Sunday, 24:

• godly advice
• meat that I know isn't chicken but why are we having turkey today (hint: it was actually ham)
• hand warmers

Monday, 25:

• I'm going to be on TV!
• warm winter coat (thank you mom!)
• extra handbell practice for the hard songs

Tuesday, 26:

• being a blessing
• new niece, "Minnie"

Wednesday, 27:

• my parents are moving closer to me!
• I wrote 4,000 words in my novel
• castles and SR 71 Blackbirds
• swagbucks!

Thursday, 28:

• Hanukkah and Thanksgiving, on the same day!
• sweet potato casserole
• family

Friday, 29:

• EJ's clouds blankie (who is a "he" not an "it")
• brand-spanking-new Christmas tree
• upstairs decked for the holidays

Saturday, 30:

• downstairs decked for the holidays
• decorating memories of years gone by
• texting

Sunday, the 17th:

• my violin
• flexibility of my Pastor when someone is sick
• handbells (yay! we practiced for church!)

Monday, the 18th:

• influence
• Japanese food and Asian markets
• my son's tender heart

Tuesday, the 19th:

• internet
• ideas and brainstorming
• friends with a heart for missions

Wednesday, the 20th:

• church
• funny monkey videos on youtube

Thursday, the 21st:

• ladies meeting
• chocolate
• simple reminders

Friday, the 22nd:

• knowing I'm not the only crazy person out there
• smart friends
• the push to do something better

Saturday, the 23rd:

• staying inside
• cinnamon rolls
• spell check for cinnamon (because auto correct would have put carcinoma rolls--yikes!)

At ladies' meeting the other night, every place was set with these "I am thankful for" papers. Everyone thought it would be part of the devotional, so no one filled in the little hearts, and then ladies meeting was over and everyone kinda pretended they "forgot" about the papers and just left them on the table. Another mom and I decided to take some home for our kids to fill out, and I was just going to take my one paper (because I only have one kid) but somehow I ended up with two. So I let EJ fill out both of them! This one he filled out for me.

My Marine Corps veteran daddy :-)

Nov. 3, I am thankful for:

• God giving me some creative abilities
• Mission's Conference
• fudge (I could eat the whole pan!)
  

Nov. 4, I am thankful for:

• missionaries with a burden for Japan
• Minion movies
• a son who learns more than I realize
  

Nov. 5, I am thankful for:

• the ability to have and express my own opinion
• internet search engines to find new information
• Christmas music (yes, I just went there!)
  

Nov. 6, I am thankful for:

• pumpkin cookies
• a hard-working husband who comes home early <3
  

Nov. 7, I am thankful for:

• life
• scenic city views
• in-laws who live close enough to babysit :-)
  

Nov. 8, I am thankful for:

• a new iron that doesn't get yucky-sticky
• my mom for getting me a sewing machine so long ago
• said sewing machine (makes hemming stuff so much easier and faster!)
  

Nov. 9, I am thankful for:

• good attitudes
• friendship
• an air mattress for a bed (it's so much comfier than a regular mattress)

Last year, instead of doing the daily thankfulness on facebook, I blogged about what I was thankful for. That was so fun I decided to make it a yearly tradition. If you can believe it, I've been looking forward to this since about the middle of September. :-)

Nov. 1, I'm thankful for--

• an imaginative son
• encouraging words from strangers
  

Nov. 2, I'm thankful for--

• candles
• computer
• Christmas music (a little early--so sue me)
• choiet time (quiet time, only alliterated!)

Tune in next Saturday for the next seven days of thankfulness! Who knows, I might just be thankful for you!!

Saturday, I am thankful for:

• good books
• staying in my pj's all day and lazing around
  

Sunday, I am thankful for:

• husband who is concerned about me
• bruises, because I know I'm alive
• more knowledgeable people than me who put up instructions on the internet
  

Monday, I am thankful for:

• twinkling colored lights
• red bows (no, I have no idea how that trait got passed down, especially after 20 years of teasing my mom about it)
• funny jokes
  

Tuesday, I am thankful for:

• forgiveness
• homeschooling, both when I was the student, and now that I'm the teacher

Saturday, I am thankful for:

• living social coupons
• pre-Thanksgiving sales
• deep conversations in the car
  

Sunday, I am thankful for:

• string ensemble
• not being the only violin in string ensemble
• friends who've moved away who come back for an unexpected visit (even if they don't bring their violin with them)
  

Monday, I am thankful for:

• good news from a friend
  
• colors that go well together (and along similar lines,)
• the rainbow
  

Tuesday, I am thankful for:

• friends who make my heart smile
• a father-in-law who prays with my son
  

Saturday, I'm thankful for:

• working vehicle
• working legs
• the occasional willing heart :-)
• being married to someone I like <3
  

Sunday, I'm thankful for:

• being able to play handbells
• comfortable shoes
• the way God ties unrelated things together
  

Monday, I'm thankful for:

• living in the south where it's warmer than FREEZING
  
• coupons
• flavored water
• son who fixes me a bagel (completely on his own) if I haven't eaten anything all day
  

Tuesday, I'm thankful for:

• God's protection when I almost ran over a {stupid} kid
• being able to help the less fortunate
• visitation--so my kid can get out some wiggles in the gym
  

As I barrel through November, I find myself contemplating at every turn, "What can I be thankful for in this situation?". And like no other month in the year, I hear my mind answering that question with a forceful "nothing". Why is it that the harder I try to think of things to be thankful for, the easier it is to see the less thankworthy things. The cold. The cold shoulder. The difficult decisions. The advice unheeded. And every other little thing that happens as life happens that makes me want to scowl rather than smile.

I try, I really do. There are so many things to be thankful for, things that happen every day that I take for granted. My eternal future secured in Heaven. My family's love. My friends' trust. A roof over my head. Transportation that doesn't expose me to the elements. Money in the bank. Seriously, what more could I ever want? What I do have is more than I need, and so much more than I deserve. And yet, as the pages of my life flip past, I seem to highlight the negative events and bury the positives.

What's wrong with me this time? Remember a couple months ago, I wrote a post exploring why I sometimes feel empty inside? But I have been reading the Bible, every day, taking special note of something I can apply to my life. I have been praying, lately more than usual because I have several friends that just recently needed more intercession. What have I been doing, or not doing, the past two weeks that's new?

I sit here, writing this, listening to music, because I think that's the only way to live--with music playing. And I realized what's different. My music is different. Not different like, a different genre of music (that would be an entirely different post). Different because, about a month ago, I got a bunch of songs from a new CD off Amazon. The first two weeks after I got the songs, I listened to them maybe, two or three times. But then I switched to listening to Christmas music as I did Christmas crafts with my son. But about two weeks ago, I remembered my new music and decided to listen to it instead.