I didn't wake up feeling thankful this morning.

When my alarm went off, I was woken up out of an unpleasant dream that involved hundreds of tiny spiders eating all the nasty caterpillars that were entering through the window. Now I'm thankful it's not true.

As I prepared for the day, my mind replayed yesterday's events, wondering exactly how to be thankful for some of them, and thinking about some of the verses which instruct us to be thankful.


These don't really leave a loophole for an ungrateful spirit.
And so:

I'm thankful for the year and a half I was able to spend working with R. She's become a good friend both at work, and outside of work. We've laughed and cried together, and I'm glad she's my friend.

I'm thankful that someday I won't be tired.

I'm thankful for Amanda and her Thankful Challenge. Doing the challenge has been changing my focus. Even in the midst of days that don't go that great, I've been finding myself thinking "what can I be thankful for?" It also makes me think more before I complain about something.

I'm thankful for a laugh shared with a customer today as we discussed sappy wedding invitation verses.

I'm thankful for the satisfying POP sound a tennis ball makes against the racquet when it's hit right.

• I pulled so much purselane out of my garden last week that it was burned into my memory, and when I closed my eyes, I could see an image of the obnoxious weed. It reminded me of why you're supposed to use screen savers on a computer. I never was quite sure that I believed that if an image was left on the computer too long that it would be burned onto the screen, but then I saw it happen on my computer at work. It wasn't too bad, and it went away after a while - something else I didn't know would happen. I can't see the purselane in my mind anymore either.
  It also reminded me of a science paper I wrote about 15 years ago about "How the Eye is Like a Camera". I suspect that at the age of ten, I wasn't very scientific. I strongly suspect that I'm still not.
  
• I'm house/dog sitting for a few days with C. I find it amusing that I was asked to dog sit, since in general, I'm not overly fond of dogs. There's a cat too, but he doesn't count. I mean, he counts as far as making sure that he doesn't starve, but he's low maintenance.
  The dogs on the other hand.... Canaan is a rambunctious German Shepherd puppy - about 8 weeks old and he thinks that anything that moves needs to be chewed... hands, feet, the ears of the other dogs. He comes in from outside when I call him, so I like him.
  Ruby and Sapphire are both black labs. They're around 2 years old, but I don't think they'll ever act old. They seem to think that humans exist merely to feed them and play with them. They also think they are lap dogs, and would be completely thrilled if we let them sleep with us. Canaan enjoys antagonizing the labs, especially Sapphire. I thought that Sapphire was going to eat Canaan this morning before we left for work. They kept picking fights with each other and gnawing on each other's faces. Looked like fun.
  
• I had high hopes of getting some letters written while I was away from home. I have snail mail to reply to, and I figured that away from my normal projects, I'd have time. Last night, between playing with the dogs, watching a movie, taking a long walk, and eating, I was in bed before I had a chance to get my pen out. Tonight? Well, time got eaten up once again. It feels good to veg out for a short time though.
  
• I looked for my stationery the other night and I couldn't find it. I used to keep in in a small dresser drawer, then, a while back I moved most of it to a box under my bed to get it out of the way. It's not there anymore. The box still is, but it's empty. I moved it somewhere else and can't remember where. My mini maglite is missing too.
  
• We had a delicious meal tonight. It was one of those that is over too soon. Picture and recipe will be shared next week.
  
• I find it amusing when political customers assume that I have the same political views as them, and when they think that "of course you know what colors they are using"
  
• It's funny how when you're in someone else's home at night, trying to sleep, how every noise or strange light is something which needs to be investigated. I was laying in bed last night. First with my eyes open, but on the nightstand at the side of the bed has an enormous LED alarm clock on it. No, I don't want to stare at the time. Then, opening my eyes when the cat was moving around on the bed, I saw what looked like a light shining into what looked like a window. I lay there watching it, it would light up, then go dark again. Repeatedly, and there seemed to be a pattern. As my eyes adjusted, I saw that the "window" was the door to the bathroom. I got up to see where the light was coming from. The stereo system on the bathroom sink has this flashing display light which was reflecting off the bathroom door. Then, when that mystery was settled, the dogs would start barking. So, I'd lie there wondering if they had a reason to bark. The cat left me at some point and went over to the room C was in. Six minutes before her alarm went off, the cat was batting the metal blinds around.... fun times...
  
• I'm off.