I seem to have slipped into a monthly update pattern, judging by my last few titles. Not intentional. But I have been busy lately, which in this case is something to be thankful for in it's own right.

--I had not one, but TWO technical electronics issues get solved on the very first try.

--I got to spend time with one of my friend/neighbors. They took me to see the car they were thinking of buying. They ended up buying it, and I look forward to riding in it with them soon.

--I have gotten a lot of compliments on some of the projects I am have been working on lately. As a result I have met several interesting people. I have even more projects lined up.

--The weather has cooled of somewhat this week.

--Last night I went to a party at a friend's house. I knew at least a dozen people there, some I hadn't seen since around Christmas time.

--I have been sleeping somewhat better.

--I was able to finally complete my brisk four mile walk today, after is being weather delayed for quite some time.

--I had a relaxing, enjoyable weekend of camping.

-I filed my report early, and had more free time today.

-My AC is up and running for the summer.

-I got much of my paperwork organized, which was much needed.

-My workout routine is improving.

-I am finding it easier to eat healthier.

-I got to visit my friend in her new house yesterday evening.

-I am beginning to learn acceptance in ways I had not previously known.

--Some days this month have been lovely, weatherwise.

-I met with me friend for dinner last week again. She is so funny and beautiful, I love being around her.

-I had an interview two days ago which went very well. I was complimented on my abilities.

-I saw an excellent movie version of Hamlet this week, that I got on Netflix. I think I will watch it again.

-Mother's Day went very well for me a few weeks ago. I was able to help my mother with many projects she had been meaning to accomplish lately.

-I won an assignment to a paying project.

-I am sleeping a bit better.

--Met a friend for dinner last night that I hadn't seen in 9 years.

-I wrote an article online that ended up being a featured post on a prominent website! (I am not going to post a link because here at Grati-Blog, I wish to remain anonymous. But I am very thankful it was chosen!)

-More writing news, an article I wrote for a local magazine was published.

-A second pitch to that same magazine was accepted.

-Some really pain in the butt paperwork in my life was at least completed the other day.

-I will get to see my sister and her husband tomorrow. Plus their brand new dog!

But back full swing!

-That I enjoyed the Olympics, and that the United States did so well in them.

-That I got to understand the sport of curling even more during same.

-That I got cast in a play that I tried out for at a tiny theatre just outside of town!

-I got 50 dollars for my birthday from one of my sisters. Very nice of her.

-I beat the video game I bought with some of that 50 dollars.

-I got to go to Red Lobster for my birthday as well.

-Just the arrival of spring, and the melting of all the snow that was here. Plus the beautiful weather of the last few days.

-I have made a new friend online that I talk to alot.

-I got to see an old friend for a few hours two weeks ago.

-That I have understand readers of this blog who keep coming back, even though I sometimes forget to post for weeks. =)

--That there is now huge snow in the forecast!

--The may car is dug out and I have been able to drive around again!

--That my phone, which I thought I had lost, actually was not lost at all.

--My mother bringing my a Subway at work the other day.

--The days are noticeably getting longer now.

--The snow is starting to really melt, (and the forecast calls for more melting days to come this week.)

--The Olympic Winter Games being on. (Especially given how well the U.S. is doing in the medal count.)

--One of my albums was "featured of the day" for a prominent online photograph site!

--I had a long heart to heart with a friend of mine the other day. I don't really feel that we agree on some key issues about how to proceed in some things, but I expressed support for her in what she is about to do, and she appreciated it. I in turn felt closer to her.

--I was able to deflect a potentially hurtful confrontation of a religious nature by being honest, and pacifist in my response to the situation. I am very grateful that that did not escalate.

--I don't have to cook tonight. (Sometimes it's the little things!)

-I had a good New Year's holiday. I was invited to a friends house to watch the ball drop, and there was much food and drink in the place. Good time. Plus I was able to get there and home safely despite the previously icy conditions.

-Then on New Year's Day I got to hang out with a different set of friends, which is always good.

-The last bit of information from a source I needed for an article I am working on arrived the other day. All of the raw data is now gathered and I can begin to write the draft. I am excited to get this one started.

-Somebody shoveled recent snow off of my walkway. That has not happened before.

-I had a very nice Christmas Day, and week leading up to it. I am thankful for that.

-In particular, I am thankful for the chance to be with some local friends of mine on the 23rd. It was mostly a family affair, but they thought enough of me to invite me. Even to give me gifts, which I thought was very kind of them. So I am thankful for that invitation, and that good company.

-Also I am happy with the slight beginnings of a change in attitude toward some things that being with those people, and thinking about who and what they are, has brought to my mind. Sadly, I will not be able to get into many specifics of that, because I would have to describe too many negative things, and things that have made me unhappy in order to do so, and I am pretty firm about keeping this blog positive thoughts/gratitude only. But I assure you, I am very much thankful that I have begun to consider some new, more positive things in my life as a result of just watching and listening to these people the other day. =)

-I am grateful that my sister was able to come into town for a few days for the holiday. She and I both stayed at my mother's house for a few days over Christmas. I am nearby to Mom's but my sister is not, so it was nice that she could make it.

-I am thankful that all of the festivities, games, and food went so well.

-Though I was late, and couldn't stay long, I am thankful I got to drop in to a party for a friend of mine last night, who soon will leave for the west coast for an extended period.

-I am thankful that one single radio station in my area has opted to keep playing Christmas Music through New Year's. Most do not, so it's nice not to have the holidays cut right off like most people do!

-I am thankful for the good meal I had out in town on Saturday.

-I am generally thankful that it is Christmas time again. Always a  special time.

-I felt particularly grateful the other day as I was sending out Christmas cards. I have been concentrating more lately on people who have shown themselves worthy of my time, and doing such an activity as sending out cards helps remind one how many people matter to you.

-I started a new project recently, and I think it is going well. Plus I think I am making friends with some new people on the project. I am an introvert, and usually the way I make friends is through mutual work on a project. I think I am getting along well with some of them.

-I am feeling better physically this week than I did the last two weeks.

-My camera is fixed. It had been broken, and in fact it was uncertain if it could work again.

--My sister just got me an early Christmas gift...a GPS!

--I will be published in a local magazine!

--I had a good Thanksgiving, (the ultimate day of gratitude.)

In fact, I want to say that I am thankful for this blog, and the people who read it. Even though most of you do not comment, I can tell be the views that what I write here seems to have struck a pretty regular cord with alot of people. Folks out there seem drawn to the expression of gratitude..even when it is for something they did not have any part in. Such is the nature of gratitude, and such is its power. It's attractive. And though it is not always easy to express it, this blog has in fact helped not only me think of things to be thankful for, but hopefully, uplifted other people who may not be feeling great.

So a day after Thanksgiving, I thank all of you!

I applied for a job a month ago and heard from them today. I do not have the job yet, but it turns out the hiring manager has heard of me! By some weird twist they once saw a performance I was in, and remembered my name. So that is a bit of an in, as they invited me in for an interview!

I just wanted to take some time in this entry to write a bit more in depth than just my standard list, because I have such a tendency to not make my lists for extended periods of time.

It is not that I have nothing to be grateful for in those times. Indeed I often will experience something for which I am grateful, (both general and specific) and say in my head, "I need to add that to the grati-blog,". Yet one thing leads to another, and I end up forgetting, or doing something else. Especially lately. I am not proud of it, but this sometimes happens for weeks on end, such as recently.

I suppose just thinking it in my mind is good practice at being thankful. I at least pause for that moment, and think of the thing for which I am thankful, as I contemplate writing in this blog. Which means I am cultivating gratitude in some way, and that is the main point of this blog...to keep the good things, small and large, in my conscious mind.

Yet it is a blog, and I feel that if I did commit more to writing in it more often, I would be even more acutely aware of the things to be thankful for in my life. (Quite appropriate for this month!) I just think I make the mistake of wanting to have larger entries, and hence I wait until a few things have accumulated for which I am grateful before I write down. But then silly me, I forget to EVER do it, and the result is weeks without posting the very things I was storing up in my mind.

Perhaps I should write them down more. Or perhaps I should write nearly everyday even if the list is just one thing. Yet I don't want to over think the whole thing. One way to kill gratitude and an over sense of positive mental well being is to think about every detail, and micro-manage our day.

But overall today I am thankful for this blog, and what it is has done, even when I am too sporadic for its own good. =) I am grateful that I have this writing outlet, and that I have had the stamina to keep it going, all be it in fits and starts, for nearly a year now. And I am thankful that other people are getting something out of this simple, tiny piece of cyber real estate that I have claimed over the last year. Most entries gets dozens of reads, and if half of them feel better, and more grateful for their daily blessings, large and small, than it has served a purpose that is far greater than just my having a chance to post every day.

So there you have it, fellow grateful people. This blog is not unimportant or obscure to me. It just that I am a bit scattered about posting to it. But do continue to enjoy it, and still keep on checking back. I always (eventually) get back to posting, as you can see.

--I got to team up with a friend of mine in a class I am taking lately.

--I have been working on a better schedule for my time, and it is starting to take shape.

--Another friend of mine gave me a gift today, when I went to visit her and her song today.

--I get to borrow a really neat GPS device for a raod trip I am taking next month. I love it! I want one of my own.

--I have a new job at a local newspaper.

-Been talking online lately to some very fun people.

-Heard from a friend I have not heard from consistently in months.

-enjoyed a new show on TV last night.

-recieved a package I have been waiting for.

--New Part Time Job!

-Autumn weather over the last week or so.

--I took my phone Verizon, and they were able to replace it, under warranty, with an exact replica of my previous phone! No fuss, no expense.

-A small windfall of money allowed me to order steak at a steakhouse the other night, and treat my mother to dinner as well.

-Phone calls from friends/support of same

--A week of splendid early autumn weather.

--My writing project is progressing better than I thought it would. I am close to the first goal with it already.

--I have lost weight this summer.

--A friend from college I have not seen in 7 years found me on Facebook last week.

-An old college friend found me on Facebook! I had not talked to her since college because she did not have an online presence until recently. The "Remember when?" stories have already begun...

--I successfully completed a hike I had been training for all summer.

--I seem to be reconciling, slowly, with an estranged friend of mine.

--A writing project I am working on is starting to flow smoothly. More so than most projects at this early stage. I am pleased with that.

--Temperatures in my home town today are far cooler than they have been. I can enjoy being outside.

--The weather was perfect for swimming at my cousin's house the other day. And the water was also a perfect cooling temperature without being cold.

--An online application I had to fill out for a program is at long last done, and submitted. All problems finally ironed out.

-My 4 year old cousin got out of the house the other day...she could not be found for an hour! It was a horrifying ordeal...but she was found laying in the road, UNHARMED by a neighbor, and she was picked up. So I am not sure if anything else in this blog's history is bigger than that in terms of gratitude. So it certainly belongs here.

-In much smaller news I have at least found another novel that I seem to be enjoying...that has not happened in a while. Since near the start of the year.

-I have a major project coming my way that could be quite beneficial.