Reflecting on Thankful November

December 1, 2011

Several of my friends posted on Facebook throughout November all of the things they were thankful for. I like this idea, but I decided that I'd keep a running list of my daily 'things that I'm thankful for' and post them all here at the end of the month. As is turns out, I'm kind of glad for the opportunity to go back through my list now, since I need to keep things in perspective in light of my van's transmission going out. It's depressing to think how much that van's been a money pit. It helps to focus more on all the positive things I have going in my life. In the balance of things, I've got plenty of happy to outweigh a little transmission problem.

Days of November--the little things that make me happy:

1st--Today I am grateful for after-Halloween sales, because my hubby loves to spend money to dress up our Halloween yard in style. The only tough part about it is that he has to wait a whole year to get to use his new purchases.
2nd--Today I am grateful for the return of one of our favorite television shows--Top Chef!
3rd--Today I am grateful for finally finding Danielle's costume for her play. It's tougher than I thought it would be to find a drop-waisted 1920's style dress for a twelve year old. These are the times I wish I could sew.
4th--Today I am grateful for our tradition of Family Dinner Night. Even when times are tough, I made sure we were able to keep this tradition.
5th--Today I am grateful for having a husband who is with me at the sidelines of all the soccer games we attend, cheering just as loudly as I do for our kids.
6th--Today I am grateful for all of my girlfriends. I am blessed with a loving, strong, and dynamic group of girlfriends I admire.
7th--Today I am grateful for a husband who makes me laugh and smile every single day.
8th--Today I am grateful for a safe, warm home. It may not be the biggest, or the fanciest, but it is our home, and it's full of love.
9th--Today I am grateful for kids who are healthy and happy.
10th--Today I am grateful for three-day weekends. I love my job, but I also love and extra day off now and again!
11th--Today I am grateful that at 44, I still have excellent eye-sight. I went to the optomistrist today and got that confirmed for me.
12th--Today I am grateful that my sister has met such a great guy to bring into our family. The engagement party was lovely!
13th--Today I am grateful for an incredible extended family.
14th--Today I am grateful for my students, and for having a job I feel can make a difference.
15th--Today I am grateful for naps. Enough said.
16th--Today I am grateful for the wonderful arts and sciences programs that CUSD offers for my children to participate in.
17th--Today I am grateful for some great colleagues that I call friends.
18th--Today I am grateful for special one-on-one times with my kids.
19th--Today I am grateful that I am married to my best friend.
20th--Today I am grateful that I live in Clovis.
21st--Today I am grateful for a lovely week-long vacation.
22nd--Today I am grateful for my sweet and loveable birthday boy.
23rd--Today I am grateful Brianna had a safe trip home with her step-sisters.
24th--Today I am grateful for plenty--plenty of family, plenty of friends, plenty of food, and plenty of love.
25th--Today I am grateful for getting some good Black Friday sales.
26th--Today I am grateful for having fun taking pictures of all of my kids together.
27th--Today I am thankful for my sister, who is my best friend.
28th--Today I am thankful to have found a place to write and share my ideas, whether it's the big stuff or the trivial and mundane. At the very least, my kids will have a record of who their mom was and what kids of stuff the valued and thought about years from now (knock on wood) after I'm gone.
29--Today I am thankful the kids' dad and I have a strong co-parenting situation. Not everyone is so lucky.
30--Today I am grateful for my hilarious and generous sweet birthday girl.