Thank Goodness

Ack! Sorry, for the late posting today; it's been one of those busy mornings where you feel like you have suddenly become a full time chauffeur and you can't figure out where the time went. With the holidays fast approaching, Thanksgiving in particular, I thought I'd take a moment to reflect on things that I'm personally thankful for.

I'm thankful for the obvious things; my family, my home, Jim's job, but it's the less obvious and more particular things that tend to put things into perspective for me.

While my children drive me absolutely nuts most of the time, they do have their moments. And I'm definitely thankful for those because then I remember why having children wasn't such a bad idea. The other day, my 5 year old informed me that she "Can't marry Linus. 'Cause he's a blockhead." It was so random I just had to laugh. I know she got it from watching Charlie Brown, but that she related it to herself was kind of a hoot. My 2 year old is a broken record, and it tends to get stuck on "Mommy. Mommy. Mommy...." But after the umpteenth "What?!" She'll respond with, "Mommy, I love you." My kids, like most siblings, tend to fight over the same toys or intentionally annoy each other (which I kind of don't mind, because they're leaving me alone for a minute), but when one of them is hurt or sad, the other is genuinely concerned and wants to "kiss it all better." I love it when my girls hug or kiss each other. I'm thankful that they really care about each other, even if they don't act like it all the time.

I am thankful for my home, but during last week in particular. We had a huge windstorm and while it rattled the windows, my house withstood the wind. After that we had hail. Big pea-sized hail. Then came the rain. But the house kept us all warm and safe and I'm thankful for that.

I'm especially thankful for my husband, Jim. If you've read any of my other posts, you know I had to have married a patient man, and he is. He's fabulous for putting up with me and for always putting his family first. Sometimes, if he knows I've had a bad day, he'll bring home my favorite comfort food for dinner. He also understands the need for time away from the kids, and will insist that I just get out of the house for a few hours. And flowers, just because, are the best kind.

Yup, I'm thankful for lots of things and there's no better time than now, to reflect on that. Here are a few other things that I'm thankful for:

1. Birth control (no really, I can hardly handle two, so thank you thank you thank you)
2. The first scoop from a new jar of peanut butter
3. Black olives, because my girls eat them off their fingers like I used to do as a kid
4. Johnny Depp, because hey, there's nothing wrong with eye candy
5. Those trees with the fire colored red leaves in the fall, so pretty
6. My local library, latest movies, books, cds; it's awesome and I go weekly
   
7. Diet Dr. Pepper; it really does taste like regular Dr. Pepper
8. Caller id; I can't live without it, heaven forbid I have to answer the phone to find out who's calling
9. Warm fuzzy slippers
   
10. My ladies, because with them, I don't have to be a mom or a wife, I can just be me.

I thought I'd leave you with my favorite Thanksgiving song that my little niece sang to us one year. It's sung to the tune of "Here We Are Together"

Gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble
Fat turkeys, fat turkeys
Gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble
Fat turkeys are we
We're not here for living,
We're here for Thanksgiving
Gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble
Fat turkeys are we.