I am thankful

We were leaving Wednesday for a trip 3-1/2 hours south to our family for Thanksgiving. So Wednesday morning I was getting us all packed up to go. I left Noah and Maia playing contently on the bathroom floor. They were being very good playing together so I took advantage of the chance to get a couple things done without an attachment on my hip. Next thing I knew, it was completely silent. They were being too good. So I walked into the bathroom and guess what I found? A toilet bowl lid all decorated with a purple soap crayon. Lovely. I could have gotten really mad at them, but with a straight face, I was laughing inside. At that moment, I was thankful. Thankful, for one, that it was only the toilet lid that they had used their creativity on, and thankful that for 5 minutes, i had some peace and quiet to get a couple things done. I was also thankful to know that my children were going to walk in my shoes with a love of art. It was kind of nice to walk away from that situation with a smile and a feeling of thankfulness.



A short while after that, there was a ring at the door. It was the UPS man delivering something with a required signature. I thought about pretending I was not there so I wouldn't have to open the door, but instead I opened it, pajamas, bed head and all. This UPS man was the kindest. He smiled at me and wished me a happy Thanksgiving. Two things I never expected to get. I was very thankful for that smile because I needed it after the toilet lid episode, and thankful for the "Happy Thanksgiving" because (even though it was only a split second) it was the adult interaction which I normally long for every day. And who knows, maybe my smile back and "Happy Thanksgiving to you, too" made his day as well? Regardless, I was thankful that I had opened the door that morning.

Then I received a really great email from a far away friend. My friend, Am, told me me that she was pregnant with her 4th baby. I was so ecstatic for her! (Still am!) But in that email she said some enlightening things reminding me how rare and special our friendship is. (We've literally known each other since the day were were born - over 30 years - amazing!) She also told me that I was the first to know of the pregnancy (minus her hubby, of course!). What an honor it felt to read that. Her email made me feel so thankful for her and the friendship we have and the friendship I hope to always have with her. It made me realize how many amazing friends that I have in my life and how truly blessed I am.

The drive back home Thanksgiving night was really pleasant and relaxing since the kids slept. We had a good time. Neil called halfway home to check in. And it was seconds after I got off the phone with him that our enjoyable drive turned pretty mucky. I got off the phone, put it down into the car's cup holder and mom and I kept on gabbing. About 20 minutes later I reached down to get my phone for some reason and I reached right into a cup of soda. (Remember, it was dark outside.) All the sudden I realized what stupid me had done. (Can you guess what I'm going to say next?) Earlier after I had got off the phone with hubby, I had dropped my phone into a cup full of soda. It was completely ruined. I was sick to my stomach. It was like a blinking neon sign going off inside my head reading "$300 down the drain, $300 down the drain, $300 down the drain...". And I'm sure most of you don't know (what nearly 2 months before that?) I had ruined my previous phone, by liquid as well, having to replace it. It was so upsetting that I had done this yet again. Oh, and to top that off, Neil had washed his phone the night before that in a load of laundry!

Very soon after the phone episode, I accidentally hit a button in the car. It was the On Star button. First of all, neither mom or I knew the car had On Star (it was a new car), and so neither of us knew how it worked. All of the sudden a woman starts talking. She asks us if she can help us. Mom says to me "Shhhh..." as if we were in 4th grade making a prank phone call. It was hilarious and we were just about to die of uncontrolable laughter but we didn't want to laugh and ruin our "cover". So we kept quiet and she finally hung up. Then we laughed so hard we almost wet our pants. So it was at that moment that I became very thankful. Thankful that you can quickly and easily turn a bad moment into a great one of you allow it. And with that, I realized that dropping my phone in the soda did suck, but it wasn't the end of the world. And yeah, it might be $300, but I didn't know for certain. Maybe I had taken insurance out this time for the phone? I was just so thankful for that laugh-so-hard-you-almost-pee-your-pants moment. It was so refreshing and just what we needed to end our Thanksgiving Day as great as it was intended to be for us.

My point is, I have learned this Thanksgiving that, yes, I am incredibly blessed for the friends and family in my life, but even more so for the small moments. Because it's always the small moments with these people that mean the most. It's those moments that you will always remember and cherish. And it's those things that we must be thankful for. Life just isn't meant to be lived without finding the good in all things. It's too short not to be thankful. And I don't savour that feeling enough. So I challenge you to do that more. I sure am going to try. Time is going by way too fast not to. And our time here on earth is just way too short not to hold onto those tiny moments. It's those tiny moments that mold us.

Happy Thanksgiving.