These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

I have been thinking about some of the things I have of which I am very fond. Not the sentimental stuff, like my photo albums and little things that are very dear to my heart, but practical things I would hate to have to do without. And not completely utilitarian things either, like my refrigerator, which I wouldn't want to do without, but for which I feel no particular fondness. Here are the things that come to mind:

• Our cow, Nuala. Technically, she is not a thing, but I can't very well lump her in with God and my family, so here she is at the top of the list. She is our milk, butter, yogurt, sour cream, beef and hopefully soon, cheese machine. As long as we have her I will feel rich.

• My Wusthof knife set, a wedding gift from my mother nearly 21 years ago. I love these knives. The chef's knife is indispensable to me.

• My KitchenAid mixer. I bought it reconditioned on eBay when we moved here 6 years ago and I was 8 months pregnant. I wanted one powerful enough to knead bread dough, as it is hard to respond to a fussing baby when you are up to your elbows in dough.

• The internet. Ouch. I really hate putting that on this list, but moving to a rural area it has been a blessing. I do almost all my gift shopping online, I buy my vitamins online, I price-check everything to get the best price, I use it as a reference for school subjects and I send out photos of the kids to family. Which brings me to:
  

• My digital camera. I got a fancy Fuji Finepix on eBay to replace my broken camera, and I still haven't learned t use all the features on the dratted thing, but I love having it, and I hope to get better at using it.
  

• My antique dining set. It was my grandparents', so there is some sentimental value to it, but the pieces are also beautiful and functional. Because I can keep almost all of my dishes in the buffet cabinets, I am left with plenty of space in my kitchen cabinets. And the "dutch leaf" table pulls out to accommodate family for holidays.

• The crucifix on my bedroom wall above our family altar. Okay, maybe there is more sentiment here than practicality, but I would hate to be without it. My sister repainted it for me and changed it from a bland, inexpensive catalog piece into beautiful, one-of-a-kind objet d'art. When the light in the bedroom hits our Lord's face just right, one can see a tear beneath his eye.

There may be more, but that is what comes to mind at this time. I'll add to it as things come up.