50 Thinkgs I'm Thankful For v.2010

It's that time of year again. I love it. I love having a reason to focus on gratitude and thankfulness. We need it all year long, but having a lengthy and socially prevalent reminder never hurts.

Our Thankful Books have been helpful this year. Aeryn has had a great time thinking of things to be grateful for and it's made the "What was your favorite thing today?" dinner conversations much more thoughtful and detailed. A huge plus, if you ask me. Only I usually can't stop at just one thing to write down and often list 4-5 each day. That's ok. With gratitude, too much is never a bad thing.

Each of us have such unique situations. This is the 2nd year that the buglet and I have had health insurance. While I was in school full time we were on state care for her and I had nothing. Fortunately, I've not been one to get sick often so it wasn't a big deal. A week or two ago however I had occasion to go to the Dr. (First time in 15 years). Tears literally couldn't quit falling after the phone call when I was asked if we still had state coverage and I was able to say "No, we're on ______ insurance."

It was the ultimate moment of achievement. State/Federal assistance is designed to be temporary. It really wounded my pride to take help at all, but with a child and no job the decision was clear. To be able to, in essence, say "I am self-suffiecient!" was very significant to me. I care a great deal about such things.

Which led to my thinking. Yes, I know, I never stop. Last week a very kind and amazing co-worker had to go to the Dr. and when her husband told her to call in she wouldn't because she is in a position that does not provide sick days. It was here that I realized again the power of the small decision. When she is absent, everyone in the building is affected yet she doesn't get even half the benefits the contracted employees do. The difference can be attributed to one small decision: a college education. It doesn't feel significant often times, and before my divorce I was working great jobs and I was happy. But when life circumstances changed and those jobs could no longer provide the life I knew I wanted, priorities had to be realigned.

I am grateful to have finished school and put myself into a position where I can get a job with benefits. I am grateful to have been pushed (SHOVED!) by those who care about me to make those choices. I am grateful that things have worked out very fortunately for us in this tough economy. I am grateful to be on the receiving end of the positive choices made by those who went before me, and hope that I can make the choices which will allow me to pass those same benefits on to others.

So here we go. 50 things I'm thankful for this year:

1. My own home, very imperfect and yet perfect at the same time
2. Continuing employment in a down economy
3. The Pioneer Woman's recipe archive for making me look all-together and awesome
4. Martha's craft archive, making me look all-together and awesome
5. Kitty kisses in the early morning
6. Light, wide leaf rakes bigger than I am
7. Reclaimed wood found in the garden and rescued from the trash
8. Mom's old sewing machine from the 60's
9. Collaboration mondays - hello, early out days!!
10. Giant bags of chocolate chips from Costco that make it waaaay to easy to constantly snack
11. Free samples arriving in the mail
12. Crawling into fleece sheets while wearing fleece jammies and wrapped up in a fleece blanket
13. The awesome Pottery Barn roasting pan someone gave me as a wedding gift (back in the day) thinking that they'd picked it from our registry, when we didn't register at PB
14. Free clothes from Banana Republic because of rewards cards earned on purchases I would've otherwise paid cash for (and paying $0.00 in interest over the life of the card)
15. Working with teenagers at both school and church
16. The Dyson DC25 Animal vacuum. I love you, ball. Don't ever leave me!
17. Thrift store bargains I would've paid full price for
18. The day-old-guacamole color partially painted in my office
19. Gmail video chat
20. Seeing my dad play Wii with the Kidlet
21. Tea-staining all manner of unsuspecting materials found as I unpack boxes
22. Alton Brown cookbooks
23. IKEA furniture
24. No more aquatic pets. Wahoo!
25. Amazingly vivid sunsets of burnt orange, magenta, and crimson changing by the moment and lasting for seemingly hours
26. Nicknames from students. Some of them, anyway.
27. An uncarpeted basement providing a convenient and indoor spray painting lab
28. Traditional engraved stationery
29. Josh. Groban.
30. Being single by choice - not from a lack of options
31. A working furnace with single digit temperatures outside
32. FHE
33. Working for a disctrict that is wise with their spending, stands for great principles, and treats their employees and students fairly
34. That day 3+ years ago when my little-sister-cousin and the waitress at Chili's talked me into buying the sweet, sweet brown crocodile print boots
35. Hiking trails peppering the landscape
36. Thinking I was going to miss living at the base of the mountains only to realize what a stunning view it is to see the city and mts. across the lake at twilight
37. Curbside recycling
38. Fall/Winter's lack of mosquitoes
39. Year 1 of the moochin' tree in MY house
40. Muenster cheese on WASA multi-grain crackers
41. Overwhelming generosity of others on my behalf
42. High speed internet
43. Planned spontaneity
44. A Hobby Lobby in my local community
45. Access to medical care when we need it
46. Aussie Black Licorice
47. The way my kidlet can make friends on a whim and genuinely cares about them
48. The computer guy at work NOT making fun of me when I spilled a glass of water on my laptop and thought my life-was-over
49. Children making snowmen when there is 1/2 inch of snow on the ground
50. The chance to live in this beautiful world and drink in the wonder of it all

Just in case you're wondering:
v.2009
v.2008
v.2007