Thankful today for you!

right now, for …

… something warm to drink in the morning.

… friends who still comment on my blog even though I haven’t had time to talk to them since school started. (Hi, !)

… the awesomeness that came out of my database work yesterday (even if that means today’s work will be nothing but frustration).

… primer that is on the walls of ’s office finally (just a bit more edging to do tonight, and then painting this weekend).

… figuring out some home dec things. I hate feeling thwarted by my own house.

… ’s nursing job, even if I don’t know any details (hint, hint).

… my day off earlier this week, and for the contributions of the many great men and women who founded our country.

… sunshine. There was actual sunshine yesterday, and it was 34*! I was positively giddy.

… rocking my presentation at Tuesday night’s class, and the new-found confidence I have towards this semester.

… the box of Twinkies, which is now gone, but was yummy and fun while it was here.

… new driver’s licenses which are on the way, and the ease at which one can become an organ donor and register to vote alongside that process.

… remembering to be thankful before 8 pm.

Share what you’re thankful for in the comments! It makes me so happy to read what other people feel grateful for.

for…

… OTC cold medication.

… long underwear.

… whoever it is that plows our driveway – we didn’t ask, we don’t know who you are, but we are so thankful!

… group projects that go faster than expected.

… sleep. Oh, sleep, I love you so. I miss you. Let’s be friends again.

… the sunshine yesterday. I was cold outside, but warm inside.

… sick days, and co-workers who take them.

… weekends (and no Saturday classes!).

And you? What are you thankful for?

Oh, with school and it being February, it is getting quite difficult to come up with things to be thankful for. Let’s give it a shot, shall we?

Today, I’m thankful…

… that real teachers have textbooks on which to base lesson plans (at least, this is what I’m lead to believe). Trying to write one without a book? Extremely difficult, bordering on insane.*

… for the haircut (Saturday) that I finally remembered to schedule. I’m only two or three months overdue.

… for finding a bridesmaid dress.

… I finally figured out (today) how to put more money in my retirement account at work. You know, I’ve only worked here 7 years.

… for Emergen-C and the belief, however true or not, that Vitamin C superdosing will keep this cold at bay.

… it’s in the upper 20*s today! No long underwear! Freedom!

… for technology.

… my cousin is finally back in the US after serving in Afghanistan.

… I’ve had new visitors to my blog this week, and comments! They make me giddy.

… for Savers and eBay and other stores/places that help me get my craft on / keep me inspired.

… I have not fallen asleep at work once this week. (OK, I’ve never fallen asleep at work. At least, not at this job. But I’m tired, and it should would be nice to take a little nap.)

… I’m pretty sure that everyone I know is in relatively good health. I haven’t had time to talk to anybody, or keep in touch (except for Facebook), but I’m counting on someone contacting me if something comes up.

… that I’ve kept all of my textbooks (this time around, at least), and have given in to temptations to buy random social studies-related books at thrift stores. They are really coming in handy.

… for my one lone bamboo here at work, who did not get sick and die like the other two, and is still bright green and cheery in my cube.

… that Ben & Jerry’s exists.

You?

*Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that writing lesson plans is easy for real teachers. I’m just saying that trying to write one without a textbook and with a made up classroom of students is driving me crazy. Also, I’m pretty sure that one day when I am a real teacher, I’ll look back at this post and laugh at my naivety. Bring it on.

… for [newly bequeathed] magic powers at work.

… for getting registered for classes, and then paying for them.

… for Sprite, which is slowly taking away the nausea.

… for parking in the garage.

… for a husband who is not only capable of doing the dishes, his own laundry, making dinner, etc., but who does so of his own volition. Really. Every woman should be so lucky (if it’s her choice to be married, that is, and if she doesn’t want to be Susie Homemaker).

… for finding the exactly same Sterlite plastic bins at Target last night that I bought five or six years ago.

… for whoever thought of Freezer Paper stenciling. Genius!

… for slowly checking things off the “Things To Do Before School Starts” list.

… for sweet pictures like this one (thanks, Picnik, for making a bunch of premium features free!):

Alison and Grant

Really, I’m tempted to show you the original so you see what a great job I did. OK, well, you twisted my arm. Oh, took these pictures with our camera. I just did the editing. Still, a great job, don’t you think?

Original

Also, I’m thankful that the headache has finally gone away, as have the hot flashes. I’m left with the nausea, which is not as bad as it was an hour ago. I’m no longer worried about the bus ride home.

It’s not that I haven’t been thankful since before Thanksgiving, but that holidays and other things have gotten in the way of making a public list. But, seeing as how it’s the last day of 2009, I thought I’d write up a little list of all the ways I’ve been blessed in 2009.

• We bought a house! We sold our townhouse! We love our house (even last night, as I vacuumed a millipede skeleton out of a door frame), and are so happy that it’s ours.
• I was caffeine-free for all of 2009. That seems like a major accomplishment. (Patting myself on the back now.)
• Good times, though they were few and far between, with friends. Lots of baking, some shopping, and a skosh of drinking.
• Two cats who are now friendly enough to snuggle together.
• Not one but two trips home to visit family in Chicago, and for the time spent and memories made with my grandparents. Also, I’m very thankful that grandpa, at 96, is still completely connected to reality and has most of his faculties.
• I had a few opportunities to do things for others that completely made their days, and I’m grateful for the opportunity (and the resources) to have been able to do so.
• A new sewing machine. Bliss!
• I didn’t gain any weight in 2009. I didn’t lose any, but I didn’t gain either, so I’ll be thankful for that.
• Joey came into our lives in March, and he’s a totally different experience from his brother, Grant. Both of my nephews have enriched my life in ways I can’t explain.
• My piano.
• Job security for both and myself, and all that it has enabled us to do. I’m thankful for the dishwasher, the wine cellar, the washer and dryer, the groceries, the random house projects….
• I read lots of good books this year.
• I was also able to participate in a few quilt swaps, and those were a lot of fun (and brought many pretty things into our house).
• A’s in all four classes I took this year. I don’t think I stressed out too much about school, though at times it was quite busy and there was a lot to do. has really been wonderful at taking up the slack when I’m bogged down with school.
• I kept my allergies under control for most of 2009 (except for the addition of some sinus allergies in the spring, which my doctor quickly diagnosed and fixed). I like not itching.
• Social networking/media has been something I’ve gotten into this year as well. I’ve been blogging since 2003-ish, but never got more involved than that. I enjoy the new things that Twitter and blogs have opened up for me, and the people I’ve been able to reconnect with through Facebook.
• I’m actually (not at all modestly) quite thankful for my blog redesign, while we’re on the subject. I love the new look!
• I’m thankful for all of my friends, for my family, and the other people who make daily life better just by being in it.
• 2010 has a lot of potential, and that’s exciting.

… for vacation days.

… for the invention of the wheel.

… for cameras.

… for house projects.

… for loved ones who have strong arms.

… that it’s Thursday – it kind of snuck up on me!

… for databases.

… for irons and starch.

… for sweatshirts.

… for Garnier Fructise Length and Strength shampoo and conditioner.

… for dishwashers.

… for headphones.

… for maturity (and for silliness – the two are not mutually exclusive).

… that I have cornbread for lunch!

I’m thankful for…

… great weather yesterday that I got to enjoy because it was a State holiday (and therefore I didn’t go to work).

… the Veteran’s Day sale at Savers where all the clothes were 50% off. Seriously. I found two winter/Christmasy sweaters to replace a few that left my closet last year.

… a safe drive home from Building Materials Outlet with a door hanging out the trunk of my car. That Ford Focus is so handy! (However, the other door we need, the bigger one, will never fit in my car.)

… spaghetti squash for dinner tonight (mixed with angel hair pasta and spaghetti sauce).

… pumpkin spice creamer that so thoughtfully bought for me on Tuesday. Oh, and the chocolate bar.

… some great conversations at Homework Hub this week.

… Vitamin C and its healing properties (I’m super-dosing on Emergen-C right now, warding off a cold quite successfully).

… lots of success in Microsoft Access 2007 this week. Just one failure (albeit a medium-sized one that is quite frustrating, but I will prevail!).

… a smooth blog re-design. I haven’t heard any complaints, and nothing seems to be broken. It’s all I could ask for.

… a husband who vacuumed the kitchen floor when I put the leftover cornbread in plastic wrap on the counter, which led to finding it and destroying it. (Just a bit sad that I didn’t have cornbread for lunch today.)

… happiness in the lives of those I love.

… nail files. (Lots of broken nails this week.)

… keeping my cool this week (several times) even when I wanted to lose my temper and say snarky (and inappropriate) things.

… the ease at which I learn and come to understand certain computer-related things.  (I’m frequently reminded of how hard life is for those who just don’t get computers. Frustrating, too.)

… the replacement hard drive in my netbook, and the easy Windows 7 install.

… my new iPhone and all the joy it has brought me, especially times when I would have otherwise been bored (though I have to say that my embroidery has been left by the wayside, and I should really not let that happen).

… my elbows which feel much better this week. I’m actually not wearing my brace today at work, and didn’t have to take Advil either. (Now if I can figure out what quantity of knitting I can do at what frequency so as to not inflame the tendons, that would be awesome.)

… sugar cookies with frosting.

… those who repeatedly turn to me for fashion advice even though I can’t really dress myself all that well. I’m excellent at dressing others. I like it when other people acknowledge that. (Clarification – by “others” I mean women. Apparently this gift of mine does not work on men.)

… the list of Christmas gift ideas that is more than half full.

… a fully functional fireplace in our bedroom. We’ve used it several times already.

Just a few of the things I’m thankful for right now. What about you?

for…

… Coffee-Mate Creamer.

… easy homework this week.

… ice packs that completely fixed my tendinitis issues.

… heating blankets.

… the Orkin service person who is coming tomorrow to take care of the mouse (and bug) problem. Also, for getting Friday afternoon off work.

… the chimney service person who is coming next Tuesday to clean the chimneys and tell us we can use our fireplaces.

… parking in the garage.

… a husband who will cook dinner when I don’t want to.

… excitement about Halloween this year; we think we’ll actually have trick-or-treaters!

… an easy database upgrade today (from Access 2000 to 2007). You never know.

… Walgreens Caramel Nut Clusters. I know I’ve talked about them before, but they really help me get through a long workday sometimes.

… successful shopping last night. More details later, when I’ve taken a picture.

… Mr. Clean multi-purpose spray (and others of its kind).

… helpful friends.

… a blog redesign that is almost ready to be unveiled.

… 20 dozen cans of pop (give or take a few), 4-ish dozen bottles of Gatorade, and one dozen bottles of iced tea that all fit into the pop machine that lives in our garage. Coincidentally, we now have half of a shelf freed up in the refrigerator.

… Icy Hot and Advil. (Man, do I sound like I’m broken or what? Just a bad run of it lately.)

… being past the halfway point of the semester.

… for smooth traveling this past weekend. We only had minor scheduling difficulties with the Metra train, but not a big deal. Our buses to and from the airport were perfect, and no flights were delayed.

… for quality time spent with my grandparents. At 90 and 96, I have to recognize that the time we have together is limited. Our visit was excellent in so very many ways. I won’t bore you with details, but I smile every time I think of our conversations.

… for women’s dress shoes that enabled me to do a 50-yard sprint to the bus this morning without twisting my ankle.

… for dinner sitting at home on the kitchen counter in the crockpot: Raechel’s Spicy Chicken (a friend’s recipe), complete with jalapenos picked fresh from our garden.

… for cookies with pink frosting that I can’t stop eating.

… for great time spent with friends in Illinois this last weekend. Good times with AMY and BETSY.

… for plans to visit next year the same weekend, which will simultaneously be the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure in Chicago and my 10-year college reunion (10 years?!?). I’m in charge of socks (for the race, not the reunion).

… for not having given in to the temptation (and the recommendations, oh so many recommendations) to buy an iPhone… yet. I really do enjoy the simplicity of my little phone.

… for multiple red tomatoes (finally!) in our garden.

… that this [work] project will soon be over.

… for all the Caramel Nut Clusters that have helped me make it through this week.

… for the Aunt Martha’s cookies brought home for me from the State Fair.

… that I was raised to filter the thoughts in my head before saying them aloud or putting them on paper. It means I still have a job.

… for new plugins to install on my blog, even if I don’t know how they work just yet (or why I might want to use them).

… that the cats have learned, quite quickly, that they no longer get to sleep in bed with us, which consequently means I get a full night’s sleep again.

… the internet, and its seemingly limitless ability to allow one to whine, complain, rant, or otherwise express one’s self (even if what one needs to express is only because the internet exists).

… the foresight to decide to buy lunch today instead of having my usual apple and yogurt. I am quite excited about that.

… for corduroy pants.

… for finally getting all the way caught up in Google Reader.

… for letting myself skip a story in the Legends II collection I’m reading right now. I really wasn’t interested in 75 pages about Dunk and Egg (and yes, those are seriously their names).

… that it only cost $150 to fix my car, and now the power steering again is smooth and usable. And that I might have found a repair place to take it to when other things go wrong.

[quickly] for…

… long hair.

… Hershey’s bars.

… rotary cutters.

… sales.

… how fast Wednesday and Thursday have flown by, especially considering how slow the week started.

… hopefully one last free Saturday before classes begin (still working on getting a hold of someone at Metro to see if the course will transfer, however).

today for…

… caramel.

… linen pants.

… the foresight to have set up a vacation day tomorrow.

… machines that work the way they’re supposed to (copiers, sewing, cars, etc).

… readily available sources of sugar and chocolate.

… the color green.

… ThermaCare heat pads.

… public transportation.

… the former Seasonal Concepts building that is being converted to a Goodwill (current closest Goodwill: 8 miles, back where we used to live; new Goodwill: 1.5 miles).