Thankful

 My little kids asked Kelly the other day why he always says 'thank you' and he replied that he would be afraid not to say it.  I'm not sure they knew what he meant, but I am.

Today Savannah, Brayden and I were waiting to pull out onto a busy street behind our house.  The light turned green and the car in front of me just sat there long enough for me to contemplate a 'beep' of the horn.  I am grateful that I didn't do it.  As the lady finally looked up, saw the light was green and let off the brake, a huge landscaping truck barrelled through the intersection at full speed, running his red light.  The lady in front of me slammed on her brakes and did honk.  While I am grateful that my impatience didn't cause me to honk and have her pull  into on-coming traffic, I am also eternally and deeply grateful that she was distracted and sat at the stoplight.  Chances are, if she had gone immediately, we would have been in the intersection and been t-boned by that truck. I knew immediately that we were being watched over in that moment.  I am thankful for both the protection and the feeling of being protected.  I talked to my kids about it, we said a prayer of gratitude and talked about what daddy meant.

The rest of what I am grateful for today is silly in comparison; but I'm still going to say it because we should show gratitude for things big and small.

I am grateful that Chik-fil-A didn't wait until December to bring back their peppermint  shakes! They are what one might call...delightful.  I had planned on waiting until after Thanksgiving to indulge (due to my diet), but after eating potato soup, homemade bread, rib eye, apple pie and more homemade bread this week, I decided to live a little.  After all, if I'm gonna get taken out by a truck, I don't want the last thing I ate to be lettuce! :) I am thankful to know that the South Beach diet will be waiting for me after the holiday season.

I am thankful for my adorable kids! After we got lunch in the drive through, Brayden offered to hold the shake for me.  He said, "I'll hold it for you mom, and I won't drink out of it until we get home, because I know you don't want us to get you sick before Thanksgiving!"  It's true, I've been hounding them not to drink and/or eat out of my stuff because I have a tendancy to get sick before major holidays and vacations!

I kept the shake with me and ate the cherry off the top.  Face it, you can't split a cherry into 3 and I paid for it... Brayden then looked at me and said, "I sure hope no one else runs a red light because I don't want my life to end before I get a taste of that shake!"
I laughed and told him how cute he was and he literally beemed.  He said, "Mom, I love being me, I like who I am."  I am so thankful he feels that way and hope he can always carry that with him.

I will follow his example.  I love being me! I am not perfect, I can be a weirdo and I have a lot of flaws.  But I have fun! I am thankful that I like being unique, I like my name, I like laughing...and laughing hard! I am thankful that my kids have these sarcastic, witty senses of humor and that we have inside jokes.  I am thankful that I enjoy being a mom. I have the most amazing family- here, there and everywhere. I am thankful for all the people in my life who have shown me such love and friendship.  I don't know if anyone on the planet has a better support system and group of friends than I do, just truly amazing people.  I am thankful that I'm me!