A Grateful Sigh of Relief!

Friends Spread Sunshine

Friends Share Grandchildren

Friends Send Hot Gifts

Grown Daughters (Maybe...) Make Great Friends

After two days of not being able to access my own blog posts--talk about the proverbial blank page that strikes fear into the heart of every writer--I am back online!

I've missed the Tuesday round of gratitudes for whatever bug ailed Blogger, but I'll start with being grateful over being grumpy. Such things happen in life. This post is dedicated to friends.

Seven good reasons I am grateful for friends:

1. Laughter! In the midst of frustration, I can rely on a friend to remind me that I'm far from being virtuous, and that it's okay. Jokes, designs and witty words do get me through.
2. Help! Even from afar my friends are always helpful. Reaching out to my tech-savvy friend about my Blogger woes, she gave me the advice of one of her youngsters...and somehow, magically, it worked. As if merely knowing a tech-savvy friend with two wise daughters in elementary school was enough to chase the Blogger bug away.
3. Recipes! How is it that I know so many people with such good taste? I'm grateful for endless possibilities for my crockpot and kitchen.
4. Visits! Only a true-blue friend would dare to venture to northern Idaho in so remote of a place just to visit. Some even bless me by bringing grandchildren to share. Thank you friends, for past and future visits.
5. Gifts! Friends give great gifts. I mean, what can be greater than fresh Bhut Jolokia Ghost Peppers in the mail--seriously! I have a talented friend who grows them in Minnesota--of all places--and she carefully packed a bundle in priority mail...with aged Chinese tea and Spam Macadamia nuts from her native Hawaii. What a friend!
6. Inspiration! My friends are mothers, poets, grandmothers, writers, song-catchers, word-crafters, teachers, kitchen-cooks, back-yard gardeners, activists, needle-point artists, painters and incredible, inspirational women with hearts of gold and sharp minds.
7. Love! Hugs, virtual and real-time, are life-savers. You can hear love in a voice, see it in eyes and feel it in a touch. Friends spread love like thick jam on homemade bread.

Thank you my friends, my writing buddies, my muddy buddy, my daughters, my walking angels online!