:)

       Woke up at 4 a.m. with one of those dreams that doesn't quite make sense but leaves you wide awake.  Tripped over the trash can in the dark while trying to get to the bathroom.  Went back to bed where a host of "things-to-do" and "things-to-worry-about" came parading through my mind - why does that always happen in the wee hours of the morning????
      So now the dogs and I are up. Well ..... I'm up.  Even the rat terriers have gone back to sleep, leaving me alone at the keyboard.
      Soooo.... what am I grateful for?
     For one thing, I'm grateful that I don't have to go to work today. :)  :)  :)  (I'm pretty useless on just a few hours sleep...)
     For another, I'm grateful that we had a perfect Labor Day yesterday - blue skies, light breeze, moderate temperatures, hint of Fall in the air.  In my book, that is the perfect day, bar none!
     I'm grateful that even if the meatloaf I made yesterday doesn't exactly look like the picture on the recipe, everyone still liked it.
     I'm grateful, as our friend Yetty used to say, that it was not our portion to wake up this morning sick or in the hospital. And that as high as gas is, I can still afford to fill up the tank.
    I'm grateful that Phil and I  are approaching our 25th anniversary. (Nov. 22, 1986).   I think that's special in any time but maybe especially so in this day and age.  I hope all the young married couples that I know can say the same 25 years down the road.
    I'm grateful for all the work Phil did re-modeling the bathroom - and also for the fact that most of it is working now:).
    I'm grateful that God is running the world so I can lay that job down for the moment  ;)
    I'm grateful that I have choices to make - that I can choose what I wear, what I eat, what I want to do today.  Many don't have that luxury, their lives being severely restricted by poverty and sometimes  also culture.
   I'm grateful that the noisy neighbors  down the street are..... down the street!  And not next door!   (Well... it's true... I am grateful for that!  Although I'd be even more grateful if they preferred to blast music from the 70's from their audio system...)
   And I'm grateful that being grateful takes the sting out of weird dreams at 4 in the morning...