I've been a crabby old bat lately, and I know it. I remind myself of my mom--not my REAL mom, the way she was for the first 80+ years, but the way she was about half the time for the last couple of years, when Alzheimer's changed her from a sweet, good-humored, generous person to a fussy, selfish whiner.

When she was in that frame of mind, she took everything personally and negatively. We'd go for a ride and she'd say, "Wouldn't you know I'd get a chance to go for a ride and it would be raining!" The next time she'd say, "Wouldn't you know I'd get a chance to go for a ride and the sun would be right in my eyes!" One day she'd say, "Wouldn't you know there'd be nothing good on TV!" and the next, "Wouldn't you know there'd be three shows I want to watch on at the same time!"

As I do every once in a while, when I hear myself heading that direction, I'm trying to be mindful of the little things I have that make me thankful. I'm not talking about the BIG things that we're all (or should be) thankful for: family, friends, freedom, whatever. I'm forcing myself to look at the things I take for granted every day, such as:

*Two bathrooms. There are many, many times when I would really be anxious to realize the bathroom was already in use.

*Kleenex. (Puffs, actually). I remember my mother boiling handkerchiefs in an old pot. Yee-uck!

*Toilet tissue. No explanation needed.

*A shower head. My folks always had only a bathtub, and climbing in and out was painful and a peril for them.

*A clothes dryer. I remember Mom unpinning towels from the clothesline in the winter. They'd be frozen stiff. (Mom and the towels)

*A well. I can remember having to wait two hours between loads of laundry so the spring would fill up.

*Cordless phones. I know, I know, you're thinking, "You still have a land line??" But I spent most of my life trying not to knock the sugar bowl over with the phone cord as I stretched it out across the table trying to reach the stove while talking to someone, hitched to the wall. I still marvel sometimes that I can take the phone with me to the basement to explain, "Yes, the pilot light is still on".

Okay, that's a start.