llcoolvad | thanksgiving

Since it's been a bitch of a year, I've tasked a few idle brain cells today with thinking about what I'm thankful for right now. I'm finding that my overall gloom is making it hard to come up with a big list, but I'll keep thinking about it. For now:

iPhone: Seriously, I do everything with it. I track all kinds of things. I use it to entertain myself, educate myself, stay in contact, etc. I have it with me 100% of the time. OK, maybe not in the shower. 99.92% of the time.
LoseIt app: There is no way on this beautiful blue marble that I would have managed to lose 55 pounds (and counting!) in this little time without this app. It's just...simple and fun. And it makes me feel accountability, which I've never felt with a person or group (regarding weight loss). I don't know why it's managed to work where nothing else has, but I'll take it.
Words with Friends: It's been exceedingly helpful to pretty much always have something waiting to distract me and force me to use my brain. And honestly, as each game pops up it feels a little bit like someone is thinking about me throughout the day. It's nice.
Space heater: Sometimes you just feel cold all the way down to your soul. Sit in front of the space heater for a while, bake the cold right out. It's the dumb little things, I swear.
Pie: Well, snacks in general. Even though I've been limiting my intake, I've managed to control my snacking by not denying myself, but indulging carefully and by making wise choices. If I didn't have snacks every day I'd be going up instead of down in weight. Might go against common wisdom, but it's working for me.
Audible: I think too much in the car. Music isn't distracting enough. Audible lets me sink into a narrative other than my own, and I am grateful for it. I've listened to audio books for years, but Audible is so easy and reasonably priced, I have zero complaints. And I've fallen in love with Will Patton.
Nifty scanner: Finally I can deal with my paper backlog. Still working on it, but have made more progress this year than ever before.
Ativan: I had some situational anxiety this summer and was experiencing classic symptoms like racing heart, racing brain, inability to focus, etc. My doctor prescribed me this to be taken as needed, and while I haven't taken it often, when I did, it really really helped. Especially good to let me get a full night's sleep.
My friends: They are seriously long-suffering this year. I don't think I've ever been this pathetic before in my life. I am constantly whining and bitching to them and being a generally needy vaguely crappy friend. Without exception they have all been kind, helpful, and haven't gotten sick of me. Or at least are good at pretending that they haven't gotten sick of me! Which is really what matters.
That 2011 is almost over. I know the calendar changing doesn't actually change anything. But a fresh calendar page can't really hurt. And most of my big problems will self-resolve at the turn of the year. Sure, I'll have new challenges, but at least they will be new ones.

Ok, that's all I've got right now. What are you thankful for?