30 days of Thanksgiving

Every year I watch and read as so many of the people in my life post a daily list of the things that they are thankful for throughout the month of November leading up to thanksgiving.  Every year I think what a cool idea, I should do that.  And every year I get too ‘busy’ doing other less important things.  This year I strove to do this daily, sometimes I managed, sometimes I posted many at once, but I basically accomplished my goal.

Here is the whole list just for the fun of it.  Don’t forget to give thanks for the many wonders of this life.

1. I am thankful for all of my family.  I am thankful that I have been lucky enough to have a family that genuinely likes each other.  Holidays were never a matter of bouncing between houses, or seeing one half one year and the other the next.  They were always just a matter of who’s hosting and everyone whose local gathering.
2. My Grandma Helen was an unusual lady, who I adored.  I had no idea what a strong woman she was until a few years ago.  I am thankful every day for the years I had with her and the opportunity to get to know her as a child as well as an adult.
3. My Grandpa Hap was larger than life.  One of my favorite people.  So many of my childhood memories involve him; working in his ceramics shop, building doll houses, taking us to the ‘beash’ (aka Beach), showing Jess and I off to his ‘old cronies’ at coffee when we visited, trips to the Lock’s or just hanging out being silly.  He was the kind of grandpa everyone wants
4. My Grandpa Don was awe-inspiring in a lot of ways.  He probably was one of the smartest most educated men to never go to college except some secretarial school.  He was clever, always inviting something to make life easier.  He challenged me to think, speak right using just the right word whenever possible, and be curious about the world.
5. My Grandma Evelyn is my last living Grandparent.  She’s nuts, she’s funny, she kind and has one of the largest hearts of anyone I know.  She occasionally drives me nuts but I wouldn’t trade her for anything in the world.
6. Today I am thankful for my Aunts and Uncles, especially my Uncle Steve.   He was a funny guy.  He had his problems but he always made me laugh and let me just be me.  When I was 12 my Grandfather had open heart surgery and I was terrified, so was he, but he but so much effort into making it Ok for me.  This is just one of the many many reasons I am thankful for having had him in my life.
7. I have many cousins.  Some are children of aunts and uncles and some are there children, I am thankful for all of them.  The funny memories from the children as they have grown up and the caring hearts of the adult ones.  So many aspects of my adult life were better because of my cousins Shannon and Sandy, and my ‘honorary’ cousin Joe (Sandy’s Husband).
8. I am thankful for my beautiful niece and handsome nephew.  They amaze me on a daily basis as I read stories of their latest accomplishments.  They are super smart, funny, and amazing little people.
9. I don’t know what I would do without my big sister Jessi.  As we grown-up she has gone from being my favorite verbal sparring partner to my best friend.  She has and is my confidant, the one person who can always break me out of a funk with an inappropriate joke to make me laugh.  We can talk for hours about the nothing and everything.   I love you Jess!
10. I am beyond lucky to have the mom I have.  Even when I am at my worst, I know she loves me.  She lets me ramble on about the most random of things, working out situations as I talk, listening, and offering her sound advice when needed or just quietly listening.  I know she has to occasionally wish I would just stop talking.  She is always ready for a needed hug and comforting words.
11. I am thankful for all of the people who fight and have fought for the safety of our country.  My Great Uncle Byron served in the Army during the Korean War, My Grandpa Hap De Shaw was in the Army in Okinawa during WWII, and my Dad ‘played with missiles’ (my silly phraseology for the serious work he did) in the Navy during Vietnam.  My Brother-in-law Brandon is currently serving in the Air force stationed in Japan.
12. My Papa is the best Daddy in the world.  We don’t always see eye to eye and we don’t always agree with one another but I always know that he loves me and is glad that I am one of his daughters.  I love that we can have random serious conversations about random topics; he takes me seriously when I ask him for his opinion or information about something.  Bonne nuit et je t’aime, Papa.
13. I think often about the opportunities for learning that are open to me, and I am thankful that I live in the day and age that I do.  I am thankful for all the years of education that I was lucky enough to have.  I am thankful for the opportunities and options to further my education and do whatever I want to in my life.
14. To go along with yesterdays thanksgiving for educational opportunities I am thankful for the many superb teachers that I have.  The teachers that bring to mind allusions to ‘great’ movie teachers such as Mr. Keating and Mr. Holland.  There are many that fall under this heading but the one at the top of the list, the one who shaped so much of who I am, is my Junior High Music teacher Mr. Joe Beneschan.  He challenged me as a musician, a Christian, and especially as a person.
15. As a dorky book worm I am thankful all the marvelous books that are out there to explore.  All the worlds to lose yourself in, the amazing characters to meet and stories to delve into.
16. I have moved more times than I feel like counting, but it’s around 30.  I occasionally wonder what it would have been like to stay in the same place but as I have gotten older, I have learned to be thankful for the life experience I have had due to these moves.  I have had to opportunity to meet some truly amazing people, to live in some great places, and learn things that I would not have without all these moves and the changes and challenges that came with them.
17. I am thankful for all the amazing people that I have met, for the people I still know and am in touch with and the people I am not.  I am thankful for the friends of the past and the friends of today.  When I was little, I disliked the song “Make new friends” because I misunderstood the lyrics thinking that they put emphasis on one kind of friendship over the other, not understanding that all friendships are equally as precious regardless of how long they have lasted.
18. I am thankful for all of the people I met during my time at Ballard High.  All of the experiences that this time in my life, these people, brought to my life have helped shape who I am and I am thankful for each and every one of these people
19. In the moving I did in my life I stayed for the longest time in Murrieta California.  I am thankful on a daily basis for the people I met there.  For Jeff, Chris, Amanda, and so many others.  I have the faith that I have, both in myself and in my God, because of these people.
20. I am thankful for the year and a half I spent in Covenant Players.  I learned so much about myself and my faith.  My thanks for this time in my life would not be complete without mentioning my thanks for my Unit Leaders Karlie, Elizabeth, Betty and Matt, as well as all the amazing people I met during this time.  This listing the things I am thankful for has made me realize how important the people who we meet are, how everyone who touches our lives shapes who we are.  Everyone I met during this short time in my life, from Unit Members, to hosts, to people I just got to know during training have helped shape the person I am today!
21. Yesterday I posted that I was thankful for my time in CP, today’s thanks is linked to this. I am thankful for Kristi. T and I met in CP and we were joined at the hip. Even though we now go long periods without talking due to the craziness of life she’s still my best friend and I know that no matter how much time passes I can turn to her when I need. I also know that no matter how much time passes we always seem to pick up right where we left off. Love ya T.
22. I am thankful for the nearly seven years I spent working at Bright Horizons, if my desire to finish my education among other things hadn’t surfaced I would still be happily working there.  I loved teaching all the little ones I did in that time.  I met some truly amazing kiddos, so super parents and got to learn from some excellent teachers.
23. I am thankful for all the children in the world the ones I have had the honor and privilege of knowing as well as the ones I have not.  As the saying goes Children are our future.  The world would be a boring and less interesting place without children to make us laugh, smile, and learn new things on a daily basis.
24. In this day and age where so many people are unemployed I am thankful that I am employed.  I am also thankful that no only am I employed I am doing something that I love, I generally look forward to going to work every day.  I am thankful for all the amazing learning moments I get to experience with both girls, sleepy cuddles, and little laughs.
25. I am thankful for my girls, my dogs that is.  Ginger has been a part of our family for 12 years now and is 16 years old.  She’s our sweet, loving, blind, deaf, and slightly senile old girl and I wouldn’t trade her for a million other dogs.  She’s saved my father’s life on a couple of occasions and my sanity more times than I can count.  She was an amazing companion to my grandma Helen when my Grandpa was sick.  She’s an amazing dog who I will miss greatly when she is gone.   Sissy has also been in the family, starting with Jessi and co as a pup, for many years.  She recently joined my household and became my dog.  I love the way she lays her head on my lap when I get home from work.  The fact that anywhere between 7:30 and 8:00 she will decide it’s bed time and go curl up in the middle of my bed, looking at me with a look that says where are you going to sleep when I come into the room.  She is a comfort when I am sick and stole my heart the moment I met her and again when she became mine.  I did not claim her,  she claimed me, and then we claimed each other.
26. I am thankful that I am allowed to believe what I want.  True there is some persecution in this country but nothing like some areas of the world.  I don’t go out in fear of being shot for carrying my bible or wearing my cross.  Some people may not agree with my beliefs, some people may be offended by them but I am still free to believe them.
27. Fifteen years ago the church I was attending began using a great curriculum, I went to a training and quickly fell in love with the ideas behind the program.  A few months ago, after talking about the material for years with our then director of Christian ed., my church implemented Godly Play.  I am thankful that St. John’s is using this curriculum and I am thankful that I get to join in the fun.  I love being in the Godly Play room during the Sunday service and when I can for a preschool class.  I am thankful whenever I get to say that I am ‘Godly Playing’, it seems like such appropriate wording since it feels like Play not school.
28. I am thankful l for my church home, St. John’s Episcopal Church.  I often find it odd that I spent years working just down the street but didn’t visit except for an occasional Ash Wednesday service.  I am thankful for the amazing people I have had the privilege of getting to know during the past five (?) years at St. John’s.  I am thankful for the Sunday school classes I have taught, my time working with the youth and so many other things.  St. John’s isn’t just a place I go to worship, it is home and a part of my family!
29. I am thankful for the faith that I have.  I am thankful that I had a family that guided me when I was growing up toward my belief.  I am thankful that I was never told to believe something ‘just because’ it’s was right but was allowed to question, wonder and understand.  I know what I why I believe because of this.  I am willing and able to question by own as well as others beliefs because of this.  I am able to explain and defend my believe because I was encouraged to understand it.
30. God, that there is a God, that I believe in him, that I know he loves me regardless of the stupid things I do.  So many things fall under this thanksgiving and I can’t seem to find the right words to express what I am thinking and feeling here.

In all the chaos and craziness of life it is imperative to remember all that we are thankful for!

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