i have much for which to be thankful
Without being too sappy and going on about family and friends and good health...here is my list for 2011.
1. I am thankful that I can get out of the bathtub without help. I was headed in a direction where that might have been possible for long. I am thankful for Rachel kicking my sorry ass on a regular basis and increasing the chances that I will be mobile into old age. Here's hopin', anyway.
2. I am thankful for a husband who appreciates good food and doesn't mind a hot pepper now and then. I have been in the presence of people who refuse to eat onions or garlic, for God's sake. I was married to a man who, seriously, would ask a waiter, if onions had been cooked on the same grill as his hamburger. Do these folks have abnormal taste buds? Does all their food taste like Wonder Bread?
3. I am thankful for a temperament that allows messiness in my life: trees that shed sticks, a huge dog who brings untold amounts of dirt and detritus into our house, books and papers that look like clutter but aren't. There are probably more things but I can't think of them right now, the result of a slightly messy brain.
4. I am thankful for Google. I have a good memory but it's short and all the things I can't recall quickly can be retrieved by Google in an instant...names of movies (well, some), titles of books, the years that things happened. It's amazing what that thing can find. It is a bit of a mystery to me, how Google works, same as how planes fly and why birds legs don't freeze off in the winter but you can't explain everything and for that I am also thankful.
5. I am thankful for the moments in my life when I don't feel like I have to do anything. For the most part, I have given up on lists. I have an extensive Thanksgiving list but on a daily basis, I don't make lists of things to do. It disturbs my zen existence to think that I have to be productive every minute. Yesterday, we sat at the table with a candle lit watching the birds. It was sweet.
6. I am thankful for Jan, the lady who comes to clean our house. Bless her heart. I have never been an even mediocre cleaner. I am too easily distracted and I have pretty low standards for cleanliness. Well, that's not true but I don't care enough to do it myself. Jan comes every two weeks and spiffs things up for us. She likes our junk so if I have a thrift store box, she totes it away. She takes our cans and our cardboard boxes. She is a saint and we are lucky to have her.
7. I am thankful that Regis is the person he is. That we both got to this particular moment in our lives at the same time is some kind of miracle, really. We have a wonderful life together and we know it. He cares as much about my welfare as does his own which is a valuable quality in a companion.
8. I am thankful for my funny friends, quite a cast of characters they are. Friends that go back almost fifty years, to my elementary school years and new, young friends who were born after I had already been teaching a few years. Quite a life when you can have people like this in it.
9. I'm thankful for my mom who has taught me many things in my life: how to crochet, how to take care of babies, how to throw a meal for a lot of people together, how to laugh at adversity, and how to love your stuff. My mom is a hoot even though she thinks she looks old and wrinkly.
I didn't say when I started how many things were going to be on my list so I'm going to stop there. There could be more. Today, while I'm making pumpkin truffles, something may come to mind....
1. I am thankful that I can get out of the bathtub without help. I was headed in a direction where that might have been possible for long. I am thankful for Rachel kicking my sorry ass on a regular basis and increasing the chances that I will be mobile into old age. Here's hopin', anyway.
2. I am thankful for a husband who appreciates good food and doesn't mind a hot pepper now and then. I have been in the presence of people who refuse to eat onions or garlic, for God's sake. I was married to a man who, seriously, would ask a waiter, if onions had been cooked on the same grill as his hamburger. Do these folks have abnormal taste buds? Does all their food taste like Wonder Bread?
3. I am thankful for a temperament that allows messiness in my life: trees that shed sticks, a huge dog who brings untold amounts of dirt and detritus into our house, books and papers that look like clutter but aren't. There are probably more things but I can't think of them right now, the result of a slightly messy brain.
4. I am thankful for Google. I have a good memory but it's short and all the things I can't recall quickly can be retrieved by Google in an instant...names of movies (well, some), titles of books, the years that things happened. It's amazing what that thing can find. It is a bit of a mystery to me, how Google works, same as how planes fly and why birds legs don't freeze off in the winter but you can't explain everything and for that I am also thankful.
5. I am thankful for the moments in my life when I don't feel like I have to do anything. For the most part, I have given up on lists. I have an extensive Thanksgiving list but on a daily basis, I don't make lists of things to do. It disturbs my zen existence to think that I have to be productive every minute. Yesterday, we sat at the table with a candle lit watching the birds. It was sweet.
6. I am thankful for Jan, the lady who comes to clean our house. Bless her heart. I have never been an even mediocre cleaner. I am too easily distracted and I have pretty low standards for cleanliness. Well, that's not true but I don't care enough to do it myself. Jan comes every two weeks and spiffs things up for us. She likes our junk so if I have a thrift store box, she totes it away. She takes our cans and our cardboard boxes. She is a saint and we are lucky to have her.
7. I am thankful that Regis is the person he is. That we both got to this particular moment in our lives at the same time is some kind of miracle, really. We have a wonderful life together and we know it. He cares as much about my welfare as does his own which is a valuable quality in a companion.
8. I am thankful for my funny friends, quite a cast of characters they are. Friends that go back almost fifty years, to my elementary school years and new, young friends who were born after I had already been teaching a few years. Quite a life when you can have people like this in it.
9. I'm thankful for my mom who has taught me many things in my life: how to crochet, how to take care of babies, how to throw a meal for a lot of people together, how to laugh at adversity, and how to love your stuff. My mom is a hoot even though she thinks she looks old and wrinkly.
I didn't say when I started how many things were going to be on my list so I'm going to stop there. There could be more. Today, while I'm making pumpkin truffles, something may come to mind....
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