prelude of, and to, thanks

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's going around. November is thankful month, and the challenge is to post (somewhere) each day one thing for which I'm thankful. Here goes, Day One.

Lotsa stuff. I don't mean that to sound flip. I've had a rough week, feeling a bit knocked down and dragged around by life and circumstances and bad timing and age and human frailty and all that stuff. One of the strategies for coping with depression is to do one thing in the day to which one can point as an accomplishment. It can be something as mundane as making the bed. It can be emptying the dishwasher. It can be taking a shower. It can be anything. Accomplishing anything when one is depressed is a triumph.

Today I did more than make the bed. I worked on a web site for my genealogy business. Though the host site came highly recommended by a friend I am not finding it very user-friendly. That is frustrating to me because I want results, but I have plugged away at it for several hours today and made a little bit of headway. Check!
I cleaned up some of the kitchen. Check!
I made marinade for the salmon for dinner, and will cook it. Check!
I finished the daily sudoku. Check!
The sun is shining, and that makes me smile. Check!
I got some Pampered Chef stuff done. Check!

Heck, I'm on a roll!

I'm thankful for every little bit of it, and more. Like the fact that Ken is building a fire in the fireplace as I write. Mmmmmm..... Like the fact that my dogs are happy. Like the fact that we have heat, weren't in the path of a hurricane or tornado, have power and light, and access to the internet and a world beyond our walls. I'm thankful for Melrose every single day of my life, but especially on those days when I am there, sitting on the porch enjoying the view (above--click on the picture for a larger view and take it in).

I'm grateful today to be above the morass that is depression, and that is a fine place to be.

We'll see what sort of thankfulness I can unearth tomorrow. See you then.