Thankful...

Once again I am at odds with myself.  I hear /read all of my friends posting about things they are thankful for... friends, family, good health, sunrise, sunset... you know.  All of those wonderful things (and I'm not being sarcastic... really!)  It makes me feel guilty that I do not do the same... but I just cannot bring myself to be so... what's the word?  Traditional?  Maybe.  Normal?  Probably better.  I am VERY thankful for all of those things, but as most everyone knows - I rarely express my thoughts quite like everyone else. 

I wrote a blog last November about a few of the things I was thankful for (here's a link if you want to read it: http://www.scrapbook.com/blogs/103603/view/131911.html )  I thought maybe another list was in order for this year...

1.  The automatic gate opener... just imagine - I used to have to GET OUT OF THE CAR to open the gate every time I needed to go somewhere.  THEN... I'd have to get out of the car to SHUT it again.  How did I manage to survive all those years with that kind of torment????  Thankfully, now I don't have to brave the rain, heat, wind... sigh... technology is my friend.

2.  Reading glasses.  Ok - let me get something straight right off the bat - I am NOT thankful that I need reading glasses.  I went FORTY YEARS (good gosh how did I get so old??) without needing glasses of any kind... well - I did need sunglasses (preferrably pink ones with rhinestones) but that's different.  All of a sudden, after turning 40 last December, I cannot read my magazines so well at night when I go to bed.  That really stinks, by the way.  I finally broke down and got a pair of reading glasses (the weakest ones, at least) not too long ago.  WOWZER - what a difference it makes.  I have learned, though, not to try to walk around with them on - it just doesn't work so well when the floor looks like it's closer than it is!

3.  Toilet Paper... enough said.

4.  The Beatles.  Gotta love 'em (and if you don't, I don't wanna know!)  John, Paul, George and Ringo are with me every day on my iPod and on my wall.  No... no poster.  But I do have a Beatles calendar this year.   She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah...

5.  Ambien.  It is simply amazing the amount of things I can get done in a day when I sleep more than 1 1/2 hours each night.  Who'd have thought? (I'm a much nicer person, too - just ask my children!)

6.  Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.  Omgosh if you haven't tried one of these, you HAVE to!  I don't know how they work, but with my 3 sons, 4 dogs, & 2 cats, I don't CARE how they work...black magic for all I care!  I used one to clean my glass-top stove yesterday... it had a stain that I had been scrubbing at off and on for 6 months (I had let something with milk in it boil over and it permanently attached itself to the stove... smelled good, too!)  It didn't even take a lot of scrubbing to get it off with the Magic Eraser.  Cleans pencil & pen marks off the walls, too.  Now, granted, I'm not sure WHY I have pencil & pen marks on my walls.  I thought that by the ages of 11, 15 & 16, the boys would have outgrown writing on the walls.  Not that it happens OFTEN or anything... but I guess I was WRONG.  AND I'm pretty sure the teenagers have little to do with it anymore...

7.  Sirius Satelite Radio (in my car).  I'm afraid I'll never be able to live without it again.  I'm addicted.  SOOOOOO many channels to choose from!  Did you know that Martha Stewart Radio has a show with the Pet guy from the MSL magazine (Marc or something like that)??  He's kinda... interesting.  I'm pretty sure he wouldn't approve of the living arrangements for my pets, being that I don't have luxury condo's for them and all, and don't feed them gourmet dog/cat food.  I'm also pretty sure he'd be horrified for all of the critters that are slaughtered by my pets, too (skunks, mice, snakes, armadillos (????), squirrels)...city boy that he is.  hee hee

8.  Air Freshener/Febreeze.  Oh dear Lord, if you don't have one, you have no idea of the stink of some teenage boys.  The smell in Jake's room is enough to knock out a gorilla some days.  I think he goes through a can of Febreeze every couple of weeks...  I don't think the carpet will ever be the same, regardless.  I don't even know HOW many air fresheners he has in there... the plug in ones, the Renuzit thingies, the motion sensor one.  Heaven forbid he go to sleep with door shut... when his SHOES are in there.  Last time he did that, some weird, green, living-funk smell escaped under the door and infected the whole upper floor.  I don't know how he breathes.  I'm sure this will have some sort of long-term effect on his lungs...possibly his brain, too.  Weird thing is - Justin's room doesn't stink at all.  hmmmm.

So there you have it... things I am very grateful for.  I also should add color printers, camera lenses, pink roses, cordless phones, spray starch, Johnny Depp, fluffy kitties, and chickens with Phyllis Diller hair-do's... but I don't have time.  :)