What I am thankful for......

A couple of weeks ago at church, my friend Sue Holtz-Kaiser presented the children's message. At the end she suggested to the children that every night as they were going to sleep, it would be a good idea if they would think of one thing for which they were thankful. Then in the sermon, Pastor Jeff quoted a website where the author suggested that everyone should find five things each day to be thankful for.

Clearly the major reasons I am thankful include my fabulous husband, four awesome grown children, and the world's cutest grandson, not to mention other friends and family and a multitude of other blessings. With that in mind, and given that tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day, I am happy to present a partial list of the other things I am thankful for this year:

• Contact lenses - having worn glasses for some 35+ years, I followed the lead of my middle son about six years ago and got fitted for my first pair of disposable soft contacts. I was amazed by the difference, and now I wonder why I waited so long to make this change. Who would have thought that such a tiny piece of soft plastic could totally transform my view of the world around me?
• Cell phones - at one time I firmly insisted that there was no way I would ever carry a phone around with me. After all, sometimes the reason I was leaving the house was to get away from the phone! Now that has changed, to the point where I wonder how we ever managed without cell phones. I love that since each of my four grown kids has a cell, they are more likely to call me on my cell than they would if I only had the landline phone (thanks, Cingular, for free mobile-to-mobile minutes!).
• The online catalog for my local public library. It's awesome to sit down at the computer, browse through the Barnes and Noble website, and then request books from the library rather than spending lots of money I don't have to buy them. It's also very convenient since I can do it on my own schedule instead of having to adapt to the library's operating hours. Now if they just offered free home delivery when the books come in........
  
• Chocolate (self explanatory, of course!)
  

May each of you have a blessed Thanksgiving, and may you be especially aware each day of everything that you have to be thankful for.

An Introduction to the Knitlady

I started this blog for family and friends to stay updated with the events in my life, and also to provide a forum to show my knitting projects.

I have been knitting since my mom taught me when I was nine years old. At various times in my life I didn't knit a lot, but now knitting has once again become a major part of my life. My daughter actually introduced me to one of her friends once as, "My mom, the knitaholic." I take my knitting with me to meetings, classes, conferences, and even Sunday School class. Over the years I've knitted everything from simple dishcloths and scarves to complex afghans and two lace tablecloths. I find knitting to be relaxing and very enjoyable as well as allowing an outlet for my creative energies. More recently I have also been knitting prayer shawls, and I'm attempting to get a prayer shawl ministry group started at my church.

Now that I'm mostly unemployed (long story for another post) I've been knitting lots of things to sell at craft fairs in the area. This coming weekend I'll be doing a craft fair in Jerseyville on Saturday from 8 to 3 at the Holy Ghost School, and another one on Sunday in New Douglas at the community center from 1 to 4. I also plan to upload photos of my work to this blog so that people who aren't close enough to attend my craft fairs can see what I have to offer.

I welcome comments and feedback from everyone. I'm anxious to hear back from people so that I know someone is actually seeing the blog.