A little gratitude

Agent Jen's been keeping a gratitude journal. I'm not quite that ambitious but as I'm nonetheless thankful lately, I figured it was time. Three years ago, I began typing up my New Year's resolutions. I tuck them into an old planner I keep in my nightstand (okay, it's BTVS planner husband gave me at some point in some moment of enabling my Buffy obsession and it's got great pictures so I don't throw it away, but I digress) Call me crazy, but the act of writing the stuff down really made a difference for me. Not everything gets done, but if I keep them doable and not ridiculous, it seems to work out. As I'm the girl who keeps a life list of things I want to accomplish and places I want to travel to in my pocket calendar in my purse, it all seems to make a certain kind of sense.

But back to the gratitude. We're all - and for many good reasons - rather gloom and doom these days, but I woke up thinking perhaps we just need to change how we're looking at it. 401 K in the toilet? Then figure out some other way to save. That kind of thing. Glass half full or at least not cracked and crushed under someone's bootheel.

So, on this 7th of December, (not the most auspicious date in history for a gratitude list but wouldn't ya know this would be the day I'd post this?), in no particular order,I am officially grateful for:

• agent Jen and former agent Michelle who both believe in me
• Andrea Brown who re-matched me with Jen even as I was sitting off the power grid post Ike.
• a messy, comfy house
• really nice neighbors
• my 2k9 group to share the publishing roller coaster
• my critique buddies
• a crazy posse of friends
• health, including the healing of the abcessed tooth and some kind of tendon sprain in my ankle. Both are gone and I am delighted
• husband who loves me
• son who is funny, brave, kind, and amazingly mostly off our payroll!
• the current cool weather
• having survived Hurricane Ike
• Sourcebooks publishing who took a chance on me and even paid me cash American
• a full time day job that reminds me every day why I write for teenagers
• a crazy extended family and friends who've become like family
• an amazing thing called Kinko's Fed Ex print on line
• democracy
• our new president elect
• my Chi flat iron

Til next time...