Every Thanksgiving and several times throughout the year, I try to move away from my propensity to whine and count my blessings.  This year, I will share my gratitude list with my readers. The items are in no particular order, and I am sure I left off something or someone, so I beg your pardon now if I have forgotten or offended you. That is not my intention.  Hopefully, this will inspire others to create their own gratitude list.

I am thankful for…

• The small moments of alone time with my husband
• Tweezers and razors (for the midlife hair issues)
• My church community (they keep fertilizing my growing faith)
• Good or decent—not perfect—report cards (Who wants perfection anyway?)
• The kisses and cuddles from my kids (so far these turkeys still like me)
• Getting lost in a good book
• Listening to my kids laugh in their sleep
• Pants with elastic waists (“Let it go, let it go, can’t hold me back anymore.”)
• Being able to fix the hole in my roof and dry weather while we wait
• My dad who always ends our conversations with “Love you more.”
• My health, my husband’s health, and my kids’ health (Can I get an AMEN?)
• The women who give me periodic pedicures (otherwise, I would trip over my nails)
• Health insurance (keeps us from the poor house)
• Bras (defying gravity)
• Unencumbered breathing
• My patient husband who holds his temper with Herculean effort every time I hit a curb or back into something
• Chocolate chip cookies, Bit ‘O Honey, saltwater taffy, and Tootsie Pops
• My brothers and the lifetime material they have provided for future novels
• My faith (hard to tackle life’s issues without it)
• The ability to put my kids in activities (exercise and teamwork)
• Date nights
• My helpful, generous, loving mother-in-law (I got lucky)
• Coffee or lunch or a night out in a limo with my supportive friends (they keep me sane)
• The warmth my pups provide when we nap together (even if one snores)
• Microwave ovens (not sure I could feed my family without it)
• Allergy medicine (especially in Houston where something is always blooming)
• Catch-up conversations with old friends over the phone—treasured times
• The fan pointed directly at my face every night at bedtime (premenopausal?)
• Those rare moments when every child in the house is obedient (Can you hear Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus”?)
• Swiffer cloths (keep me from giving away my puppies)
• Movies (especially the Hallmark Christmas marathons this time of year)
• Working Wi-Fi
• The closure and grieving a funeral provides
• Birthdays with cake and balloons and good friends and food
• My dentist who is a champion at numbing my mouth
• Washing machines and dishwashers (imagine the time it saves me)
• Cheap gas
• LIFE (It’s better than the alternative!)
• The people who read and comment on my writing

I feel abundantly blessed, and I am thankful!