Thirty Days Of Thanks, Part One

I'm not usually one for Facebook status trends or chain letter type things that seem to flood social media now and again, but I like the 'Thirty Days of Thanks' thing.  I noticed it last year, did it and decided to do it again this year.  This is the first half:

1.  I'm thankful for my job.  It can be by turns, stressful, rage-inducing, tiresome, irritating, challenging and rewarding- sometimes all within one shift or even all at the same time.  It teaches me to be kind and patient with people I'd rather smack upside the head.  It's taught me the value of a 'mute' button.  I thought long ago that this would be an interesting job to have and lo and behold I was right.

2.  I'm thankful for my wife.  I have no idea what I did to get this lucky, but I found a beautiful, intelligent woman that accepts me for all my weirdness and quirks, is never afraid to tell me when I'm full of shit and keeps my feet firmly on the ground- where they belong.  Six years ago, I was in a bar in Mankato watching as Romo fumbled the snap against the Seahawks in the playoffs when this beautiful woman came in and flashed me a smile that just lit up the room.   Six years later, she's still smiling so I must be doing something right.

3. I'm thankful for friends near and far. Some friends wander in and out of your life while some stick around and even though time and distance may separate us, I'm grateful for all of them because they've all impacted my life in some small way- and I hope they can say the same about me.

4.  I'm thankful for Little Man. He came into our lives like a whirlwind of joy and it's been a blast ever since. There have been more good days than bad and when he's happy, smiling and laughing those days are the best days and I can't wait for all the adventures to come.

5.  I am thankful for those random days where everyone sleeps in until 9:30 and for living in a democracy.  Politics in this country may be frustrating, rage-inducing and nauseating pretty much most of the time but nothing beats waking up after a full 8 hours of sleep, having breakfast and then going to vote.  So go vote!  Not everybody gets too.

6.  I am thankful for mornings where Austin gets a kick out of watching Arcade Fire videos on YouTube and afternoons where he at least pretends to be taking a nap.  He could be pulling a full Keith Richards on his room right now, but all I hear is deafening, innocent silence.

7.  Oddly enough, I'm thankful for our menagerie of furry creatures.   They're a motley crew, each with their own personality and they can be a real pain in the ass sometimes, but Samson comes and checks on Ali and I every night before bed.  Harper snuggles better than any cat I've ever had.  Moxie is our ginger puddle of fur.  Sophie is just the best, low maintenance dog ever.  And despite Winston's tendency to eat things he can't really digest and thus cost us dinero, I wouldn't sleep right without him snoring at the end of the bed.

8-9.  (Combo because I wanted to get to bed last night.)  I'm thankful for a warm, comfortable bed to sleep in and late night mugs of cocoa to accompany me with my editing AND early morning cups of tea with a squirt of agave nectar to help my throat to get me going.

10.  Weirdly, I'm thankful for the NBC Sports Network. Ever since my parents took us all to a World Cup Qualifier in 1994, I've always loved everything about soccer- but watching it was either a 'once every four years' type of thing or luck of the draw with random MLS games or free weeks of the Fox Soccer Channel. The geniuses at NBC Sports nabbed every Premier League game and are doing a beautiful job broadcasting them... and for the first time ever, I really feel like I'm a fan and not just some weirdo checking the league tables on the BBC site.

11.  I'm thankful for perseverance. I had a mild panic attack at the state of my slowly-but-surely coming together book today. I really want to unleash this thing on the world before the end of the month but there's a daunting amount of work to do. The cover still needs made. I still need to figure out my way around CreateSpace and Scrivener to git er done and when I was about at that brown paper bag stage, I looked at the calendar, did some calculation in my head and said to myself: 'No, I GOT THIS.'

12.  As we head deeper into colder weather, I'm breaking into the small vault of tea from Teavana I've been hoarding, Doomsday Prepper style.  When I'm all stuffy and my throat is sore, there's nothing like a cuppa with a squirt of agave nectar to wake me up and soothe my throat.

13.  I'm thankful for socks without holes in them, because thanks to Winston who seems to be convinced that if he just eats ONE MORE he can get to the peanut butter/meat paste flavored center there aren't that many around the house.

14.  I'm thankful for those moments (at work or otherwise) where suddenly, you're trying to juggle six things at once and there's that exciting moment when you're not entirely sure whether they're going to be chainsaws or bananas.  It adds a certain zest to life.

15.  I'm thankful for those random days where Austin wakes up and entertains himself for a solid hour and a half before demanding freedom (and breakfast.)  Days like these probably aren't going to be guaranteed so I enjoy them when they happen.