Thank God It's Monday

My neighbor's white camelia...the same color as my blank blog page.

I was sitting here looking at a blank blog page, wondering what today's post should look like and coming up with nothing.

Nada.

Zilch.

So I toggled over to Pinterest (because when it doubt, Pinterest). Someone I follow had pinned a whole bunch of pix of really handsome men, and I thought, "Wow, David Gandy. At least I have that to be thankful for."

Then I thought, "You nerd. You've got a whole lot to be thankful for." And I figured there was no better way to start the week than by coming up with a list of ten things to be thankful for. Not big-picture things like my house and my husband, but the ten specific things that are making today special. 

Your mission - while reading my list of ten - is to come up with a couple of your own and share them in the comments.

Here goes...in no discernable order...my list of ten things I'm thankful for...

1. Pretty Flowers

I'm not gloating, because I know the entire East Coast is encased in a block of ice, but we're having a Northern California winter. The weather is drunk, and stuff is blooming that really shouldn't be, and the husband and I actually got out in the yard and did some pruning yesterday.

2. Taxes

(And no, I don't have a cute picture for this one.) April 15th is still almost two months away, but we met with the accountant last week and we're not going to owe as much as usual. Yay! Which means we're going to be able to replace our God-awful 1948 4x4 tile kitchen countertop with something more like this...

Dream kitchen.

3. The Day Job

It might not work for everyone, but my job as a neonatal nurse practitioner is one of the most satisfying parts of my life and the night shift crew I work with is really a stellar bunch of people.

4. Aqua Follies

I'm happy that this novel is in the hands of half a dozen editors, I'm cautiously optimistic it's going to find a home, and I'm eternally grateful that my agent Margaret seems to have a sixth sense about when I'm starting to twirl myself into a ball of anxiety. Her email and FB messages are consistently well-timed and very much appreciated.

5. The Teenagers

These two possess creative, intelligent minds and incredible humor. They're great friends, and the conversations I've shared with them - individually and together - make me glad I'm alive.

6. Burnsie 

Don't think I need to add anything here.

7. Lady Gaga's performance

I'm throwing this in here because I love surprises, and this one blew me away.

8.

8. Text messaging

It started with something simple. What does Marion Cotillard have hanging off the back of her dress? After that, all bets were off. My sister - in L.A. - was watching the Oscars with a couple of her favorite drag queens, and I couldn't have asked for better company. Forget Twitter; our text convo was the BEST.

9. No-pressure reading

Part of the reason I'm a writer is because I love to read, however there are times when reading becomes an obligation. People ask me to review books, or I pull something off Netgalley, or I check a book out of the library. All of a sudden I have a deadline, which puts a layer of pressure on something that should be fun. At any rate, I've got one more RITA book to read, and that's it. For the foreseeable future, I only have to read what I want.

Last night's read...no pressure....fun stuff...

10. Be Weird

I'm going to hit the Oscar thing one more time, because this is the message I want my kids to internalize and that I believe we all should live by. (And I wanted to post  his full acceptance speech, but couldn't find it on YouTube. Will keep looking.)

So those are the ten things I'm thankful for today. What's on your list?

Peace,

Liv