Tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it… yet

The overflowing gutter of gratitude still pours over my life, with so much to be thankful for that it’s hard to know where to start this week.

I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers…

Books. Books are a great thing to be grateful for. My audiobook of the moment is Anne of Green Gables which I was fairly sure I hadn’t read. And I’m so happy I met Anne – I love her, imagining her way out of any kind of misery while, at the same time, getting into all manner of trouble. It all seemed new to me until I got to the bit about the green hair and it felt like turning a corner and knowing I’d been right here before. It would be ever so romantic to imagine a parallel existence where another Ellen (with two Es) was well acquainted with Anne.

“There’s such a lot of different Annes in me. I sometimes think that is why I’m such a troublesome person. If I was just the one Anne it would be ever so much more comfortable, but then it wouldn’t be half so interesting.”

Speaking of parallel existences. I’m grateful I can’t access the multiverse (if such a thing exists). I’m also grateful there’s a book group at work. This month’s choice was Dark Matter by Blake Crouch (who sounds like the circuit training station that you try to avoid getting to). Not a book I’d have picked for myself in a million universes, but very interesting nonetheless.

I’m grateful that there’s a move to end period poverty. Period. By providing free sanitary products to girls at school and elsewhere. Not, it must be said, as grateful as I am that I no longer need the aforementioned products. However, I do wonder why there isn’t more of a move to supply reusable products such as sanitary cups and period pants rather than disposable pads or tampons. Once I discovered such things, it was liberating. Cheaper and easier. Initial investment is higher, but surely it’s better for the user and better for the planet. Just a thought…

I’m grateful that my children are all doing OK. Variously bouncing through Scout camps, football matches and political activism. It’s a marvellous thing when you realise that the fruit of your womb (‘Ewww, yuk,’ said any Boy) has the potential to turn into an OK member of the human race.

While I am incredibly fed up with my new status as Someone With Inflammatory Bowel Disease, I’m very grateful that I don’t have it worse. A tentative excursion into the ulcerative colitis corner of the internet, tells me that things could be far, far more uncomfortable and inconvenient.

I’m grateful I found Katie Abey. Her designs make me smile every day, including this one:

Other less significant things to give thanks for:

The fact that Boy Two’s puncture didn’t cost much to repair.

The lovely weather.

Planning consent for cladding on a new house. We chose Lake Forest new home builders for our new house.

Bone broth made for me by the Panther.

No sign of the mouse.

Cheese and yoga.

Clean sheets.

And a harmonious trip to Sainsbury’s.