Thankful November

I took down the Halloween decorations and put our moldy pumpkins into the compost bin today. Ada wore her "I'm so thankful" turkey T-shirt to music class today and we put some leaf gel-thingys on the front window. The air is cooling down and the wind is picking up. Today there are high steely gray clouds high above my city. All I want is to eat pumpkin soup today and play on our local playground with scarves around our necks. The first bits of Christmas are showing up on the shelves of our local hardware store and it's time to plant the amaryllis and narcissus for a December bloom.

I LOVE this time of the year. 

Every day this month I am going to list 3 things I am thankful for and I'll sum them up weekly right here. I hear that Oprah started doing this and it turned her life around. I don't think I need to have my life turned around but being thankful - sincerely grateful - is just a good feeling and valuable perspective. You're welcome to join in - leave a comment, link to your own blog and write a post about what you are thankful for, even just think it to yourself.

November 1:

1. SLEEP: Seriously. Does this need elaboration?
2. RUCHE: More affordable than Anthropologie. 
3. HEALTH: I bitch about my body plenty. It's shaped funny and won't get/stay pregnant are my two biggest complaints. Overall though, I'm lucky. I am very strong and for the most part my body has done some remarkable things over the past 40 years. 

She still refused to wear the Elmo costume I made for her.  Instead she went as Dorothy. Good thing I picked up some dress-up outfits at Target last year for 80% off. 

November 2:

1. KALE: Yes, I'm thankful for kale.  I've decided that it's natures perfect food. The nutritional content will knock your socks off, it's super cheap and you can hide it in anything. I put it into fruit smoothies, tuna salad (put s can of sardines in there too - more nutrition and you won't notice), spaghetti sauce, and soup. My favorite is dinosaur kale but curly is great too. 
2. LIZ and SHIAN: My office mates. They are super fun and super supportive. We also share a love for some not-so-cool things. But you would be surprised how many cool people are closet Barry Manilow fans. We might go to a casino out in the middle of nowhere to see Air Supply. It's OK to be jealous. 
3. PARKING: Halloween weekend was rough on our hill. This night, I parked right in front of our house. Such a blissful indulgence. 

November 3: 

1. ABC's: She sings them, among other songs. I could just die from smiling when she sings. 
2. DECAF COFFEE: God bless the person who discovered water-processing to decaffeinate coffee. I'm still off the caffeine - it's been 2 months now. I didn't think it was possible but look at that, it was. 
3. COLE VALLEY: Our neighborhood is great. After music class this morning we got cat food, a balloon, and milk on our way home. We walked the whole way and smiled at our neighbors. 

November 4:

1. VIRTUAL FRIENDS: Some shit is going down right about now. Thank God for the ability to network online. These ladies are worth their weight in gold to me now. 
2. BURRITOS: Thank you, Mexican friends. 
3. ORGANIZATION: I don't mean to sound arrogant but damn, I can really organize stuff.

Like I said, feel free to chime in. Meanwhile, I'll be even more thankful next week. 

Good Morning, sleepyhead.