50 Things I'm Thankful For

I have a zillion things to be thankful for and here are fifty of them.

1. The Internet. The single greatest invention of our time, I say.
2. My pit-bull mix, Jeely. For teaching me that saying "never" most of the time doesn't work.
3. My circle of friends. You people rock.
4. Being alive. When asked what the most surprising thing about my heart transplant experience was, I always respond "that I made it out alive." No joke. It was tough. I am incredibly grateful, even now, to be alive.
5. iTunes. How did I organize my music before? And talk about instant gratification.
6. Really good design
7. Noise cancelling headphones
8. My new-to-me car and the friends that sold it to me.
9. The fact that I can dispose of my old dead car easily and free just by donating it.
10. Adobe products - most especially Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop
11. A fantabulous husband who is also my best friend
12. My crackberry (I'd be lying if it wasn't there!)
13. Having a challenging and fulfilling job
14. Legend of Zelda series and Rock Band for keeping me off the streets
15. My mom and dad for being my inspirations
16. Caramel macchiato lattes
17. An affordable warm house
18. My former low sodium diet for getting me off my butt and into the kitchen
19. Facebook
20. Digital cameras
21. Almost everything that comes off a pig
22. Sleeping
23. Food that is so good you want to cry
24. That I can leave my job at work so I have plenty of time for playing
25. Treadmills (and that I can use them at ridiculously high inclines)
26. Movies that make me laugh and that have no blood splatters
27. People demonstrating kindness
28. Google. Oh Google and your assorted and sundry products, I love thee.
29. Wireless internet and the fact that I can get wireless internet/VoIP on my crackberry
30. My incredible sister
31. Color
32. Living on the plains but only 20 minutes from spectacular mountains
33. The possibility that a public option might actually happen (no more pre-existing conditions! no more lifetime cap!)
34. A husband who is a computer genius
35. Sweatpants
36. Blogs
37. My cats even though they never leave the laundry room any more
38. A husband who makes wonderful lattes so we can occasionally save a couple of bucks
39. Ready to assemble furniture until such time we decide that's where we want to spend our money
40. Danskos
41. Digital cameras for giving me something to scrapbook
42. Art museums
43. The Lord of the Rings books and movies
44. Tivo. How did we live without this?
45. Hulu. For when I forget to set my Tivo.
46. Dishwashers
47. My choirs for giving me a voice and not just for singing
48. My night-owl genes because I love being the keeper of this legacy
49. My new(ish) heart and the individual who said yes to being a donor
50. God

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ummm, yeah

So I will admit to being a bit absent here on this blog. I say at least once a week..."I need to update my blog!" and then going about working on my crafts, cooking, singing, working...and it's two weeks later and then two months later!I am back, yet again. With no major goals to update regularly, which is probably good because I don't think I have many readers (hi mom!) but I think I do need to get my write on. Just a bit maybe.

The haps around here? Oh, so much. Besides the crazy that is my job which I don't discuss here anyway, I've been wildly practicing with my two groups getting ready for our two early fall shows! Early fall shows means summer practices but Christmas off - so it all balances out in the end. I would encourage everyone (hi, again Mom!) to come check out our performances. We have new directors for both groups and a new freshness and energy.

• Modern Broadway by the Northland Chorale on 10/23, 10/24 and 10/25. Click here for more info and to buy tickets.
• To Touch a Hundred Flowers by Sine Nomine on 11/21 and 11/22. Click here for more info and to buy tickets.

We've also got a new member of the family. Introducing the very sweet and eminently lovely Jeely.

And my beloved mean green Taurus (aka Taurai) finally bit the dust at 199,685 miles. I have a wonderful new car but every time I see the Taurus sitting out in the front, I still think I would've liked to have gotten those last 315 miles! We are going to give it away and if anyone has a suggestion of a good charity, I would appreciate any ideas!

And lastly, I've been a crafting fool. My new house means a new scrapbooking/craft area - just for me! And nothing helps fuel a passion like a space to do it in. Even a tiny space. I've also discovered online classes. For a mere $20 (or so) per class, I can be challenged and learn new ideas. Happily, one of my all time favorite scrappy inspirations is hosting an online class on making a very cool minibook. A link to the class shop can be found here. Here is are a few examples of the patterned paper lusciousness that came with the class kit.

Seriously nom.

Colorado Rocks!

Can you believe that THIS is only about 80 minutes away from my house? Actually, I can find this 20 minutes from my house, but who wants to camp that close to home?

For many years, I didn't go up into the mountains very often. Anything above Denver's 5,280 ft was difficult. Camping had to be done at lakes (although very enjoyable) and hiking was completely out of the question.

Now is a different story. Now...

We hike. (Nine miles on the Colorado Trail at Little Scraggy)

We eat.

We watch CavemanTV.

We live in tents.

No showers. No laptops. It could not be more fun.

Back to Earth

Oh yeah, I have a blog!

Holy crap, I've been busy. Even for me...between two choirs and work, a week hasn't gone by since February where I haven't been out of the house. And now tonight, on a lovely rainy June Friday, I've had a chance to sit, veg out on the Internet and do nothing.

Okay, I will admit that I did do a deep cleaning of the Camelbacks (in preparation for hiking to start sometime SOON - weather, did you hear that?), made a homemade dinner, baked up a batch of granola and did some writing. BUT STILL. It was done all at home with Chris happily programming downstairs and the dog always within about 5 feet of me.

And I did veg out on the Internet. A highly enjoyable pastime if not a total waste of time. But that is why we love it, do we not?

And for lack of anything else more interesting to post about - as befitting this evening of relaxing - here is my "recipe" (technique, really) for my killer homemade granola. The best part of this recipe is that if you don't have one of these ingredients, just sub it out for something else. No butter? Use oil. No Grape Nuts? Use Cheerios. The only thing that stays the same for me is the oats.

Mighty Nom Granola

(Exact amounts are to taste)

- 3 cups regular rolled oats

- Grape Nuts (or the generic version that neither of us like and we're trying to use up)

- Roughly chopped mixed unsalted nuts (cashews, almonds, pecans, hazelnuts)

- Raw pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

- 2 tablespoons butter

- 1/3 cup applesauce

- 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup or combo

- 2 teaspoons cinnamon

- 1/4 teaspoon cardamom

- Pinch of salt

- 2 tablespoons brown sugar

- Cooking spray

- Dried fruit

- Toasted coconut

First, mix all the dry, raw ingredients together (oats through pepitas) in a big bowl. In a saucepan, melt the butter then add the applesauce, honey, cinnamon, cardamom, salt, and brown sugar. Cook for just a minute. Pour over the oat mixture.

Spray a sheet pan with cooking spray and spread the mixture on the pan in an even layer. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 3 ten minute intervals, stirring at each break. When golden brown, take out of the oven and cool in the pan on a rack. Don't worry if everything seems soft. It will crisp as it cools.

Once cool, stir in the fruit and the coconut and try to stop eating it long enough to put in an airtight container. Use as a topping for yogurt or ice cream. Or just eat it as a snack.

This Song, Again?

The prompt: Three songs that are overplayed but you love anyway. 

This one was easy - I listen to the radio almost exclusively in my car (before I make my practice CDs for choir, that is) and my station is the king of the Repetitive Playlist. So, here are my picks.

Feels Like Tonight by Daughtry

Every time I drive somewhere in my car, I hear a Daughtry song. I've tested this. I could be driving from home to the grocery store and hear "Home" and then on the return trip, I will hear "Over You." To my own repetitive shame, I never change the channel on "Feels Like Tonight." There is something about the way the middle of the chorus goes up that feels sooo good in the vocal cords and for one minute, I'm a total rock star.

Pocket Full of Sunshine by Natasha Bedingfield

I don't even know what half the words are because every time I hear this song, all I can do is imagine how I could create a slammin' womens choral arrangement for it. I'm telling you, it would so rock.

Jack and Diane by John Mellencamp

All John Mellencamp reminds me of my Uncle Kevin, my fabulous late-uncle whose stories of bustin' a move at John Mellencamp concerts still stand out in my mind. I think of Uncle Kevin every time I hear a Mellencamp song, but this one, with the clapping rhythm and great lyrics gets me every time.

Curious George Goes to the Hospital

A hospital is a big scary place for a 3-year old girl. I remember very little from those days of hair loss, travel, and chemo, but I do remember the bright yellow hat. And the little grinning monkey eating the puzzle piece.

There was comfort to be found in those pages. Even though I don't remember getting half as much ice cream as Curious George got.

This Week in Blogs

It's been a tough week in my particular blogosphere. Two of my favorite bloggers have lost aunts - one of them being my own great aunt. Still two others have sick babies. Not just colds and flus, but real serious illnesses. Like stay-in-the-hospital for months illnesses. Still more are moving and others are simply not blogging because real life takes over and blots out the writing.

I am one of those blog readers who isn't ashamed that I get emotionally attached to the blogs I follow. My favorite blogger, the incomparable Heather Armstrong just realized every bloggers dream. She's written a book based on her life - a life carved out of this new medium and now on paper.

Ms. Armstrong's blog is pretty typical of the blogs I follow. Most, but not all, are about moms raising any number of kids. Single atheist moms raising only children, married non-believing couples raising only children with more on the way, blended families with kids from adults to infants, Christian families raising many small children - you get the picture.

I can identify with at least something with each of the blogs I read. As most know, I don't have kids - and although each of those above blogs is about motherhood, all are about making a connection with the reader regardless of child status, marital status, gender preference or even belief. And most importantly, all the blogs I read - whether I am looking for an art fix or fun food reviews/recipes - have one thing in common:

All these bloggers are incredible writers.

Because of this, I find as much satisfaction reading Michael Ruhlman's highly opinionated food blog as I do Tara Whitney's Just Be Blogged or Carol Blymire's opus - The French Laundry at Home.

And see, in my fast paced, busy world where reading one book can take months, I find my writing inspiration here in the tiny whizzing packets on the Internet. All those beautiful writers you knew in high school? The ones that should be making millions as authors but instead are raising families, taking pictures, working at their jobs? They are now (or should be) blogging.

Bloggers don't write for themselves. Well, we do, but we are the journalers who could never get into journaling because ultimately, we want people to read what we write. If you find out your friend blogs, I urge you to find a reader you like and subscribe. Read what your friends write - we want to share our lives with you.