Carole’s Ten on Tuesday topic today is Things I’m Thankful for Right Now:

1. My family: 2015 has been a rough year, with death, serious injuries and illness, and unemployment poking sticks at us. But we persevere together.
2. My friends: See above. Dear friends from high school and college came to my grandmother’s funeral. Others friends have listened to me when I needed to talk or invited me out when they thought I might be lonely.
3. My three cats: They’re sometimes a pain, but how much lonelier — and chillier — my life would be without them.
4. Taxes: We all complain about how much we bring home each paycheck versus how much our employers say they’re paying us. But, man, we’re really grateful to everyone who paid taxes, which allowed my family to collect unemployment benefits and use local parks for picnicking in, rec centers and parks to play in, and libraries for letting us read books we could never afford to buy.
5. Hardy equipment: My car is 22 years old this fall and will, knock wood, get us up to spend time with family this week. The radio no longer works and the pickup is terrible, but it has a good heart and is a lovely shade of Colgate green. I dropped my phone a couple years back, shattering the screen. Gradually, it’s disappearing, but mostly it still functions just fine, especially after a system upgrade this summer.
6. Continued employment: Funding for the project I work on dried up earlier this year, but the director of our office has shifted around some of her funds to keep us all on for the time being. I don’t always love what I do and it’s not my dream job, but I mostly like the people I do it with and it does good in the world, and I could do far, far worse.
7. The Hamilton soundtrack: I’m afraid that no other music this year has captivated my brain the way this musical has, with its consistent ear-worminess, and one song or another is on constant loop in my head. (Currently it’s Thomas Jefferson’s “What Did I Miss?” Apologies to those of you who’ll now have it stuck in your head.)
8. Netflix: It’s really nice to be able to pull up an episode of Leverage or White Collar or Black Books or Miss Fisher whenever the mood strikes.
9. D.C.: Terrorists may be targeting it and the subway may keep breaking down, but its zoo and (many of its) museums are free, there are a plethora of bookstores and movie theaters and summertime outdoor films and farmers markets, the subway works most of the time, its bike-share system and network of bike-friendly trails and lanes continue to grow, and laws keep our buildings short and the sun peering down on us.
10. Bed: Because I’m tired and I can go join Rudi and the cats in it now that I’ve finished composing this list.

How about you? What are you thankful for at the moment?