Things I Am Thankful For, Part I

'Tis the season to remember all of the things that we are thankful for. I will admit with the way my life has gone the last few months I haven't been feeling very thankful much of the time.  Given that I am usually the eternal optimist Jason has not quite known what to do with my sagging (and sometimes non-existent) optimism and I can't really blame him.  So I decided that as we head towards Thanksgiving I am going to write some posts about things I am thankful for to remind myself that I have much to be thankful for.  Some of them are big things and some of them are very small, but nonetheless it is the feeling of thankfulness that counts. 

1.  Although I cannot really find much to be thankful for about losing my father when he was far too young, I am thankful his suffering was short lived.  We watched him go through a dramatic downhill slide in a matter of 8 weeks instead of watching him suffer for months or years.  I am very thankful he only suffered for a few weeks.

2.  I've never been a bathroom/toilet reader as I tend to be rather quick about such things and am in/out of the bathroom too quickly.  However Jason tends to keep the "throne room" well stocked with reading material.  I randomly picked up a National Geographic catalog Jason had left in the bathroom as I occupied the throne earlier today (yes, TMI I know but unfortunately relevant to this point). As I flipped through the pages I saw that they had not only waterproof gloves for sale but also waterproof socks.  I own waterproof gloves, a waterproof coat and pants, etc. but until today I somehow managed to remain unaware of the existence of waterproof socks.  Today I am thankful that Jason likes to read on the toilet as I am most excited about my discovery of waterproof socks.

3.  I am thankful for my farm.  The truth is it is nothing but a giant, black hole that is determined to bleed our bank accounts down to the last penny and keep us continually overworked and short on time as we attempt to keep up with the endless maintenance and projects.  Don't ever kid yourself that owning a farm is going to save you time or money, trust me on that one!!  That being said I'm still quite fond of it and love when I have a few minutes to leisurely stroll our almost mile long driveway and enjoy the beauty that surrounds me.   

4.  With today being Veterans Day I am thankful and proud to come from a family with a strong history of service to our country.  My brother-in-law is an air force pilot (I know, he's super cool) and my dad retired as a Lt. Colonel.  Two outstanding men in my immediate family have served the country they love and I am thankful and proud to claim them as family members.

5.  I am thankful to have two hay barns full of hay.  Nothing is more comforting than a full hay barn, much less two of them.  Hay is at a premium this year (it hurt to write those checks this year!!) and I almost feel the need to pat the hay and speak tenderly to it whenever I walk by.

I think for now that is a good start for reflecting on things I feel thankful for, I feel better already.  More to come in future posts.

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