Thankful

I have been out of it for the last little while, Charles and I taking turns being sick, or not even taking turns. Because of this I've not been posting anything nor even reading any of the blogs I frequent in several weeks. Tonight I took some time while Charles was at a meeting to catch up on my reading and there were several posts about Thanksgiving and the start of the Christmas season, and so I add my own.

I am struck by how many things I have to be thankful for. Even though we have had illness in our home (and all around) we have not had to go to the doctor or the like, except for once for Charles, and even that didn't really help. Although it keeps us down it doesn't keep us out.

I was reading my sister's blog and some birthday stories and I realize how grateful I am for my parents, my siblings, my nieces and nephews, my in-laws, the whole lot of them. I very much miss my brothers and sister that live out of state, and even miss my brother that lives 20 minutes away. I'm thankful that they (try) to keep us informed by way of "blog world" and I'll try to do better on my end. All of Charles' family lives in state except for one brother, but they are spread from Layton to Spanish Fork to Cedar City and it is rare that I see them. I am so thankful for their warmth and friendship to me and the closeness and kinship I feel with them.

I am thankful for my new home and all that goes with it. I even enjoy trying to keep it clean -- sometimes. :) I am trying hard to "keep" my home, not have to "clean" it. Someone asked me a few weeks ago if there was any nice surprises I hadn't expected and there really isn't anything. We put so much thought into the planning that everything I knew I would love, I love! One thing I am continually grateful we decided to spend the money on was putting blinds on all the windows. I'm thankful for my privacy. However (and my mother will be so proud of me) I open the front window blinds and turn on a little lamp almost every night. Let people know I'm home and see my pretty little parlor. :)

I am thankful for employment. It might not pay the best, and there may be issue we have to work through and people we have to deal with, but at least we both have jobs.

I am thankful for our new ward and the friendships we are making there. We are both putting in effort to be a real part of the ward and get to know people and we are being rewarded for our efforts.

I am thankful for my pets. Henri is such a joy in our lives, and the boys make me smile every time they knead on my lap and purr. And the bird, well, he's just the bird. I love it when he whistles at me.

I am thankful for this Christmas season. Because we've been sick, the only thing I have done is put up the tree and put the lights on it. Nothing else, just the lights. But it sure looks good in my pretty parlor at night. I am thankful for the true reason of Christmas and the reminders I have of that. Our Christmas will be lean this year -- we gave ourselves a new house instead of DVDs -- but that just reminds me of the other parts of Christmas all the more.

There is a song by Roger Whittaker called "Christmas is Here Again" and it says "All that I want is to be here beside you, all that I need is right here in my arms. All that I want to to know that you love me and this will be my finest Christmas time". And that leads me to my final 'thankful for' -- Charles. He is my one-and-only and I don't know what I would do without him. Thank you, Sweetheart. I love you.

I hope you will all count your blessings this holiday season.