30 Days of Gratitude--Day 7

Today I am grateful for coffee shops.

Stay with me here.

We recently moved (as in, three weeks ago) and today, I went to coffee with my old neighbor, S.  S is a really nice lady, always offering to help people and always laughing.  I miss her, and I'll miss her even more when she moves to the other side of the state in the next few days.  So we got together for coffee, and had a nice long conversation over our lattes about everything--religion and the election and our mutual love for music and whiskey.  All the while, we watched as my daughter wandered around our table and made the man at the next table laugh.  She liked him too, and they kept laughing at each other.

I know coffee shops can draw some real unfriendly customers, the sort of people who scream at the barista and treat all the other customers as beneath them, but I've never encountered them.  The people I encounter in coffee shops are friendly and at peace with themselves and with the world.  Coffee shops bring out the best in a lot of people.  So I am thankful for coffee shops, and coffee and conversation with good friends.

30 days of Gratitude--Day 6

Today it seems pretty obvious, I'm thankful for our freedoms.

We live in a country that peacefully changes power on a semi-regular basis.  In other areas, that is completely unimaginable, because a change of power means a revolution.

Two of my friends this morning on Facebook posted about their paths to citizenship, and how proud they were to take that path.  My neighbor (at least, my neighbor at the old place) is from Syria, and she tells me regularly how amazingly free we are here.

We're free enough that I can come out and say it:  I don't particularly like either of the major party candidates.  But I do have one that I prefer over the other, and I am free to keep my silence on that matter and carry it with me to my grave.

Whatever happens in the days to come, the vast majority of my freedoms will not be in jeopardy.  That is amazing.

30 Days of Gratitude--day 5

Today, I am grateful for my faith.

I am a miserable excuse for a Christian.  I am greedy and nasty and jealous and vulgar and angry.  But I am also blessed with an assurance that, one of these days, I'll be able to get past that.  My faith is what gets me through the worst moments and makes me want to dance for the best.

I love the Lord, and I am grateful that He loves me.

30 Days of Gratitude--Day 4

Today, I am thankful for my children.  They are loud and constantly in my face and they freak out about everything.  But they are really good to each other, and they're adorable and sweet and thoughtful.  They know their manners and they're smart and funny.  I am so proud of them and so lucky to have them in my life.

30 Days of Gratitude--Day 3

Today, I'm gonna be thankful for my sister.

We don't always get along, but she is awesome.  She is funny and smart and is a good mother and aunt.  I really have to admit...I'm not sure what I can say about her without embarrassing us both (but hey...we kinda grew up together soooo there's that).  But really.  She's amazing.  I'm lucky to have her.

30 Days of Gratitude--Day 2

Today I'll talk about my husband, because I'm thankful for him.  (See?  I told you I'd talk about him.)

When we met, he was the shy sort.  So it was really out of character when he walked straight up to me and introduced himself.  I was a shy sort, too...and being seventeen years old and in my first semester of college didn't help there.  But he introduced himself, and quickly became close friends.

He is smart and funny and sweet and I totally don't deserve him.  He is my best friend.  It is because of him that I have the ability to be a stay-at-home mom (which I love way more than I thought I would...but that is a post for another day).  He is my balance--when I'm ill-tempered, he's the calm one.

I don't get all sappy about him often, at least not publicly.  Mostly because I know it'll annoy people.  But if I were the sort to post every random thing that crosses my mind, I'd talk about him daily.  Several times a day, actually.

Our son is turning out a lot like him in every way.  And while sometimes that's really frustrating...it's also a lot to be proud of.

30 days of Gratitude--Day 1

I'm going to give this NaBloPoMo thing a try--and combine it with the 30 days of thanks thing I've seen a few people do on facebook.

Every one of my friends who is doing this on Facebook--all of them--started today by being thankful for their spouse.  Not that there's anything wrong with it...but I'm starting with my parents.

My parents.  I probably drove them absolutely bonkers.  But they were still awesome.  Mom was the one who always volunteered in our classroom, made cakes and candies, came up with all kinds of crafts...you know the sort.  I wish I was more like her that way.  Mom lost her battle with cancer two weeks after my daughter was born.  I miss her terribly but I am very grateful she's free of pain.

Dad was always building something when I was growing up.  He likes computers and carpentry and metalworking and...like I said.  Building stuff.  It amazed me then, amazes me still.  I get to talk to him often but I miss getting to hang out with him.

So that's today.  Today I'm thankful for my parents.

(Don't worry, being thankful for my husband is coming.  eventually.)