Top Ten Tuesday - Thank Goodness for All These Things

It feels good to be writing a Top Ten Tuesday post (a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish) after a couple weeks of because of well...life.  It got busy.  This is a good one to come back in for: Top Ten Things to be Thankful For (could be bookish or not).  Here in the U.S. our holiday of Thanksgiving is just a couple days away so it's appropriate.  For those of you in other countries it is not perhaps so conveniently timely, however there is never really a bad time to contemplate the good things in your life.  Also, I've recently learned through a work training that gratitude is the single most important emotion that can bring you "above the line"  (i.e. from a negative, grumpy, victim language sort of place to a peace, love and happy unicorns and rainbows sort of place).  So lets get to it:

1) BOOKS!  That there are so many that I am never likely to run out of interesting things to read.

 

 

2) DOGS!  In particular the two cutie patoots that share my home - Rudy and Jasper.

 3) SCI FI TV! There is a lot of great Science Fiction storytelling that happens and at its best gives me Adventure, Drama, Comedy, Romance, Thoughtfulness and Great Characters.

  

 4) That WINTER is NOT Coming!  Specifically, that I am not having to patrol the Wall with Jon Snow.  Because winter is coming here in Iowa. In fact, it is already obnoxiously here but it least it won't last for years and years. 

 

 5) Hellbenders!  And all the other weird and wonderful wildlife that nature has made.  And the fact that its my job to watch over them and make sure they are valued.

  6) Libraries!  Particularly my local library which is pretty darn awesome.  It's like shopping for books but everything's free and now you can download audio and e-books from the couch at home. My weekly trip to the library may just be the favorite part of my week!

7) Women Writers!  Lois McMaster Bujold, Dorothy Dunnett, Georgette Heyer, Margaret Mitchell,   Edith Wharton, Jane Austen, Harper Lee, Willa Cather, Agatha Christie, Ann Patchett, Sarah Dunant, Barbara Pym, Mary Roach, Harper Lee, Kate Ross, Kate Atkinson, A.S. Byatt.....

8) The Sea!  I love the ocean; It always brings me peace.  Don't ask why I love as far as possible from it:)

9) England! I'm a hopeless Anglophile, I think because I love history and also the King Arthur Legend.  Those were the Gateway drugs to a British TV, Tea, and digestive obsession.

10) Many things bring me joy and I've had so many opportunities and so much freedom...to travel, to pursue a career... to complain or be ungrateful about anything is just plain ridiculous.  I am grateful for life.  Thanks bunches!