Thanksgiving 2007

I could always write a nice sappy "What I'm Thankful For" post. I could do that quite easily because I have so much to be thankful for. Here's a list of things that I am truly thankful for and I thank God for the opportunity to experience and enjoy all I have.
1. My husband and all of the things about him that drive me nuts. I swear when that man watches sports, nothing else in the world exists. I'm never warm because he won't let me turn the thermostat over 70 degrees in the winter. He prefers to just walk over the toys strewn on our floor rather than pick them up. I love him more than I ever thought possible.
2. Little feet that always wind up beside my bed at 2:00 am. They never ask for Daddy; it's Mom or MomMom they need. I get to walk them back to bed and lie on 3 inches of bed space or on the hard floor until they go back to sleep. Then I haul myself back to bed and try to catch a little more sleep before the alarm clock goes off. This is what I spent most of my twenties longing for and I'm so glad I have it.
3. My stress-filled job. Where else can you go and work with an incredible group of people who truly care about kids. There are days that they need more than I think I can give. There are days that the lives of some of our kids are so consuming, you bring it all home with you and cry yourself to sleep. There is always a list of things to be done at the end of each day. I am never finished and I seldom can escape from thoughts of my job and what can be done to improve, but it is a part of who I am.
4. The clutter that fills my house. We have more toys than Toys R Us. We have more reading material than our local public library. We always have a pile of dirty laundry on the floor by the washer and our bathrooms always need cleaning. I need new carpet in the den and I'm certain that we no longer have dust bunnies; they are dust elephants. But it's MY home. Filled with pictures of my kids and my family. Filled with my wedding dress and the outfits we brought the kids home in. We have food to eat and warm places to sleep. We have nice clothes to wear and we have each other. So what if it would be easier to just burn it to the ground rather than clean it.
5. The hard times we've experienced. Randy's Dad passed away in April. It's been a year of firsts. Going to the first football game without him. Watching Jan find a new path in life. Watching Randy struggle to handle work without his Dad there and to try to live up to Grady's expectations. That's our most recent hard time. We've made it through others and I know there are more to come. What it has taught me is that I am truly blessed with an incredible husband and wonderful friends and family. They are all that matter in this world.

That's my top five! Coming soon.... what the wild cubs are up to.