Blessed....

I have been noticing on facebook lately that users have been posting what they are thankful for each day.  It is the expected list and I have seen no surprises, but enjoy reading the way people prioritize what is meaningful to them.

I sadly have been focused on much too much negative lately and have not taken the time to really think about the gifts this year has brought.  I will not include on my list the West Nile Virus, an animal bite, and a medical procedure gone terribly wrong, a family with multiple bouts of the flu and various viruses, excessive summer heat, and lack of water at the lake.  Negatives abound.  BUT, there are so many, many gifts and it is way past time to look at the bright side of the year while we are all preparing for Thanksgiving.

So on this years Thanksgiving I will count my blessings including:

* a new healthy grandaughter in January 2012

*a total of two beautiful grandaughters that could make the cloudiest day look like nothing but sunshine

* children with successful careers and wonderful lives
*an engagement!!!!

*a husband who is leaving 40 plus years of police work and has lived to enjoy the years ahead despite multiple gunshot wounds and countless other random accidents

*a teaching career that has ended but still allows me to to return to the classroom as a substitute at will.  What other job gives you that flexibility?
*a home that is my happy place.  I love waking up here everyday and thanking God for the roof over our heads and the pleasure being here brings us.
*free time....retirement style that allows me to choose how to spend each day
*FRIENDS who have given me more than support and encouragement each day...they have given me strength
*friends, who in so many meaningful ways remembered the loss of our son 10 years ago
*a God that has answered so many prayers
*the opportunity to look ahead and see so many wonderful things in our future
*life...a blessing in itself

I guess this list could pretty much go on forever for there is really not an end to the things we can all find to be thankful for.  Knowing that this year we will be able to celebrate with almost all of our family is reason to smile.  As we sit down to abundant dishes on Thanksgiving day I know that I really could not ask for more than what I have been given.