Ten Good Things (Anne Stuart)

There are times when you need to be grateful, simply because life can be so wretched that you have to grab the perfect times when you can get them. Even if they're not completely perfect.
So I'm sharing the good stuff with you. Ten Good Things, big and small.
Number one. My career. I've finished the book I had so much trouble with and I think it's pretty good. I've been trying to upload a cover and failing miserably, but sooner or later I'll manage it. And now I get to write the first book of The House of Rohan, three generations that run through England's aristocracy from the Georgian period through the regency (which technically is Georgian as well). The tentative title for the first one is HEARTLESS, and Francis Rohan, my cynical hero, is most definitely that. It's going to be soooo delicious.
Number two. My son is in New Zealand on a NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) trip. We've been trying to get him there for years, and it finally all came together, and he's somewhere hiking around where they filmed Lord of the Rings, sea kayaking, doing all sorts of outdoor things and loving it.
Number three, my daughter, who's now living in San Francisco and going to the Art Institute of California to learn how to design video games. Basically she'll be world-building, which she loves. She has an apartment in the Fillmore District, right next to Japantown and udon noodles, with three roommates that she gets along with, and she called me yesterday just to tell me she's happy. Big sigh of delight from her hovering mom.
Number four. It's autumn in Vermont. Incredibly beautiful, with cool, crisp air and magic colors. We're past peak, heading into the golden time when the tamaracks change, the leaves turn a dull gold and fall to the ground and when the sun hits it everything looks golden.
Number 5. I've finally learned how to use my serger. Those of you who sew know how contrary a serger can be, but I took a class and now I'm finally over the hump and will be serging up a storm.
Number 6. I have people to quilt with. My friends Sally and Ann are equally bitten by the quilting bug, and we'll be meeting every week to sew, to argue about Electric Quilt (the software program), to drink herb tea and have a wonderful time. It's so much nicer than quilting in solitary.
Number 7. My extended family is doing well. My 94 year old mother loves her apartment here in town, with its beautiful views, and I haven't seen her this happy in years. And my sister had her hip replaced and spent weeks in rehab and as a result she's moving and motivated and heading in the right direction.
Number 8. I'm still madly in love with my husband after being together 35 years (and married for 33 of them).
Number 9. I'm still madly in love with writing (when it goes well) even after all these years.
Number 10. I'm so grateful that the news for my beloved Sister Lynn isn't as dire as they first thought. And Lynn's one hell of a fighter.

I could probably come up with ten more -- I'm grateful for the new sewing class that's coming up, grateful for my Baby-boy editor, grateful for Vicodin , grateful for Gackt. But I'll stop for now. There are not so pleasant things, like the pain that's causing my need for Vicodin, that the endless winter is coming, that the economy is in the toilet. But for now I'll bask in the good stuff, cherishing life.

Can you guys name ten good things? Or even five? I've asked you this before, but you know, I think there's never too much gratitude in this world.