Happy Thanksgiving

"See, here's the thing..."
Actually, it's about 3 days after Thanksgiving, but Christmas doesn't officially begin until December 1st...even though the tree is up and there are wrapped presents underneath.

So, I thought that I would list all of the things that I am thankful for, as cliche as it may seem. Oh, and these are in no particular order...

1.) My family - I have a wonderful husband who always seems to take care of me and two happy, healthy (well, most of the time) children. I am also thankful for my mom, dad, sister, and brother...who despite what I thought when I was little, really did end up being my best friends.

2.) My friends - Especially Karen and Michelle. They are my best school friends. Without them, who would I vent to?

3.) My karate family - Sensei, Teresa, Stella, Edie, Shirley.

4.) I have money to pay my bills - this has not always been the case.

5.) My body - it is strong enough to complete 2 black belt tests and a marathon. OK - so I cried through most of all three, but I did finish them all!

6.) My camera so I can take cute pics of my kids.

7.) My Thanksgiving morning run (and my morning runs in general). They are when I can think the most and allow me to clear my head. I just don't get that running on the treadmill in the gym.

8.) The beach - it is the one place where I am truly relaxed and feel completely at ease. As they say on the islands..."No worries."

9.) My many hoodies- because I am always cold.

10.) My "technology buddies" - they have bailed me out more than once. :-)

11.) My computer - how did I EVER live without it???

12.) My iPod - how did I EVER workout without it??? It has accompanied me on countless runs and kept me from going insane many a time.

13.) Captain Underpants and Junie B. Jones - they have both given me precious bedtime memories with my children.

14.) My Mizuno running shoes - they are the first running shoes that kept my feet from hurting.

15.) My new Levi jeans - they actually fit me perfectly. (515's and 545's for those of you who might need some new jeans)

16.) Dirk Pitt - I live vicariously through him.

17.) My car - so I can run because I want to...not because I HAVE to.

18.) Sticky notes...enough said.

19.) Sonic - everything is better when you have a Sonic coke.

20.) IMing - so I can talk to my husband even when I don't particularly feel like actually talking.

So, my list is pretty superficial...and I could say that I am thankful for my family, my friends, my health, the roof over my head, and the food on my plate, but I think that those are givens. I am very thankful for all of those things, I just thought it would be interesting to post all of the "little things" that go unnoticed each and every day.

Now, here are just a few pics from the past few days that I am thankful for. The first is of my kids outside on Thanksgiving day before heading to my Mom's house for lunch. The pic shows two of the surprises that I received on Thanksgiving day - the yellow leaves and the snow. When I walked outside to start my morning run, I was greeted by a yardful of yellow leaves. Since I had had green leaves on the tree the night before, I was surprised to find yellow leaves on the ground the next morning. My second surprise was the snow. Fortunately, this didn't start until after my "turkey trot," but it snowed on Thanskgiving nonetheless (take a look at the crooks of the tree).

The second picture is of my son decorating our tree. It's just a typical picture of him - in his boxers, tank top, and a santa hat...with his extra high butt crack sticking out. :-)