#365Gratitude Day 31: New help getting it covered

Yesterday was a busy day for me.  

First, I went to a local tech-and-coffee get together, to get help with a side project I'm just starting.  I'd never been to this particular meeting before, but it was AWESOME.

Out of nowhere, this guy came and sat with me, and spent more than 2 hours with me, helping me sketch out the data model for my project. 

Totally amazing.

Then, after that, I met up with a new friend, J. and her husband, B.  They're age players around the area too, and we've been casually floating in each other's orbits for a while now.  We met for coffee, conversation, and so I could take a whole bunch of diapers they were trying to get rid of off their hands.

It was a LOT of diapers.

The best part about the whole thing was we sat there at the coffee shop talking for over 2 hours.  They're super nice people, who I think Missy and I are going to be very good friends with, indeed.

I love how life brings me new experiences, new friends, new opportunities.  

#365Gratitude Day 30: The podcast endures

I love making the Big Little Podcast.  

There's no question, it's work.  Spacey and I work super hard to put it together.  Coming up with ideas, finding guests, planning and promoting the show, recording it, editing it, and getting it out there is often exhausting work.

But it's so worth doing.

We've met amazing people through it, and helped genuinely make a difference in people's lives.  In lots of weird, subtle little ways we've noticed ideas, slang, and attitudes that come from the podcast showing up in online postings and discussions, at events people are creating and attending.

It's made an enormous difference in my own life, too.  I have so many good friends through this work.  We've been at it for three years now, and I don't see it ending any time soon.

#365Gratitude Day 29: 3,365 miles

That's how far it is from Alaska to Virginia.

That's the distance the gift that my very thoughtful friend Lee sent to me, just because.

This gift.

It's a shark themed crayon carrier.  It's awesome for a number of reasons:

• The pattern of the fabric is one I've seen before - I have a bandana made from it, and an awesome bib that was a gift from another friend.
• It was totally unexpected.  It wasn't a christmas or a birthday gift, just a "just because " gift.
• Every time I look at it, I think of my thoughtful friend, who is so lovely.

I love knowing my friends think of me from afar.  This was such a sweet, thoughtful gift.

365 miles: 17 miles

Started out tonight not wanting to swim. Totally blissed out by the end of it.