Thankful.

At this very moment, I wish I was thankful for the maid that was scurrying about making my house neat and tidy for the upcoming holiday season.  Survey from my peripheral vision assures me; that is not the case.  Last night's nacho remnants are scattered over the bar, strips of Hershey Kiss wrappers are littering the carpet I just had cleaned last week.  150 pretzel/Hershey Kiss/peanut butter M&M treats were assembled at 11pm, because the Room Mommies decided that two days prior to Thanksgiving was the perfect time to have a bake sale for the 5th grade.  Note to ya'll - this is an easy item to make, and your kids can do the majority of the work.


Here's what they look like assembled:

That, my friends, is the closest you will ever get to seeing this blog take a turn toward food prep, so enjoy it.  I now turn over the recipe invention wand to Laurie at Simply Scratch, whose blog is in my feeds and recommended to all of you as a Godsend for Those Who Don't Cook Much.  

This post is about Thankful.  Please redirect yourself and focus on the task at hand, 

Miss Van Dyke. (Spoken in Evil Catholic School Nun Voice from my youth)

Oprah; one of the only celebrities I think is worth her salt, once spoke about keeping a Gratitude Journal.  The idea was simple:  each night, jot down a few things that you are grateful for and reflect on them.  Thank the  person in charge of your life for these things, and try to pay them forward.   

Isn't that nice?  I mean really, really nice?

Yet I could not pull myself together enough to do it.  

Today, however, I am going to play catch up.  In no particular order, I will share with you the things I am thankful for, and we both will reflect on them, and I challenge you to pick something and pay it forward.  I am a huge believer in Karma, so I think you will be very pleased to see good things come back to you when you indulge my request.

Kim's Gratitude Journal - Cliff Note Version

Despite my complaints of old lady hip, broken rib subluxation, migraines and chronic weight battles, I am thankful for my health.  I am not on dialysis, in a wheelchair or on a scooter in Meijer with a basketful of pop and cheetos.  I am strong, stubborn and willing to persevere to get what I want.  I pay it forward by working to help others get healthier, or at the very least give them the pain medicine they are addicted to so they can live to seek narcotics another day without seizing.

I am grateful for my people.  

I have 2 healthy gorgeous children, a husband I adore, friends who surround me with light and laughter, coworkers that alternately torture me and save my ass.  I show my gratitude to them by assembling Pretzel Kisses in the middle of the night, jumping in to help change adult diapers with contents so noxious we need masks (those would be the coworkers, not my family and friends), driving to retrieve lost house keys at 10pm on a Monday, and dropping everything to sit on the porch and just plain listen when someone's heart has been punched.  To prove my point, the Karma thing is in full force when I show "my gratitude" to Bill.  What you give, you get. Snicker.   

Thankful for Nana.

Nana, my little friend, the person that challenges my patience more than anyone else.  I am so lucky to have her.  Her generosity has bailed us out of many jams, her humor has made me laugh when I want to throw things, her mere existence has taught me how to live my life by looking at the big picture.  Her deviled eggs, offers to iron and fold tablecloths,   

and ability to make a perfect pie crust from scratch are just three of a million things I cherish and will take comfort from when she is not with me any more.

Dog.

Even though you are on my shit list of late, with this crazed behavior of peeing on the carpet (thus the carpet cleaners last week), digging up my perennials (no one stocks garden fencing in November) and middle of the night requests to go outside, I love you.  I read this the other day, and chant it in my head when I want to call the Greyhound rescue and invite them to find you a landfill to dig in:

For those of you with crappy eyesight like mine it says: 

dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.

Pinterest.

Seriously. Pinterest. I am so thankful to Moe, for finding me a place to lose myself for a few minutes hours a day.  I find motivation, inspiration, beauty, humor and peace all in one convenient website.  I lack the body composition to wear the things I lust after, I am not one to scrapbook,  have no time (patience) to learn to quilt, little money to decorate the way I wish, but what I do have are my Pinterest Boards.  And they make me happy.  I am paying it forward by telling you to get yourself over to Pinterest.com and sign up.  It's free joy for the taking.

Vision.

I thank my stars above that I can see.  I can see colors, nature, feelings, blight, insecurity and peace.  Because I have vision I can act to make the world a brighter, happier, safer, more comfortable place.  I decided long ago that anything is better than nothing, and encourage you to remember that when you have so little to give that you think it is better to just keep it to yourself.  

Random Items that People Invented 

My lighted makeup mirror, Slacker radio, Funky reading glasses, Biggby Coffee, my new Sherpa blanket from Costco, Keen clogs, Digital cameras, Swimming Pools, and Blue LED Christmas lights (the prettiest ones of all) are on my list. 

Thank you also inventors of Sharpie markers, iPods, Etsy, Fleece socks, Pedicures and Milk chocolate. And wine. And craft beer. And good vodka. Amen.

You.

I am grateful, very very grateful for your comments, support, laughter and acceptance of run on sentences as I pursue something I love: my writing.  Like eight million jillion other people who embrace the written word, I have a dream of writing a column. People who mean the most to me have challenged me to step up, so I have set a goal to send my words off to editors that have the power to break my spirit and tell me I suck.  Because of you, I know that when that happens, I will be just fine.

Happy Thanksgiving, Friends.