Thankfuls

It's been while since I posted. Since the election and economy shut-down frantic-ness, life has pretty much evened out. It's like the post-Y2K sigh of relief when the world didn't explode, or even worse,;) all the computers shut down. We actually bought gas the other day...can you believe it... under $2. I know, I know, don't pass out!
It just goes to show that all the frenzied hype usually turns out okay, and people get all worked up for nothing. Not that we aren't still in a recession and money is still tight, but Obama won and we are still living.
I hate going along with the crowd, but I thought today would be a perfect day to count my blessings and be "Thankful". It will be kind of a new twist for me to be optimistic instead of pessimistic. So here goes my (*deep inhale)...spewing of the thankfulness...
1) My kids: My one year old has a cold and has only wiped his nose on me twice... pretty good since he has a consistent snot river running out of his nose, and (I Know) he could have wiped on me a lot. I'm grateful for his thoughtfulness. Also my other two have actually asked for a couple of things for Christmas that I can semi-afford. (I mean using a credit card of course :O)They are very patient with a forgetful mom who doesn't always remember to pack a lunch or take them to practices on time. I am a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of mom and they roll with it.
2)My husband, who actually wants to go see the new 'Twilight' movie with me. (As an aside, I think he's just hoping to get lucky afterwards, but still the 'thinking-only-of-his-lovely-wife is still there).
I also feel grateful that he still finds me attractive enough to still try these underhanded things to be with me. :)
3) Weight Watchers. They taught me how to balance my food intake and helped me lose 30 pounds in this last year. Without them I would still look like this...
Oh wait, I ripped up/burned/threw out those pictures. And I really didn't mind counting out those cashew, peas, kernels of corn, grains of rice...too much.
4)Student Teachers: I have an awesome student teacher right now, so I am getting paid and basically doing nothing. Heaven Bless great student teachers...Thanks Camille! Tomorrow I think I'll do some online Christmas shopping while you are teaching math.
5) We finally finished our basement this year and have an awesome place to store more of 'stuff we don't need'. Plus the flat screen t.v. isn't bad, and I have been able to decorate it the way I would decorate the rest of my house if it didn't have green pile carpet.
6)Having stuff we don't need. Now this seems crazy, but I feel grateful that every once in a while I can go to the Dollar Store and purchase things I don't need simply because they are a dollar. That is living the high life when you can buy things you don't need and still survive. :)
7)A Crazy family, that is still in the normal range. My family is quirky, opinionated, out-spoken, insert foot in mouth kind of people. BUT... they are loyal and stand by you no matter how big of an A** you make of yourself.
8)My church calling. I play the piano for the primary at my church. I love sitting back, watching the 'sweet spirits' (kids) yell, talk out, talk back, squirm, and poke, and I don't have to do anything about it. It's nice to not be in charge of the kids for once and just be able to watch others do it.
9)Great neighbors! They don't judge when I go out to get the Sunday morning paper or take out the garbage with my hair sticking out like Einstein and a hole in the behind of my favorite pajama pants. Or at least if they do judge, they are still nice to my face, which is all I really care about. :) (Also really awesome when they took my kids in after they were locked out of the house 2 different days this week when they got home from school)
10) Facebook,blogging,etc. After teaching kids all day and then coming home to hang out with only kids all night, it is nice to be able to "talk"/IM with some grownups once in a while. It is a sanity for me to pretend that I am chillin with adults, even if it is my cyber friends.
11) Kids Shows: I know it is wrong to do it, but I am grateful for those great shows through the years, like Barney, Teletubbies, PB &J Otter, Rolie Polie Olie, and Charlie and Lola that have kept my kids entertained when those summer days were seeming too long to fill (6 hours isn't that long to let your kids watch tv is it?) :)
12) Books-I have loved books my whole life. Even when I was younger, I would go to my friends house and want to read the books they had at their house. Reading is a wonderful escape. When I was younger, it was imagining that I could be magic, or find out I was a princess. Now it is reading depressing books that make me glad that I don't lead those people's lives (Thanks Jodi Picoult for always reminding me that life could suck so much worse than one would ever think).

13) I know I just said books, but I want to do a special shout out to Twilight. This book make it cool to have pale skin again. Being one who burns, peels, then freckles, this is very important to me. I still live in a fantasy that pale white skin will be all the rage again. I'm holding out putting on a swimsuit again until it happens. Thanks Twilight for taking us one step in the right direction. It also made me feel like a smitten teenager again, which I appreciate since my wrinkles have staged an all-out assault on my face recently.
14) My I-POD. I know it isn't right to be grateful for such "wordly" things, but I love my IPOD. I love that, instead of purchasing a whole CD and only listening to 3 songs on it, I can just buy the three songs. My IPOD has actually saved me a lot of money in not having to purchase CDs anymore. (Now if I could just get my husband on board. He is very anti-technology. I think I could post anything about him on here and he would never read it...not from the "Devil Computer". Just kiddin' babe. I luv ya)
15) Learning and Knowledge: Where would we be without it? I seriously love learning new things. I get a little obsessive when I have something new to conquer or puzzle out. I love taking the lessons I need to teach and finding a new way to teach it that is better. I love watching TV channels that make me learn something I didn't know before (thnx NatGeo, TLC, Discovery, Food Network, etc) I mean it really is fascinating to me to see how glass bottles are made, and watch as they discover the long lost wreck of famous pirates. This is my geeky side coming out.

Well, that's it. It's all I got. I could keep going and going, but if I don't stop now, I'll miss Thanksgiving altogether. HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!