25 Days of Thanksgiving: Days 9 & 10

Day 9 of thanks-giving was yesterday. As I was standing at the sink, washing dishes by hand because our new dishwasher has been recalled for starting fires and the repairman won't be here until tomorrow, I realized that I was thankful for washing dishes by hand. I'm not going to lie, our attitudes haven't been the greatest when it comes to doing dishes by hand. We are spoiled. I am fully aware of this. But for about a month now we've been doing this chore, and most of that time it has been a family event. I insist on washing, since I have pretty pink gloves to keep my hands from chapping. Then Hot Daddy and Princess Pea Pod rinse, dry and put them away. This is a time in our lives when we still spend the majority of our time together, but I know that it won't be long before various responsibilities and activities fill our evenings. Then I will long for the evenings spent washing dishes together.

Today is day 10 and I am thankful for our excellent new library. Today I will be enjoying the children's section with a cup of coffee, a fantastic friend, and four kids. Yes, a cup of coffee... in the children's library... no joke! I suppose I am still in the dark ages (with which I had never seen a problem) when food and drink were absolutely unacceptable within the walls of the library and the only sounds allowed were the zhoop-zhoop from sliding a book off the shelf and the quiet click-flip of turning pages. As a child I adored the library. As as adult I adore the library. Then our small-ish town got a new library, with exciting features like a fireplace, and a coffee shop, and a stunning mosaic by two of my favorite people. Yeah, a fireplace and a coffee shop! The coffee shop will put an approved lid on your cup so that you can sit by the fire and read, or so that you can sit with your friend in the gazebo in the children's library, sipping coffee and watching your kids explore. Sure, I'd like to be going all by myself and sipping my coffee while I read by the fire, but M & I both have little readers. And I have a coffee pot and a fireplace at home. So today, for about an hour, my little reader and her friends can enjoy their new literary world and M & I will sip our coffee and enjoy their excitement.