I already had a post scheduled for Tuesday, so I am doing this on one The Real Day.

Ten Things I Am Thankful For.

1. The usuals: family, financial security, relatively good health, the good health insurance that keeps it that way; modern technology: indoor plumbing, central heating, the internet, and the electricity that makes them all possible; sturdy infrastructure: the electric grid, modern transportation and the roads, bridges, and airports that make travel a no-brainer, clean water; public services: police and fire protection, excellent libraries, social services if we need them, good schools, hospitals when we need them, public health services that do a lot to prevent us from needing them. 

   Those are the underpinnings that make my life and the lives of the rest of the US so pleasant. Now for the things that are personal to me. 

2. My seemingly unending stash. Some might laughingly say, You call that a stash? and other might be appalled at its extent, but I just hope I live long enough to use it all. It was the venture into lace knitting that really did me in. One skein of lace-weight takes up as much space as a skein of worsted, but it takes a longer to knit. 
3. My comfy chair. It is getting a little threadbare, but I love my powered recliner. 
4. My ginormous crockpot. It enabled me to put together today’s entree in < 5 minutes. 
5. Younger Son’s new job. This one is prompted by Kym’s list. He had gone as far as he could in his old job, rising from unpaid intern in the tape duplicating room to sysadmin for the company. New job offers opportunities — financial, professional, and travel opportunities. 
6. Elder Son’s January interview. He was just notified that the residency program in Duluth, his favorite of the ten he applied for, wants him for the standard interview. He was nervous about this, for no particular reason we could determine except that The Medical School From Hell had taken away his self-confidence. 
7. Our menagerie of pets. Nothing beats having two medium-large dogs and two humungous cats sharing your bed on a cold night. 
8. Possible pain-free living. The possibility of eliminating/reducing the joint pain I have lived with for 10 years. turns out such pain is a well-known side effect of statins (cholesterol drugs). Stay tuned on this one. 
9. My nifty 15-yo-but-new-to-me Volvo station wagon. Pleasant to drive, every bell and whistle available in 1998, and the driver’s seat is awesome, most comfortable seat EVER. Plus it is a heated seat. 
10. Modern psychopharmacology, specifically antidepressants, that allow me to enjoy all of the above and much more. 
11. This, courtesy of Adrienne Martini.