this is not all there is

1. I am grateful for parking meters that have time left on them. The library here has a parking lot full of meters (Can you believe that? In the library parking lot? I KNOW!) and I found one today with time left on it. Hurray! But then, around the corner, I found another one right next to the sandwich shop with only 11 minutes left on it and thought I would make it back out in time. Nope. And, lucky me, a meter cop was right there to ticket me no more than two minutes after the meter expired. You can't win them all. But I'm still grateful for the first meter so that I could check out my book for free.

2. I am grateful for birthday coupons that get me Coldstone ice cream for free. Yum. Even though I got completely mixed up finding the place, and drove up and down one street for ten minutes before realizing it was on a completely different street. Still. Yummy ice cream makes a lot of things better. (For those of you from sunflower land, how could I confuse 23rd with Mass.? It's crazy! For those of you from Happy Valley, it would be like confusing Bulldog with University Ave. You know them both, and drive on them all the time, and then, when your ice cream depends on it, you mix them up.)

3. I am grateful for friends who are willing to ask me honest questions, and that the life experiences that I thought I went through for no good reason other than to cause me pain might actually come in handy in empathizing with those I love. So, two gratitudes there. First, for friends that have questions, and, second, for the experiences that gave me the answers.

"There is no better opportunity to receive more than to be thankful for what you already have. Thanksgiving opens the windows of opportunity for ideas to flow your way."
--Jim Rohn