Remember to count your blessings on Thanksgiving (11/20/06)

In a few days we will gather around to give thanks for all the blessings in our lives. This year I am thankful that nobody threw me out of the store for trying out every baby toy that sang, played music or otherwise made noise. I settled on a very quiet stuffed Grinch to go with a Dr. Seuss book and three toys that made varying degrees of noise depending on which button was pushed. I had my eye on a bunny that bragged about its big feet but decided to leave it for next time. I already had a play telephone stashed at home that I was informed was like one that had been purposely left at an aunt's house. Too bad. Baby Emma will have another one on Christmas morning. Mommy and Daddy will just have to find another place to "lose" it.

I have already spent more on the baby than I should. I tell myself that I am finished shopping for her but as anybody with access to a baby knows, that is just wishful thinking. There is always one more cute outfit to buy or something that she is sure to love.

I am thankful that I can afford to be so extravagant with her. Money was tight in the early years of our marriage, as it is for most newlyweds. If I hadn't won $100 in a contest at the grocery store one year, that Christmas would have been a whole lot bleaker. As it was, I managed to stretch that money to cover both mine and my husband's family plus spend extra on my daughter. I have already spent more than that on Emma alone.

We all have more blessings in our lives than we realize. Work has been more stressful than usual lately. I sometimes feel as if I am being pulled in a thousand different directions at once. Everybody wants everything yesterday and they hover like a pack of vultures until they get what they want. Even so, I am fortunate to have a job that I usually like and, vultures or not, I usually like my co-workers also. I realize that there are a lot of people who are forced to depend on the charity of others just to survive. I have been through that before and, for me, it was a horrible experience. Therefore I am thankful for my job.

I still don't know where we will be spending Thanksgiving this year. For many years we went to Texas to be with our daughter. This year we are holding off until January when the baby will have her first birthday. So not only will we miss our usual dinner and vacation we will also miss what had become a mini-tradition; namely the Friday morning shopping trip. I used to view it as madness to venture anywhere near a store the day after Thanksgiving. This year I will be here, busily typing away and I expect my daughter will be at work saving lives, or sticking marshmallows on the ceiling at work, depending on how busy they are.

I do not expect a repeat of the year we moved on Thanksgiving day. We ended up eating bologna sandwiches at the end of an exhausting day. Even that was a blessing as it gives us something to laugh about now.

My mother and brother are supposed to come up this weekend. I am looking forward to seeing them without having to make the long drive down there. I am thankful that I have a good car to drive instead of one that breaks down or demands oil and transmission fluid every few miles.

There are many things to be thankful for. Sometimes we forget how fortunate we are. It is hard to be grateful when the world is crashing around us and all we want to do is run away. Sometimes we need a formal reason to stop and realize the world is a beautiful place. Thanksgiving is that reason. It is the perfect excuse to make a memory or just take the day off and enjoy it. If you're lucky you won't celebrate with bologna or by sticking marshmallows to the ceiling.[[In-content Ad]]