In my ongoing quest to flatter Sarah Dessen by copying her, I’m going to list 29 things I am thankful for on my birthday.

1) a healthy, happy, supportive and perfect-for-me family

2) my funny, loyal, smart, and all-around fabulous friends

3) little sprouts of tomatoes, reaching for the sun

4) ice cream in all its flavors and textures

5) SPRINGTIME!

6) the silent moments when Z is asleep

7) sunshine streaming through stained glass windows

8 ) dreams that bring ideas or allow me to work through old hurts

9) fresh, clear water

10) the Sacramento Public Library

11) Clark the cat, who so often gets overlooked now that we have a human baby

12) nifty words like “dilatory,” “numismatist,” “campanology,” “ebullient,” and “lackadaisical”

13) books, and the ever-growing YA market

14) Paper Mate felt-tip pens in many beautiful colors

15) flamingos

16) Radiohead’s “Exit Music (For a Film)” which got me through a year of teaching high school in Vallejo even though I have no idea what the song is about

17) those moments when I’m kind of bored with whatever section of story I’m writing, and some idea just comes out of nowhere and I go with it and it feels fantastic

18) the Columbine flower in the front yard that came out of nowhere, too

19) lasagne

20) my feet

21) hope

22) the night sky

23) my mistakes and disappointments

24) quiet moments spent gardening, even if I’m just pulling weeds

25) an empty kitchen sink!

26) the years of piano lessons my parents paid for

27) cursive handwriting

28) our house, which is creaky and weird, with truly ugly drapes in the front rooms, but lovable just the same

29) the slow-dawning realization over the past year: that I would survive motherhood

Around #19 I thought I had run out of ideas, but now I don’t want to stop! I’ll save them for next year.