http://www.joyfulturtle.com/

The marvelous Gini Dietrich of SpinSucks posted the equally marvelous 2015 Grateful Challenge (started by Judy Dunn, another person I need to follow).

I kind of never got to this until now. So I’m starting early this year.

To wit:

The Grateful Challenge

The challenge is this: Set a timer for 10 minutes and write down all of the things you’re grateful for—or things that you love—as fast as you can. Don’t worry about the order; the goal is to get to 99!

bing crosby – i’ve got plenty to be thankful for from non sequitur on Vimeo.

I didn’t make it to 99. I made it to 39, but so did Jack Benny, so that’s okay.  I blame technology. I did not, however, worry about the order, so I’ve got that going for me.

Here’s what I’ve got, and I look forward to seeing your lists, too!

AT THIS VERY MOMENT, I AM GRATEFUL FOR…

1. My elm tree.
2. Teddy Pigg. 
3. The moon.
4. Writing when I should be writing because I want to be writing.
5. The moment I discovered I could sing.
6. My husband.
7. Driving around exploring new places.
8. That intoxicating, interwoven scent of lilacs & lilies of the valley that hits me around February when it’s months too soon for either.
9. That old book scent thankfully not adding itself to the growing list of Things That Make Me Sneeze.
10. Set of 1939 Book of Knowledge encyclopedias that take you through a journey on every page. 
11. Making my friends collapse in laughter. Collapsing in laughter in turn.
12. Markers and colored pencils and coloring books, oh my!
13. Coming home one day to see my easel already set up and supplies within reach.
14. Fallout 4 because it’s my current brain-candy drug.
    

    Nothing like coming home after a long day of defending the Commonwealth and finding two-headed cows levitating in your bedroom.

15. Singing our made-up songs about animals.
16. Hot chocolate with cinnamon because I saw it on Once Upon a Time and am now hooked.
17. The fact that the best steak I ever have, ever, is made by my husband.
18. Grandfather clocks (my dreams about them stopped only when I finally got one).
19. LIBRARIES.
20. Bookstores.
21. Remembering to look up at the stars.
22. Catching the moon when it’s just the sliveriest sliver of a moon.
23. Continuing to crusade in my own way against animal abuse and general boneheadedness of humanity-toward-animals.
24. Milk chocolate peanut butter cups. Make that spicy peanut butter. Specifically from here.
25. Discovering new restaurants that prove to be awesome restaurants.
26. Chicken pot pies. Can’t resist ’em. Don’t want to resist ’em.
27. My mom and dad.
28. The world of difference it made when I bought my own bicycle myself.
29. The equal world of difference it made when I bought my own comfy recliner.
30. Having friends over to our house for a change because a) we finally cleaned it and b) we need to have people over because it’s awesome.
31. Hanging out at a local watering hole that feels like a personal Cheers.
32. Old movies that remind me of Saturday afternoons when I’d watch them with my dad.
33. Avocados.
34. My red Agent Carter hat from The Hen House. 
35. Logic puzzles.
36. Grilled cheese even though dairy refuses to agrees with me anymore.
37. Jack Benny, George Burns, Bob Hope & Bing Crosby, Vincent Price…
38. Stripes. On clothes, purses, objects, even zebras.
39. All my awesome friends.

It might be a good idea to do other types of lists throughout the year; even as I ran out of steam (and time) for this list, I thought of all sorts of different kinds of things to be grateful for. And that’s not a bad way to start out the year!