Giving Thanks In All Things

Since today is Thanksgiving in the United States when we take time to think about what we are grateful for and since it's also one great way to seek the positive, I'm going to make a list of some of the things I am grateful for. I thought I'd do it a little differently because it usually seems that the same things are mentioned, God, family, country, home, food, shelter, freedom, friends, etc., and I thought I would try and look beyond that and see what I could come up with.

Enjoy.

Things I am thankful for:

• my Pocket PC, because it's small, compact, and holds all the things I need to remember plus I can read books on it, check my e-mail and the Internet, let my children use the drawing program to help them be quiet at church, and play mp3s to listen to books and talks while I work.
• hot, running water from the tap.
  
• my education and the desire and ability to continue learning.
• my gas stove. (I really will miss it when I have to go back to electric burners one day.)
• cinder block walls because I can use those 3M hooks and not worry about them ripping the drywall.
• 3M hooks, so I can decorate my apartment better.
  
• my city library. It has such a good collection and it's nice to be able to read many of the books I want while living on a student budget.
• electricity.
• Jesus Christ. (Yes, I know I said that I was trying to think of less common things to be thankful for, but I saw His picture on the wall and my life wouldn't be what it is without Him, so there. ;) )
• microwaves.
• Google Reader because I can keep up on my sites and not use a lot of time.
• my husband having his thesis defense scheduled in less than two weeks.
• lower gas prices.
• a living room without a TV in it.
• washing machines and dryers because they save a lot of time.
  
• refrigerators and freezers.
• Google Maps because it helps me find places.
  
• staplers and paper clips because they keep my papers together.
  
• scissors.
  

You're welcome to post other things that you are grateful for in the comments, if you like.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Life As It Happened In the Last Month

I thought I'd update this since it's been a month since I've posted anything. We've had minor sicknesses in the last month which weren't serious, but take time from lesser pursuits like blogging. It's not like I forgot about it, though. I started at least a couple of new posts but was too tired to finish them.

I was also caught up in the election or trying not to be. In my personal efforts to stay positive in the ten days before Election Day, I limited my news media reading to one daily news e-mail subscription. I'm learning (very slowly, it seems) that we all have things that can take away our peace, and one of those things for me is the news. All the arguing, fault-finding, and negativity are so interesting to read, but it makes me disagreeable, to say the least, and that bothers me. I have so many more important things to do, but I allow myself to get sucked in. I've had some ideas tonight on how to resolve this for myself, so maybe I'll write about it when I get it figured out. :)

Another distraction, I suppose, is that my husband has been spending many a late night recently to finish his master's thesis. The exciting thing is that he should be finished, excepting perhaps his defense, by the end of the month. Then he can focus solely on his dissertation topic. Happy day!

So, stay tuned, my friends. We'll see how this month goes, with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up...hmm, like I said, we'll see. :)