Well put, Beth

and you're quite right.  Looking for some small thing to be thankful for, every day, is a means of forcing yourself to look for, or actively search for, the small things, and  expressing  your thankfulness, verbally or in writing, is a way of reinforcing the concept of finding happiness in little things.  ( It can also lower your blood pressure.)  I have tried several times to reproduce Daddy's shortbread, but never succeeded.  So you're ahead of me there, Cathy.

I have to confess that today's thing is a little larger than most.  Today my Tuesday stitchers got together for our yearly Christmas lunch.  The conversation, at one point,  turned to how long we had been meeting, and who was no longer with us, and what the group had meant to us over the years.  It would appear that there are now only three of the original members left.  Two have died, and one appears to be separating herself from us ( it was concern expressed for this lady that brought up the whole subject.)  One member just stopped coming about 10 years ago, we see her occasionally, and know she is well..  But we have two new members, who bring a whole different dynamic to the group.  All of us expressed our gratitude for the group, although we also expressed that we, as individuals, had never actually looked at the group in terms of what it meant to each of our lives. We have seen each other through loss of husbands, (x3) and cancer, (x2) and all the other problems that play a big role in women's lives.  I am the only one of the group who still has a life partner, and for that I am grateful.

 But I also have a small thing to be grateful for today.  I wore my new blue jacket for the first time.  This is the one I bought off a clearance rack for next to nothing, and then spent time regretting the decision, as it didn't go with anything in my wardrobe.  Doesn't matter.  Today I'm grateful for the jacket that left me feeling warm for the first time in days.  And worn over black it looks fine.  And today I had my first panini.  Quite tasty. But not something I will search out in future.  So, I'm also grateful for the opportunity to try something new.

There was an e-mail this evening from Amber telling us that Darren's Grandmother has passed away.  She was a big influence in his life, but was 97, and had been living in a nursing home for some time.

What a strange posting this has turned out to be.