(43-120) Forty Three Reasons That I Am THANKFUL

Thanksgiving is my very, FAVORITE holiday.  It always has been, and if you tune in again tomorrow; I promise that you'll find out one of the biggest reasons why... 

Now if you've read "The Bumpy Ride" before; then you know that I am all about giving thanks, and expressing my gratitude, for even the simplest of things.  And since this year in particular, I am grateful for EVERY day that I draw breath; I've decided to share my list of Forty Three Reasons That I Am THANKFUL this holiday.

In "100 MORE Random Things About Me;" I told you that I make lists; which is kind of ironic, considering that , in and of itself, that blog was a list.  But, at the risk of being repetitive or God forbid, predictable.  I'm going to have at it again; and in no particular order; here we go.

I'm Thankful:

  1.    To be alive
  2.    For my 3 AMAZING children; Nicky, Lyndzi and Kelsie
  3.    For my INCREDIBLE husband; Luis
  4.    For my cousin Jackie, and all of the love that she is bringing into my life
  5.    For Hershey, (my bilingual Chihuahua) and her daily companionship
  6.    For coffee
  7.    To live in the United States of America
  8.    For the men and women in our armed services; who keep us safe
  9.    For bottled water
10.    For my children's teachers
11.    That the Art Nazi is no longer working at my kid's school 
12.    For my kid's soccer coaches (ESPECIALLY the one who's a good kisser)
13.    That I have healthy children
14.    That I am my own person
15.    For people who take the time to read "The Bumpy Ride"
16.    For everyone that encourages me to keep writing "The Bumpy Ride"
17.    For my wonderful In-laws (ALL of them!!)
18.    For my laptop; which enables me to write my blog any time, anywhere
19.    For FREEDOM (each and every kind)
20.    For laughter and everyone that inspires it
21.    For ALL of my friends; old and new!
22.    For Facebook
23.    For my creativity
24.    For my ability to write
25.    That my children always thank me for every meal that I give them
26.    For email
27.    For fresh air
28.    That I'm determined
29.    That Bristol Palin didn't win "DWTS"
30.    For comfy pajamas

31.    For Dreyer's Slow churned 1/2 the fat ice cream (you can't taste a  difference; REALLY)

32.    For Diet Dr. Pepper Cherry and Diet Mountain Dew

33.    For our home

34.    For my job

35.    For Luis' job

36.    For unexpected surprises

37.    For Kohl's - their sensational sales and unbelievable return policy

38.    For The Macy's Thanksgiving day parade

39.    My health

40.    For new experiences

41.    For books

42.    For EVERY minute that I share with my family and friends

43.    That my husband understands the importance of waiting until the day AFTER Thanksgiving to put up our Christmas lights

In honor of Thanksgiving, I think it's important to take a few minutes and remember many of the reasons that we have to be grateful.  No matter how bad any of us may think that we have it; I'm absolutely certain that there are many who would be all to happy to trade places with us.  Thanksgiving is a time to acknowledge all that you have and not dwell on what you have not.   It's a time to be appreciative of experiences past and present; and all that we are blessed to have, from things that we take for granted to things that make our lives a little easier and things that we couldn't live without.

I wish you all a TERRIFIC Thanksgiving, and I hope that you gobble till you wobble.                                                   

Till next time...

Queen of EVERYTHING                                              

(43-14) Welcome Back Commenters

I hate to admit it; but I am ridiculously thin skinned, which is why it's almost unbelievable that I endeavor to write a blog and put myself out there for the world to criticize. I generally give people's comments and opinions much more credence than I should; so to actually put myself in a position that invites people to tell me what they think of me on a regular basis is a real risk.  With that being said, I suppose that my NEED to write far outweighs my fear of criticism; and that's REALLY saying something.  Now don't get me wrong, for the most part it's been smoothe sailing on "The Bumpy Ride," and thankfully I haven't experienced an abundance of opposition.  I just want you to know that I am very motivated by your comments and I do take your input into consideration when I'm thinking of new blog topics; which is one of the reasons why your comments mean so much to me.  Whether it's a comment that's actually left on my blog, on Facebook, via email or even in person, I am grateful for all of your feedback.  OK, I'll say it, "Hello, my name is Paige and I'm a comment junkie."    I get very excited when I receive an email notifying me that someone has left a comment; and can you imagine my surprise the very first time that I got a comment in Chinese?  Now this may come as a shock to you, but I don't actually speak Chinese; however, I have authorized Blogger to translate my blog into other languages; and then when someone leaves me a comment in a language other than English, I copy and paste the comment into freetranslation.com to see what it says before I post it.  If it makes sense to me, I share the comment (even though YOU don't know what it says,) and if it is incoherent, I don't.
When I first started writing "The Bumpy Ride" I had a few friends who would comment regularly; and I truly appreciated the encouragement, but I got spoiled; and then if they didn't leave a comment I would assume that it meant they didn't like that post, when the truth of the matter was that they were probably just busy.  I NEVER want anyone to feel like they have to comment gratuitously, but there is one commenter in particular that I have missed...
It's been a while since Michelle M left a comment on "The Bumpy Ride," itself.  Occasionally she'll comment on Facebook or email me, but she kept telling me that every time she tried to leave a comment she was unable to see the the letters that she would need to type in order for the comment to be submitted and therefore couldn't leave her comment on the blog itself.  One other person had mentioned the same to me, but since I was receiving comments from other people I just figured that there was some kinda glitch going on and I didn't investigate further.  Well tonight Michelle M and Max came over for dinner and she asked if she could use my laptop to see if she could try to leave me a comment.  Of course I said yes; and after she got her comment all typed up, she called me over to show me that she was having a problem with my computer as well.  The problem was that the letters she would need to type were not appearing; and the box was blank.  I told her to just type something in the box; and by that I meant type ANYTHING in the box, but she took it literally and typed "something" and then new letters appeared.  AHA, I knew it!  For some reason it wasn't giving her letters to type, but once it thought that she got it wrong, it produced new letters and she was able to get through once and for all - WOO HOO!  Welcome Back Commenters!  Honestly, I'm rather impressed with myself that I was able to assist in bypassing this minor pitfall, considering how un-techy and un-computer knowledgeable I am; but I think Michelle M was even MORE surprised... It's true what they say; solving a problem is good for your self-esteem.  I'd felt better than I had all day.
So now I'm not sure that I haven't contradicted myself all over the place and I feel the need to surmise; so in short (YES, SHORT:)  I LOVE your comments, but I don't want anyone to feel that they HAVE to comment.   I revel in your reassurance and I am gratified by your praise.  When I wrote "TBR" on a less than regular basis, I knew that I was taking a chance each time I wrote; but now that I am writing daily, I find that sometimes it's easier for me to come up with a topic and sometimes its a challenge; but I / we need to keep in mind that my journey this year must cover ALL topics; from what I was thinking and feeling to a new recipe that I tried and EVERYTHING in between.  I just hope that you know that whether you comment or not; that I appreciate your time, your consideration and your patience.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING