Thursday 13

13 Things I Am Grateful For This Year

1. Frank's voice. Our conversations. His jokes. His singing. His writing. His quiet words of reassurance when I'm down. All of these have been threaded through my life for more than half my life, and I appreciate them more every day.

2. MJ's walls. Song lyrics. Quotes in Latin. Her own art. Other people's art. Photos. Magazine clippings. Postcards. Posters. She's made her room into a temple of self-expression and creativity. Every time I go in there, I notice something new and get a lovely and intriguing little glimpse into her thoughts, dreams, preferences, or whims. It's fun and inspiring.

3. Chloe's imagination. Thanks to the discovery of an old notebook, we've been reintroduced to Chloeland these last couple of days, the place where everything works the way Chloe thinks it should. She started talking about Chloeland when she was very small, and we would regularly be visited by emissaries from there. It is a rich place indeed and but one example of how her imagination has added color to our lives.

4. Being laid off. It is more than synthetic happiness when I include this on my gratitude list. My layoff has led directly to a year full of personal growth and some much needed healing of some very old wounds. It has also given me the time for a year packed to the rafters with fun, family, traveling, and houseguests.

5. Having a job. It looks like I'll be returning to work sometime in December. Paychecks are good, too.

6. Stan Wilson. I wish this book were still in print so it would be easier for everybody to read it.

7. Friends. Above all, friends. So many people have helped make this year so fun. My gratitude includes (but is by no means limited to):

Exchanging e-mail with Steph. Steph is the one who loves me even though I share my lesser side with her.

Bra shopping with Dana. Finding the right support is important!

Making music with Shonna and Robin and Jacinta. My chicks! Even though Jacinta won't sing.

Visiting the gum wall with the Waynforths. Tasty!

Movie meetups with the Boswells. We are so compatible at the movie theater, we have even run into each other there accidentally.

Midnight concoctions with the Mayers. And everything that goes along with them.

Trick-or-treating Winkler style. This is SO fun!

Crashing in Corvallis. A home away from home with a ready-made unschooling community is a haven indeed.

8. Hard work by Flo Gascon and Mary Gold. Every unschooling conference I've been to has been special. The two I attended this year? Stunningly good! No year that includes LIFE is Good and Good Vibrations can be a bad year!

9. Hard work by cousin Sonya. Last spring, I helped in a very minor way to bring to a conclusion two years of effort by Sonya. The result? A lovely, lovely family cookbook, full of stories, photos, and some damned fine recipes.

10. Music and the people who make it. This year, we added three guitars and numerous percussion devices to our house, not to mention a variety of amps and cables and other paraphernalia. These represent a year of family musical learning and experiences that I will never forget! Discovering guitar with Chloe. Playing "I Don't Like Reggae (I Love It!)" with the family. The 2nd annual LIFE is Groovy drum circle. That first impromptu Greybeards performance. Several *extremely* fun Greybeards rehearsals. And then our exhilarating and hilarious dance party performance at Good Vibrations. Wow! Wow! Wow!

11. Facebook. I'm surrounded by friends every single day. It's amazingly fun. And the double entendres are hard to beat!

Poke!

12. Unschooling. Unschooling. Unschooling.

13. Relatively good news. Tom's cancer? Not grateful for that. That Tom's cancer won't be taking him from us? Very grateful for that.

Happy Thanksgiving!!