Today, I am thankful for...

Awwww...he's a cutie! And inquisitive.

Today, I'm thankful for DGs fine friends who are sending seeds for my DD.

Golly, Debra, thanks! Right back atcha, sweetheart. Where did you get your MS hoody?

I am thankful my PCA just made me French toast for breakfast instead of yogurt and fruit. Now I've been asking for yogurt and fruit since June, so I guess today I'm glad I'm hungry this morning .

you are welcome, carrie. :-) got it from cafepress.com. they have thousands of MS-related shirts, hoodies, mugs, and mousepads. clothing quality is not outstanding, but it's okay and they ship really fast.

Oh, I prefer zazzle.com. Slightly less expensive.

Today, I am thankful for...

Buttermilk

December mosquitoes--because that means it's still warm enough to water in my shirtsleeves

The books of David Weber

Today, I am thankful for:

Mexican street-style brisket tacos (my lunch this afternoon)

The older brother of a fifth grade classmate who spontaneously took off his jacket for my sister and I while we were sitting in short sleeves, shivering in a rare Florida 28-degree morning. (We didn't own coats or sweaters.) It would have been a long wait for that school bus without his kindness.

Even though I am tired and sickly, limping through to a 3:00 work day ending, I am extraordinarily thankful to have this job.

I am thankful for Massachusetts' PCA program, although it seems awfully hard to find a PCA these days. The enduring friendship of my favorite teacher from college, who is 76 and has "multiple diagnoses." We correspond by email. He has agoraphobia, HBP, diabetes, morbidly obese, gee, he doesn't sound very appetizing! But he is one of my dearest friends.

Kwanjin - very cool (ha-ha) picture

Debra - see, you do have a lot of humidity if you have mosquitos in Dec. (related to the TX move thread)

Carrie - He is not an appetizer, lol, but a good friend.

I am grateful for DH to have had surgery on his eye last week and that he won't have floaters anymore. Not so much for enduring his recovery - LOL. I go around shouting TILT! He is supposed to keep his head down and tilted to one side for 10 days to be able to heal the best and not go blind!

I am thankful for all the beautiful colors in our trees this year. Early, cold nights have brought this, I guess, but we seem to have soooo much more and more vivid colors this year. We do not have than many deciduous trees here, so the juxtaposition of the bright oranges and reds against the palms, olive and eucalyptus trees is great.

quilty, we do sometimes when we are lucky enough to have rain. and my neighbor has standing water in his yard a lot (dog pools and such). didn't see many biters (thankfully!) but it was fun to be outside watering at 5:30 in the afternoon without needing boots, coat, and gloves. :-)

today i am thankful for:

The kid who was coming at 8:00 this morning to trim branches, dig treelings, and measure for tiered planters texted that he was not feeling well, so I told him wait for another time...and I get to stay in my pajamas all day! Yea!

Kroger Mega deal sales so I can get $0.75 per can chili. Add beef and tomato paste and onion and Rotel 'maters and Chicken Taco seasoning for a big ole pot of semi-homemade chili and chips.

This Clematis florida Sieboldii that survives every Texas Summer and reblooms every November/December, even though it is in one of the driest areas of the yard.

Today, I'm thankful for internet service. It was down for 2 days.

Ouch! Glad you are reconnected. :-)

Withdrawals were bad... LOL

Today I am thankful for detailed assembly instructions and the self sufficiency skills I'm learning from "roughneck" women. (I guess when the men of the house are out on oil rigs or supply boats for six weeks straight, the women of the house HAVE to be independent.
Papa Jim's new wheelchair arrived unassembled, but I will still be able to greet him at the airport with his new ride ready. ~Nadine~

awright, nadine!!

Yea!!! Such a neat present!

Today, I'm thankful for my DD again.

Yay for Nadine!

I read a weekday e-column from Everyday Cheapskate. I thought this article on gratitude might be enjoyed:

Celebrate? With all that’s going on in our economy, our nation—our world? You may be thinking that’s the last thing you’ll be doing now, or any time soon. If so, let me encourage you to think again. Now, of all times, we need to celebrate wherever and whenever possible.

In their book, Why Good Things Happen to Good People, authors Stephen Post and Julie Neimark tell us that celebration is one of the most important ways that we express gratitude.
Celebration is gratitude in action, and celebration—like rest, seat belts and green leafy vegetables—is good for us!

1 Celebration creates joy. Feeling down in the dumps? Celebrate something or someone. The gratitude you feel as a result of celebrating others, or creation in general, will help you to be less materialistic and therefore more easily satisfied with what life brings you. It’s a fact that gratitude actually creates joy within our souls.

2 Celebration is good for your health. The gratitude that wells up from the act of celebration has been studied scientifically for its health benefits. The results prove that gratitude is strongly linked to emotional and physical health. Just five minutes of gratitude can shift the nervous system toward a calmer state.

3 Celebration creates a circle of love. When we rejoice in the presence and accomplishments of others, they feel uplifted. Research has shown that an act of gratitude encourages another person and that creates a circle of reciprocal love.

4 Celebration moves us from fear to faith. Studies show that the most grateful people have often been through difficult and challenging experiences. Individuals who have overcome adversity are more optimistic and grateful than the average person.

5 Celebration shifts us from tired to inspired. Reminding ourselves of how good life really is cultivates gratitude. Recent research shows that emotions work at lightening speed and often bypass reasoning. By cultivating gratitude, we encourage positive feelings that are almost instantaneous—feelings that are more powerful in their own way, than positive thoughts.

6 Celebration heals. According to a recent study on organ donations, the more gratitude a recipient of an organ feels, the faster that person’s recovery. There were 74 transplant recipients of a heart, liver, lung, kidney or pancreas who participated in the study. Those recipients who expressed gratitude, directly or indirectly in journals, felt physically better and functioned at a higher level than those who did not.

Right now there are three natural reasons to celebrate: Hanukkah, Christmas and the New Year. So pull out all the stops. Celebrate! But don’t let your celebrations end there. Look for every reason imaginable to celebrate: the last day of autumn, the first day of winter, the first snowfall, the shortest day of the year, a child’s progress report, the 100th day of the school year, birthdays, anniversaries, significant milestones, important events.

As you look at life through eyes of gratitude, you will discover many reasons to celebrate, no matter what’s going on in the world. Never miss an opportunity to celebrate.

Thank you, quilty. :-)

Thank you, quilty.

I think of my "gratitude muscle." No matter how bad things may seem to be, there are always things to be grateful for. I regularly excercise my gratitude muscle as the 'poor me" muscles pop up on their own. The way I think of it is that it is often easier and healthier to focus on the good stuff, thereby strengthing the gratitude muscle, and let the sorrier muscles atrophy.

I like the emphasis on carrying gratitude into celebration.

As I was traveling home from Ca. I stopped for a break at a beach where a woman had a food stand. She also had two little girls. Before I left I gave each of the girls a stuffed animal from my stash and wished them a Merry Christmas. As I left the woman was smiling and the girls were playing happidly with their new toys. Time like this I am overwhelmed with how fortunate I am. I have enough for myself and enough to share with others. Hard to think of anything for which I could be more grateful. (Maybe a car whose roof doesn't leak someday but what the heck I live in a desert.)

katie

Katiebear -I was thinking you winter in Mulege as so many snowbirds do, but you live there full time and visit the US? Have you always lived there or is it retirement? No excelerated safety problems there as in so many of the Mexican cities/towns? Many years ago I was in Mulege. We were a group taking a photography class through UCSantaCruz, camping (March 1985) from the Catavina Desert to Loreto. I cannot remember if your beach is the one with the phosphorescence? I do remember a lot of Canadians living in their motorhomes directly on the beach along the Gulf of CA there.

You are right about trying to use the gratitude muscle. My DH is so involved in his head with problems and the building business, he does not appreciate the smaller gifts that God gives us daily. For, me I am daily amazed at the Fall colors I spoke of above. I was a kid in WI and did not remember noticing the colors (just all the leaves to rake then jump into) and have lived mostly on lor near the coast since then. Even east of the Coastal Range we do not normally have this display, so I continually remark and exclaim - even alone in the car - but DH thinks I should have something better to fill my mind! But those comments go beyond the fall colors, so I guess I need to find something to be more grateful about him, lol.

That is great that you had those toys, it sounds like your stash is specifically for that kind of situation. Good for you.

Lynda

If your husband's business is building he might be grateful for that. I will say that a pet peeve of mine is people who want to tell me what I "should" be grateful for. You might ask him to name three things for which he is grateful. If he can't, he might want to seek professional help. But the reason I like to think of it is a muscle is that gratitude can be learned and exercised. The habit of gratitude is another way of thinking about it.

If he can walk, talk, see, hear and work he has much to be grateful for. You might encourage him to think of it that way. Is he grateful for you? ha.

I live here year-round. I am quite attached to the earth and have lots of trees and other plants as well as four dogs. And limited income. The summers are hard but they help me bond with my Mexican friends. When asked by one of them if I go north for the summer I always respond, "no, soy Mexicana." My Spanish is so bad that this always gets a laugh. For which I am grateful.

katie

Today, I am thankful for,

My boss' late afternoon beef hunger. He brought me back half a dozen Range Rattlers. :-)

The continued (reasonably) warm weather.

The vet said this morning that my nine year old dog only has a little arthritis in his hips and a mild thyroid problem, he does NOT have a neurological problem. (whew)

Today I am thankful just to be home.
I am grateful for my new wheelchair and am coming to appreciate all the little accessories that the VA rehab team insisted on. I didn't really think I would need things like the gloves. I'm thankful now I was overruled. .
Gotta ask, Debra. What's a Range Rattler? (Jim)

Glad you are home, Jim. Salt Grass Steakhouse has huge pickled jalapenos stuffed with jumbo shrimp and cheese, breaded, deep-fried, and served with homemade Ranch dressing and fried onion strings. Nummy num num...gonna eat the three left over when I get home tonight.

Today, I am thankful for very simple things.

The huge gotta-get-done-NOW project the boss gave me is finished and the work day is almost over. I'se tired.

It is still sunshine and mid 50s, so my annuals are still in bloom.

Somebody at the office slipped and accidentally told me my biggest dog is getting a new bed for Christmas. :-p Since he now has arthritis in his hips, I know he will feel more comfortable in a medium bed than he does in the little dogs' beds. :-)

today,

Cherry Nyquil

Mint tea

Cozy dogs to keep my feet warm.

Today I am thankful for everyone who contributes to this thread for their help keeping the "Ba-a-a, humbug" away
and for my dog Fenny who makes me laugh. ~Nadine~

Hello everyone, Am coming back from a bad bout of depression (The sick kind) The Thankfulness i read in your posts have already made me feel even better.
I am so thankful i'm no longer in a deep dark hole with no hope. I did'nt go to the hospital but stayed with DD #2. My little dog,Cricket was sick also. She went to the vet hospital and is fine now. She had somekind of doggy virus,
DD insisted i put up my Christmas tree and decos. Am still a long way from normal but am on the mend.I did.nt get to see my 3 cats much but my dogs gave me plenty of support and the cats welcomed me back.
I am thankful for my own warm house,my fur babies.for these times of normalcy. Am still having a little trouble communicating but that will get better too.
Am so glad everyone seems to be doing well.
Vickie

Welcome back, Vickie! That's what the thread is for and I am very happy it is helping you. :-) Just keep tuning in, I'll keep posting for you. LOL

Thanks Debra, and all.

I am thankful for many things...My new poodle Pookie is a very sweet and smart boy, my good friend Vicki is crawling out of her dark hole (wish you'd have dmailed me, but I understand), I am grateful for my Lord and Saviour and this time of year to celebrate God's greatest gift to us. And of course, all of my DG friends!

Sheri

Today, I am thankful for hot coffee, Dave's, my DD and that Christmas is still a couple of weeks away. Gives me time to catch up on things that need doing.

Big ditto to that coffee!!!

Also thankful for peanut butter fudge swirl ice cream

And sunflowers.

AND for the new Bluestone Perennials Spring 2011 catalogue!! Yippidee do dah!!

Ooooh, I got that too. Have to recycle it FAST or we would have no 401k left.

Ah, today...

Cornelius the vet tech, dog calmer extraordinaire (little skittish Zuzu-poochie is not feeling well.)

Finding 10 pounds of marked down ground beef for 11 bucks. (Sister's four custodial grandlings eat a LOT :-)

Lisa LaPorta (if I ever win the Lotto, I want her and only her to redesign my house!!!)

I LOVE HER!!!

:( Having in place a reliable, responsive and excellent health care team - urgent care today.

Carrie and Vickie. This bloomer's for you. It's a miniature that doesn't know what time of year it is. :-)

Aiiiiii, I'm thankful for Texas Fall and Winter weather. Went to cover the containers and annuals yesterday, expecting 25 degree low tomorrow morning (wanted to stay in jammies all day today, so covered them anyway LOL) Found this coming up in the Patriot Hosta container.

Thankful for my boss. Aggravates me to no end sometimes and has deeply hurt me more than once. But I wouldn't have my house or a car to drive or be able to help my sister so much without his generosity and trust in me.

Thankful for the books of Mary Stewart. I learned to appreciate good writing and even write better myself from reading and rereading and rerereading her work.