Happy Thanksgiving!!

Thanksgiving 2011

(I want to keep my Thanksgiving diary from Facebook in a more permanent place)

Nov 1: Happy November!! I hate that so many people blow Thanksgiving off. It should be honored much more. Yes, the lie of the happy pilgrim and native deserves to be dropped, but it's a shame that we Americans don't make a better show of gratitude for what we have. Today I'm celebrating Bountiful Harvest - in particular for our family: gratitude for annual supplements that arrive just in time for tuition bills.

Nov 2: Big thanks for the inspiration of certain peeps that got me off my duff and into a healthier Me!

Nov 3: Sure am grateful for the companionship of our cats. Funny, loyal, snuggly - You just gotta love how they flag their tail when they're happy to see you, how they stretch their paw up just to touch you, and the pure ATTITUDE that abounds.  :D

Nov 4: It is fantastic that I can pursue a fully accredited Masters even though we live nowhere near a program. Thank goodness for the Internet and wonderful digitized archives. Make it a thankful November ;D

Nov 5: I am grateful for the wide range of vistas of the world and the human experience that my growing Newbery collection brings me that my own life doesn’t encounter.

Nov 6: I'm pretty sure my penchant for quilting comes from a combination of a love for puzzles and the legacy of my grandmother. I am so grateful for the tools that make quilting easier that were unavailable when Grandma was in her heyday - particularly for well-marked cutting mats and awesome rulers, rotary blades, curved safety pins, a walking foot, a floating stipple foot, and disappearing-ink markers. And let it be noted that I am very grateful for a hubby who can do the stitches when I get working too fast and the blade jumps the edge of the ruler~! heh  :)  (That won't happen again)

Nov 7: Diversity is awesome. My all-time favorite movie quote comes from Robin Hood – Prince of Thieves, when the little girls asks Morgan Freeman, “Why did God paint you?” and he replies “Because Allah loves wondrous variety.” I am so grateful that the world is not a huge boring pot of sameness.

  

Nov 8: Who remembers writing in Typewriter Days? The mountain of index cards, the painfully laborious research through indices and card catalogs, the agony of figuring out when to start the footnote section on a page. . .  BOY am I grateful for Word Processors! Today's young students have no idea how easy we have it now for putting papers together.  :D

Nov 9: Even though I truly hate how far away they are, I am thankful that the girls are able to be at the schools of their dreams.

Nov 10: I am grateful for the quilting world: fantastic fabrics, learning new techniques, finding friends and inspiration through the community both in life and online, as well as motivation to have a very productive year (although right now it's all at a snail's pace behind studies and writing).

Nov 11: I am extremely THANKFUL that Scott is not on deployment this year! Happy Veterans’ Day, honey!

   

Nov 12: Aren’t you grateful that we don’t bust our knuckles on a washboard every week? Sure is nice to have machines like “WaAally” and the dishwasher to make our housekeeping lives a lot easier.

Nov 13: As much fun as it is to make fun of the prolific use of these things, I am truly grateful for our cell phones. Communication with college kids is entirely revolutionized from my generation's days. No more worries about long-distance bills, so go ahead and text or call as often as your heart desires! (Well, maybe don't bug the kids *that* much.) :D 

P.S. ***PLEASE*** do not text and drive!!!!! Just don't do it. At all.

Nov 14: I am incredibly thankful for my vision, that I am able to drink in the wonder.

Nov 15: I am thankful for a variety of friends who each strike a different chord of affinity.

  

Nov 16: I am grateful for today's transportation abilities - that I can get to Jacksonville in half a workday instead of a whole week.

  

Nov 17:  Woohoo! Grateful for a Google search, online mapping systems, and the GPS – turns a few hours of kill time in a strange city into a fun quilt shop hop!  :D

Nov 18: Today I will be grateful for silver linings - both for the boon of their existence and the ability to focus on them.

Nov 19: Woohoo!! I am grateful for airplanes that bring my babies home!! Devon's off already for the holidays, about to make her way home, and Heather will join us Monday night. :D

Nov 20: Very thankful for the days we get to sleep in!

Nov 21: This may seem trivial, but I seriously am grateful for good chocolate. Not that overly-sugary stuff in Hershey bars - but good, rich, dark, creamy chocolate in quality truffles, mousses, cakes, and pies. And a little Dove dark square is not bad after dinner for hardly any calories - plus you get a wee bit of an antioxidant boost. ;D

Nov 23: I am thankful for the freedom, for the release, for the peacefulness and self-assurance in my life.

Thanksgiving Day: What I am *most* thankful for is my family and the fun we have together!!