Gratitude List

Thanksgiving has come and gone, so with that inevitable wave of nostalgia that usually hits me hard at this time of year, I'm going to publish my annual gratitude list-a list of some of the things I'm thankful for in life. After all, you shouldn't take anything in life for granted.

1. My husband, my family, and my friends. I don't think I would be even remotely functional without having the support from all the people in my life. These are the people who understand, deal with (on a daily basis), and are able to overlook all the crazy stuff that comes with knowing me. Thank you for accepting me for who I am.

2. That I was able to survive the madness of graduate school, student teaching, and all the bureaucratic stuff that PSU threw at me just to keep life interesting. A big thank you to anyone who made all of the above more bearable by being around to lighten things up a bit, commiserate, and just generally be understanding during that time in my life. And thanks to my professors who taught me some very useful things.

3. My job: It's not necessarily the job I most wanted, but it's working out fine. Subbing is turning out to be better than I had originally expected. I really wanted a full-time job somewhere as an ESL teacher, with salary and benefits and predictable routines every day, but substitute teaching isn't a terrible thing to do in the meantime. I am secretly enjoying the fact that I can test drive a bunch of different environments, and even though there's difficult aspects to the job (kids almost always behave worse for subs), it's usually fine, I rarely encounter anything I can't handle, and most of the time, it's even fun.

4. My house: I was getting pretty tired of renting, so I am thrilled that we were able to get a house this year, and furthermore, that we were able to afford it. I love where I live, I love being able to plant a real garden, being able to have a dishwasher finally, decent windows, heating that works, finally being able to get a dog without having to ask anyone's permission first, and knowing that I won't have to move unless I really want to. Yay!

5. No more Republican B.S.! Sorry to those of you who just love the Republican party and what it stands for, but I don't, it's my blog, and all I gotta say is:
SO LONG, GOOD BYE!!!!!!! And don't let the door hit you on the way out.
I'm done with Republicans. So over it. Y'all have messed up my life enough for one decade. Now leave me the hell alone!

6. People who don't suck. You know who you are. You're the ones who are out there every day doing what needs to be done without having to be asked. You're the ones taking care of your business. You're busy raising kids so that they will grow up to be sane healthy human beings. You're the ones not creating messes and problems for others to deal with. You're able to live your life in a way that makes the world a better place for everyone. You quietly inspire others with everything you do--you don't need 15 minutes of fame. You are busy being the better person. You are busy creating something beautiful. You are busy fixing things that need fixing. You care about the things that matter and it shows. You don't waste your time on crap. Give yourself a pat on the back. Believe me, I've been noticing.

Anyway, those are just some of the things I am thankful for this year.