Gratitudipus Rex

I was just over yonder at Ceallach's blog, pokin' around for a few minutes between my Afternoon of Intensive Learning Merriment (Ailment, for short), and she's doing a very awesome thing. No it's not all of the knitting and dyeing and spinning, although that's pretty awesome. It's not the fact that she's apparently climbed Mount St. Helens, which...dude.

No, it's the gratitude. She's taking time each day to name something for which she is grateful. I think this is a grand idea, and I'm going try it, too. Maybe it'll be a blog post, maybe I'll figure out how to add it to the header. I'm not sure yet. Maybe I should have some lunch before deciding. Which leads me to my first gratitude.

1. I'm grateful for Mama Mellace's Cinnamon Roasted Almonds. So tasty!

What? You were expecting something more expansive? Maybe I'll get there. It's a big list, and if I start thinking about all of things for which I'm grateful, it's overwhelming. So nuts. I'm grateful for nuts.

I have it good, I tell you. I'm not sure that always comes through in my posts, the good humor underlying it all. Any of you who've said, "I know I shouldn't laugh, but..." in response to anything I've written, here's the thing. You can go ahead and laugh. I'm usually laughing as I write it. If the worst thing in my life at that moment was that my hotel room was a little smoky, or that I cut my finger while making soup, and I manage to kvetch about it for three thousand words, then I've really got nothing to complain about.

2. I'm grateful that I have nothing to complain about.

I've actually started saying that to people when they ask, "Hey, how are you?" in the elevator. "Oh, I can't complain." It actually makes me measurably happier for at least a couple of minutes after I say it. Give it a try next time someone throws a rhetorical how's-it-going at you. "Can't complain!" Say it and believe it, at least a little bit.

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I've mentioned the ridiculous stash before, but I've never documented it. I'm not about to start now, because sweet fancy Moses! That's a lot of yarn. I am occasionally going to let a few of the pretties out for air and photo shoots.

Here's Pretty #1. This is Fiesta La Boheme Insignia in one of the test dye colors that went to Webs' clearance area. I don't know what it's going to become yet. I have 650 yards of it. I've got something Spring/Summer style in mind, and I think I'm going to design it myself. Maybe this could be April's sweater of the month.