My daughter tagged me to do that Facebook Gratitude Challenge Thing.
Since the obvious traditional things are: Health. Family. Friends. Freedom, Happiness. And, all those things that everyone lists, I decided to take a slightly different approach. Besides, if you start listing people, someone would, heaven forbid, be left off the list, and then you're faced with explaining why you didn't list them. And, besides that, if you're on my list, you know who you are.
The following list is incomplete and varies according to the kind of day I'm having, or rather the kind of day I'm making for myself. It is certainly not in any kind of order. Just because something is listed last doesn't mean I'm any less grateful for that than the first thing on the list.
So, here are a few things I'm grateful for:
1. Sense of humor and the ability to bite my tongue. Otherwise, I might be wearing orange.
2. Ability to talk. I mean, really. How could I give unsolicited advice and be able to get both my size 6 feet into my size 10 mouth ? Do the math.
3. All my senses. Not that I have a lot of sense, but having my minimal amount makes life much simpler.
4. Snowy days. Cloudy days. Rainy days. Hot days. Cold days. Stormy days that don't include those twisty-twirly-black-spinning-clouds. Maybe it would be easier to just say I like all the seasons.
5. Velcro. Buttons. Zippers. Think about how difficult getting ready would be if we didn't have these things. For example, I'll bet at least one of these things is on a piece of clothing you're wearing right now. Unless you're reading this naked.
6. Mailmen. Trash Collectors. Recycle Guys. UPS and FedEx Drivers. Anyone who delivers or picks up stuff I need or don't need. If you think about this one, all those people who leave 'stuff' at my house only cause me to need someone to stop by and haul some of that 'stuff' away on a weekly basis.
7. Water. Clean water ! No explanation needed here.
8. The ability to yawn. I love to yawn. Y-A-W-N. Think about it. We all yawn on a daily basis. By now, after reading the word "yawn,' you've probably just now yawned. Included here might also be sneeze, cough, burp, and fart. Did you yawn ?
9. My hair. Eyebrows. Eyelashes. Insert the word humble here because when one loses all of them, it does cause one to be humble. Been there. Done that.
10. Ability to know the difference in: their, they're, there - to, too, two - loss, lose, loose - sell, sail, cell, sale - OK. So, now you get the pitcher.
11. Day and Night. Black and White. And all the colors in between. This includes rainbows.
12. Music. Songs like Beethoven's Fifth Sympathy and Taco Bell's Canon Indeed. I wish I could sing but I can't. I have been asked to sing back up, if I backed way up.
13. Laughter. The Shortest Distance Between Two People. Smile fits in here, too. Smile because it makes people wonder what you're up to.
14. School supplies. Books. So many books. So little time. The ability to read.
15. Spices. This includes salt and pepper. And, herbs.
16. Flowers. Especially the kind delivered to my house. Trees. Grass. About anything that grows in my yard except tumbleweeds.
17. Dogs. Cats. Ok. Only one cat. His name was Data.
18. Computers and people who know how to fix mine. Which is quite often.
19. Soap and toothpaste and deodorant and razors and shampoo and conditioner . . . make-up.
20. Toilet paper !
21. Hugs. I have this need to hug and be hugged.
22. Food. Especially. Chocolate. Pizza. Olives. Root beer floats.
23. Patience. Without it, my family and friends could not tolerate me.
24. Elevators. Stairs. Escalators.
25. Imgination. Sense of wonderment. (And I wonder/wander a lot.) Creativity.
26. Sports. Especially tennis.
27. Remote control. (We used to change channels using a pipe wrench on the antenna outside. And on many occasions it blew onto the roof when those twirly clouds came by.)
28. Coffee.
29. My memory. Now, what it is I'm supposed to be writing about ?
30. Um. Let's see. What else ? I just didn't want to end with 29. So, I needed to type something here. Oh, yeah. I'm grateful I'm not obsessive-complusive-anal-retentive.
