Being Thankful

My sister Lisa had a post on her blog called "Thankful Thursday" that I thought was a good idea. Think of all the things you are thankful for and post them on Thursdays. Well it's not Thursday, but I'm still thankful so I wanted to post some things. I'm going to try ten. (Lisa-are there rules to this Thankful Thursday thing?)

1. Family. Yeah, it's always on the top of most people's lists, but I was blessed recently to be able to see most of my family - on both sides - and I am always reminded how lucky I am to have such wonderful people in my family.
2. Funny children (I echo you on that, Lisa!). Emily is a few months away from turning four years old, and boy does she spit the funniest things out of her mouth. She is much more imaginative now and comes up with all kinds of silly stories and even excuses for misbehavior. And then there's Allison...only three months old but she makes all kinds of funny noises and cracks me up when she tries to suck her thumb, fingers, fist...
3. Home. I love my home. Yes, it's almost always cluttered and a little dirty in spots, but I love having a place to share with my family and make my own. And with our little home improvement projects (post on that coming soon) going on all the time, it just gets better and more comfortable all the time.
4. A great job. Not so much in the sense that I love working and doing the job I do, but more in the sense of the great people I work with and for the way I am treated there. I am thankful that my boss values me enough to let me work less hours and at least half of them from home so I don't have to put my baby in daycare. That is a HUGE blessing. Not many people have that, and I am so grateful for it.
5. My husband. I probably give him a much harder time than I should most of the time, since he has really stepped it up and does so much for me all the time. Washing dishes, putting Emily to bed every night, keeping Allison home with him when I do have to go to the office, laundry, home repairs, cooking, changing dirty diapers, washing Emily's hair in the bath (that is a huge task, believe me), making me laugh all the time. No he's not perfect, but he's great.
6. Spring. We are so blessed in Fresno to get Spring so early, sometimes it starts in mid-February. We took a walk this evening after dinner and there are flowers everywhere and the air smells like sweet blossoms. It seems magical and I love the newness of life that comes in springtime and the beauty that is all around us.
7. The Internet. This might seem like an odd thing, but since I started this blog and through Facebook, I have connected with so many old friends and it makes me feel like I haven't lost them over all this time even if I haven't seen them for years. It really is a wonder to just sit at a computer and look at photos and read stories of what's going on in the lives of people I love. Not to mention the easy communication afforded by email!
   
8. Hot showers. Since being pregnant and having a baby, I have started to really cherish a good hot shower. Not only does it feel good, it's a little time I have all to myself.
9. Pizza. I like pizza - who doesn't. But I include it on my thankful list today because over the last few months pizza has saved us at dinner time many a night. No food in the fridge...not in the mood for Taco Bell...don't want to spend a lot of money at a restaurant...too tired to cook...pizza is always a good solution.
10. Bedtimes. Those of you close to us know how many issues we've had over the years with getting Emily to bed at a decent hour. Since Allison was born we have gotten into a consistent 8:00 bedtime, and now Allison is even going to bed around then and sleeping all night (oh, that's a huge blessing all on it's own!). It's a new and wonderful experience to have some quiet time to ourselves at night. I admit most of the time we just sit and watch tv or go to bed ourselves, but hey, that's sitting and watching tv with no kids talking or whining or wanting a drink or needing help going potty. And for that I am thankful.