In fact, by the time I finish this blog post, I will have gone off on at least two tangential google searches, gotten a drink of something, and certainly used the bathroom. And maybe sent an email or two. It's a marvel I get anything done in life, really.
See, by the time I got to THIS paragraph, I'd already gone off to find a recipe for mashed sweet potatoes. I think I've narrowed it down to ones with maple syrup instead of chipotles. I think I'm in charge of kid-friendly side dishes, and chipotles aren't always kid-friendly... Oooh, I just found a recipe with cardamom and orange liquor. That looks interesting too...
ANYWAY, my point was that I'd have more luck listing things that I'm thankful for if I actually sat down to do it all in one sitting. So, in not-a-consistently-hierarchical order, here's the beginning of my list.
I'm thankful for:
- A faith that provides hope, comfort, joy, and an internal compass to guide me through life's adventures and challenges.
- A family that supports me, encourages me, challenges me, and gives me new reasons to be thankful every day.
- An education that gave me bankable work skills, challenged my view of the world, and taught me to always keep my eyes and mind open to new views.
- A vocation that challenges me emotionally, creatively, and sometimes intellectually. And allows me to help people.
- Enough confidence in myself as a clinician that I can rejoice when patients rejoice, and cry when patients cry.
- A group of friends that have become family.
- A handsome, brilliant, and all-around-good husband.
- Two adorable, entertaining, and loveable children. Most of the time.
- A local Mommy community to answer questions and reassure me that I'm not completely insane. Most of the time.
- The YMCA gym with babysitting, for when I am going insane.
- Flannel sheets.
- A down-filled duvet.
- Forced air heat.
- Heated tile bathroom floor.
- Down coat.
- Cashmere scarf.
- Giant warm mittens. (can you tell it's gotten chilly here lately?)
- A comfortable home that has room to grow into. This is not a common thing in our city.
- A yard, with room for a garden.
- A workplace within walking distance.
- Another workplace that allows me to walk to a train through one of the most beautiful urban gardens in the world.
- A safe neighborhood in a usually-safe city.
- Guaranteed education for my girls.
- Dogs.
- A preschool that provides excellent care and enrichment for my girls, and supports their growing faith lives.
- Sunsets over our back yard.
- A patio to eat on in the summer and watch the sunsets.
- Woods behind our house that give shelter to deer, coyotes, foxes, and other fauna.
- Rapid internet access to any information we need to find. Like sweet potato recipes.
- The ability to walk to places, like parks, stores, libraries, and restaurants.
- Freedom.
- Dansko clogs. In marbled burgundy patent leather.
- Plenty of weather-appropriate clothing for the girls and us.
- Friends who hand a lot of it down to us.
- An in-unit washer and dryer to keep it all clean.
- A spare bedroom to pile it all up in until I can fold and sort it all.
- A palate that was expanded by persistent parents, travel, and adventurous friends and husband.
- Cookbooks.
- Booze.
- Chocolate.
- Chocolate-flavored booze.
I could keep going and going.
The challenge is to find something to be thankful for every day, not just at Thanksgiving, and not just in November. But November is a nice opportunity to sit down and focus on the many things for which we can give thanks.
So tomorrow, as I'm trying my hand at pumpkin empanadas, I will give thanks for pumpkin. And a functional kitchen. And family who taught me to appreciate home-made things. And... may the list go on and on.
No comments:
Post a Comment