day where self publishing electronic books is becoming more and more common as is publishing lesser works by popular authors because they can, it's great to read honest reviews by prolific readers who also happen to be intelligent and expressive.

Sonic

I'm grateful for Sonic.  I love their drinks and I love that they have half-priced drinks from 2-4.  I also love that we can buy bags of ice from them, which we do often (though you can't in Austin, which makes me sad).

Still on the medical theme

Today I'm especially grateful for clinics that are open at 5:00 am on Saturday morning.  I've managed to pick up the bear cub's strep (and possibly flu viruses, but I didn't have them check for flu).  I'm pretty miserable still and am tempted to take my last antibiotic for the day early and then crash.

Modern Medicine

Yesterday, I was called to pick up the bear cub from school.  I took her straight to the clinic were she tested positive for both the flu and strep throat. My amazing girl is a trooper and you would never know that yesterday she was so miserable.  So on this first day of November I am expressing my gratitude for the science and medicine available right now.  It's great that they can determine what is wrong in less than 10 minutes and that we can get her started on antibiotics right away.  It's super that in her short life that so much has been done to help her medically so that she can come so much closer to reaching her potential in other areas than she ever has.