So Much To Be Thankful For

We spent the past week celebrating Pie Day and Thanksgiving in St. Louis, so I'm a little late writing down my "Thankful List" this year.  Here's at least a few of the things I am grateful for, in no particular order:

• My wonderful Dr. C, who encourages me to be the loud, spontaneous, opinionated, independent person that I am and who goes along with all of my wild schemes...even though it means he has to come in and rescue me at the last minute when I get in over my head and I have five hypothetical pots going on the four-burner stove and there is still 10 hours of work left to be done in the last 5 minutes.  And he still loves me afterward.  I'm pretty sure he has secured his sainthood several times over.
• My three children who delight me daily.  They keep me young, they remind me of what is important in life, they forgive and forget easily, and their love knows no bounds.
• Modern medicine and amazing doctors that have worked miracles on my second and third child many times over.  (T-Man hardly ever gets sick or hurt--thankful for that too!)  I am also grateful that Dr. C and I have good health.
• The beautiful weather in The South (except for the summer).  I don't miss the cold and the wind and the snow and the ice of the Midwest.  Not. One. Little. Bit.
• The Gospel of Jesus Christ--which gives me direction, hope, peace and comfort.
• Good books.  There is something magical about opening up a good book and being transported away into another time and place and forgetting your own world for awhile.  A good book is one of my favorite respites.
• My family.  My parents and sisters and brothers have given me friendship and support and memories that make my life rich.
• My friends that have become family.  I am so grateful for all the people that have accepted my little family as part of theirs and their family has become part of mine.
• Dr. C's job.  There are things that I don't like about The Village, but I am grateful that he has a good job that he likes doing.
• Icy-cold lemonade in the summer and big glasses of eggnog in the winter.
• Running and exercise.  I think clearer and feel better when I get out of bed for it.
• Nature.  We've lived and visited some pretty diverse places--the prairie, the desert, the mountains, the rolling hills, the pine forests, the beach...it doesn't matter which one I choose, when I sit in nature and just let the natural rhythms and sounds of the earth sink in, I can find peace and balance in my soul and all is right in the world again.

P.S. To the un-initiated, Pie Day is it's own holiday--the day before Thanksgiving--when the whole day is dedicated to Pie Making.  Our record one year was 21 pies, 18 varieties.  I think that year we had 15 people for dinner.  Anywho, this year we made 11 pies, for 9 people.  So of course we spent all of Thursday night, all of Friday, and all of Saturday morning trying to consume as much pie as possible.  Unfortunately (or fortunately--depending on how you look at it) we left the remaining pie at my parents house in St. Louis.  On the drive home yesterday, Fearless informed me that he hated our house because we didn't have pie for breakfast and that he wanted to go back to Grandma and Grandpa's.  I guess that means Pie Day (and Thanksgiving) was a success.