Thirty Days of Thanks - Days Nine & Ten

Yesterday, I woke up with a bit of a cold. And it make me thankful for the fact that I am rarely sick, and when I am it goes away fairly quickly. Knock wood.
Today, I am thankful for how awesome my little community is. I mentioned the other day that my mom and I were artisans at an event called Ladies' Night, which helped support battered woman and families. Over 400 women went, and they each paid $5.00 at the door. Plus raffles, what the artisans paid for the tables, and food and drink, it raised, I am sure, a lot of money.
And a local business did this all for free, because they're good people.
Last night, Magdalena and I went to a free pizza pajama party, put on by the Community Network for Children, at the Atheneum. I can't tell you how much I appreciate these free events, especially since I've been doing No Spend November.

We listened to stories, sang songs, and, of course, ate pizza!

And Magdalena was reunited with her long lost friend, Noah!

No Spend November has been going pretty well. I have had a couple of instances where I wanted to get things so badly. The hardest one was when I was ordering yarn for a special order, and my fingers were just itching to add a few more skeins to the cart. But I didn't! If I can surpass that, then I can do anything!
Another roadblock happened the other day. My friend held a trunk show, in which she was selling handmade paper beads. Ugandan women make them, and then a program sells them. You can get sets of them to sell at parties and send the money back to the company. It provides a means of support for these women.
Now, I couldn't go, so my problem was solved before it began. But it got me thinking - what if I had been able to go? Jewelry is certainly not a necessity, but it was for a good cause and the beads are beautiful. The more I think about it, the more I realize I would probably have purchased a cheap pair of earrings just to buy something, and that's it. I just don't do jewelry so much. But that would've gone against this experiment...Who knows?

That's what I've been thankful for the past couple of days. What about you?
Check out 30 Days of Thanks on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/300340263404435/

From the 30 Days of Thanks Facebook page:
"Thankfulness should extend beyond Thanksgiving. Even on our hardest days and in our worst moments, there is always something for which to be thankful. Practice daily gratitude during the month of November and share your thankfulness with others around the world.
"Please join this event and invite your friends to also participate in 30 Days of Thanks. Join and find something to be thankful for each day, whether you come back here each day and tell us all what you're thankful for (which would be fantastic!) or whether you acknowledge your gratitude in private."