Thankful….no matter what day it is

Like Valentine’s Day, I am hoping that, collectively, everyone learns to be thankful for the blessings in their life every day of the year, and not just the fourth Thursday in November.

This holiday isn’t very closely tied in to much ‘Hallmark-ing’; there’s no serious cards to be seen, no extreme gadgets that scream and whine in cheesy songs about turkeys and mashed potatoes that you feel the need to smash with a hammer after 2 seconds. This holiday is mostly about food, long and away from it’s origin of celebrating the harvest (’cause, really….how many of us spend the two months prior to Thanksgiving in a fit of harvesting and preservation?) but thankfully, it does prod many people, myself and Mike included, to make a note of what we are thankful for, and what blesses us in our lives.

So here is mine- this is an ongoing thought process too; it won’t stop at any point in the year.

-My husband; smart, loving, kind and caring. He loves me for who I am, whether I just rolled out of bed and have bed head, or I am primping for a night out with the pals. And last night, as we drove home from stuffing ourselves silly at his brother’s house, he said to me ‘Marrying you was about the best thing I have ever done.’ We passed the five year mark this year, and yet sometimes I still feel like a newlywed, I still love to kiss him and I can’t imagine negotiating this world and this life without him.

‘Scuse me for a moment while I mop tears of joy.

Ok…..

-My little carnivore, Griffin. At 13, most parents generally raise an eyebrow rather than proclaim how great their kid is, and believe me, I have moments like that, but overall he is one terrific teenager. He’s wicked, razor-edge smart, like off-the-scale, higher than state average smart (which scares me….I pray for guidance in helping him to grasp with both hands everything that he can to make this work for him) he’s helpful and kind, he’s really funny and seriously handsome, and even when he sneers at my vegetables and weeps at the sight of fish, I know that I am giving him a foundation for life with the foods he eats, and I am thankful that at least he still tries everything I make. Even more than that, I am thankful for the long goodnight hugs that he still gives me.

-Our families. I don’t know where I would be without my brothers and sisters, sisters and brothers in laws,  all my nieces and nephews, my wonderful mother in law and my dad and his wife. Seriously, I could fall to my knees in praise over the blessings they bring.

-Our friends. We never want for much with them, whether a hug or kind word during a rough patch, or prayer and support. We love the unconditional love of their children, and enjoy just knowing that they are there for us, and each other; our blessings are tenfold  simply because they are a part of our lives.

-My crazy, comical, funny, endearing and lovable cats. That Bustopher adores Mike, often more than me, continues to awe and delight me.
-Our health. In all seriousness, we could not be more blessed in this area. We have seen friends and family deal with illnesses and disease and we are grateful for our continued ability to be relatively healthy and strong.

-Our jobs that keep us busy and our minds engaged and bring us a sense of financial security and allow us to have what we need in this world.

I could go on and on, but that’s the main points that I am thankful on, during this time and all the year through. And I raise a glass to anyone reading this; Here’s to many, many more.