Belated Giving of Thanks

This year I am thankful for:

My sweet family. Our kids are rotten, my husband is a goofball, but every day I am thankful for them. The tinkle of the little ones laughter when they are getting along and plotting world domination in the back room. The occassional softening in my oldest's eyes when he looks in my direction and offers up a playful hug or joke. The steady knowledge that no matter what the situation, when I look to see who has my back and is there to catch me when I fall, I see Ted.

Community: While it is true that the NBC show is fetching and I really enjoy it, I am actually referring to the wonderful network of friends and acquaintances developed over years and years. To have such a diverse and rich group of people to weave into the fabric of our lives (Did I just hear a cotton commercial... perhaps...) is more than I could have thought to ask for and I am immensely grateful to have it.

History: I am fortunate enough to have a deep well of memories with the people that I love. Anytime and anywhere, something reminds me of something that happened with someone and it makes me smile. Usually.

Joy and Laughter: Even though I am an untamed heathen, I believe that there are gifts in our lives. When I was very young, for whatever reason, it occurred to me to be happy. Just to be happy. Nothing earthshaking. But each time life has taken me down a dark and windy road and I have had to make a choice about which fork in the road to travel, a little tiny bit of me remembers just to be happy. Being happy doesn't fix anything, doesn't make all the woes disappear, but by golly, it makes crawling back out of the muck more palatable.