Monday, October 20, 2008

Things for Which I'm Grateful

Here are a few of the things for which I'm grateful today:

My new raincoat, which is a "Large" from the children's section of REI, on sale (it cost about 1/2 the price of an adult coat).

It is sky blue, so it is cheerful on gray days. It has a fleece-lined collar, so it works as a turtleneck on cold days. It has a lightweight hood that can be tucked away when it's not needed.
It shows up well on our county road, so when I walk, drivers can see me.
It is lightweight, waterproof (really!), and it breathes, so it doesn't get clammy inside.

Our new iron.
I accidentally dropped the old one, point-down, a few months ago, and it made a big dent in the wood floor. It didn't work worth a dang after that, didn't get wrinkles out of things, and the steam function was broken. It leaked, spit and spotted. I found a sale on irons at JoAnn Fabrics last week, and decided to buy one of the quilter's irons. Yesterday, I "test-drove" it, and baby, it's a dream.

My old Starbucks coffee cup.
When I wanted to buy this (many years ago), Gregg balked at the price. He said it was too much to pay for a coffee cup. I promised that I would use it EVERY day, which would bring the price-per-use into a reasonable range. He agreed. I HAVE used it every day, and I love it as much today as the day I bought it.

I bought a new, beautiful, metallic-blue one when we were living at Ronald McDonald House, because I missed this one and wanted to cheer myself up, but you know what? The new one has a new-fangled lid, with a rubber gasket that often gets twisted and stuck, making it hard to get the top on tightly. That makes it leak. It also has a flip-top, which is supposed to keep your drink really hot, but it gets in the way of my nose. I love the original!

Living in a town where this is news: the annual Lutefisk Dinner, held here for nearly 100 years. (Brian [in the photo] has been a friend of Gregg's since childhood.)


Our cats, Latte and Liger.
Their sweetness, affection and contentment helps me to see that, in spite of our ongoing sorrow, we have a happy home.

Liger is lying on the beautiful shawl that Barb G. knitted for me. Thank you, Barb! I set it down for a minute, and Liger was all over it. He has good taste!

5 comments:

Pam said...

I love your list of simple things to be thankful for. I like getting new things..even little things like socks. Thanks for sharing your list!

HWHL said...

I love this! Simple things are the best, aren't they?

I have this really super-compfortable flannel zip up robe with black terriers on it (and it is THE ugliest, least sexy thing in the WORLD!) and it was finally cold enough last night to wear it! I was thrilled! (My husband, horrified!) :-)

And YES, I second being petite enough to purchase items from the children's section! They are so much CHEAPER!! :-)

Busy Bee Suz said...

This is wonderful. I love the raincoat. I have not had one in many years. When my girls were little I would get them a new one before the school year started and I thought they were so important.
The iron, how funny. I too appreciate a good iron. Sorry about your wood floor though...good think it did not hit your foot, the story would be different right now.
A good coffee cup is a MUST!!!!
The cats are so sweet and SO content in their home.
I have heard of this fish craze...very cool.

Me said...

Fantastic idea about buying Children's Large in coats! I am in need of some warm coats so I will be checking out the Child sizes!!! I may need an XL though.

Can't wait to meet Latte and Liger.

Amy said...

Simple things! I love it! I just found paint brushes already loaded with paint...loving it...my daughter can paint without making a big mess all over the floors...simple things! Great thoughts!!