11-23-2014

It is almost Thanksgiving and I have been seeing people on Facebook post a daily list of things they are thankful for. Most start out very earnest, stating how thankful they are for all the support their family gives them. Then the next day they explain how thankful they are for their wonderful job and co-workers. (Oddly enough I have not seen any written by my co-workers.) But by the 5th or 6th day, they start scrambling for things to be thankful about. They’ll thank a pet, or maybe a cousin they played with as a child. By the time Thanksgiving comes around, they’re not even trying any longer. They’ll miss a few days and apologize, stating their thanks for the weather and hard bristled brooms. (A obvious shout out to the broom lobby.) These are the people who finish their projects. The rest quit after day 4 and get back to the real reason for social media: hating on everything. 

Wild Tundra Turkeys. Then we ate them.

But those eager attempts to share with others got me thinking about what I’m thankful for. Here is my list of 20 things I’m thankful for. And I will do it all at one time, so I don’t expose my inability to finish a project. 

Things I’m thankful for: (Not in order of importance)

1. My wonderful wife for allowing us to live in two
   places I love.
2. My job where I can hang out with the coolest and weirdest kids in the world.
3. Sunday morning breakfast with the Becks.
4. Red Dirt Music.
5. Flannel.
6. Flush toilets. I can not emphasize how thankful I am about this.
7. Amazon Prime. They are my provider of such items as chili, coffee beans, and toilet paper. 
8. Opposable thumbs.
9. The fact that camera phones were not around when I was young and foolish(er). 
10. My slippers.
11. Living in a place cold enough to sleep between fleece sheets. If you’ve never experienced this, do yourself a favor and move to Alaska, or Canada, and put these on your bed. You will thank me for the sage advice. 
12. The ability (and desire) to Google information of ‘shared’ Facebook posts to verify validity. Seriously, it only takes seconds and it can keep you from looking like a total dumbass. 
13. Leftover Halloween candy.
14. The ability to have dreams while I sleep. Because of this, I am able to still see my dad and talk to him. I realize its not real, but for a short time it is. And I’m fine with that.
15. Hard bristled brooms. Science fact: they move dirt like nobody’s business.
16. The color red. The boss of all other colors. 
17. Beer. 
18. The chemical reaction that occurs when heat is applied to the flesh of dead pork. Or in other words, BBQ RIBS!
19.  
20.  

Of course these are not the only things I’m thankful for, but they are what I thought of while writing this. I was born into a great family and I married into a great family. That sure makes me able to be thankful for many things in my life. 

Community dinner a couple of years ago.

We are having two Thanksgiving dinners. The first one on Wed. will be with our village. Each year the students serve the community a Thanksgiving meal. On Thursday we will get together with coworkers and talk about how great we are. Then we’ll eat turkey again. So yeah, I’m going to have a wonderful Thanksgiving.