100 Things To Be Thankful For

I was having pancakes at my in-laws recently and we were discussing Thanksgiving. I mentioned that I was OK with saying what I was thankful for around a dinner table with family, but I didn't really care to do it in front of a ton of people, say, at church. Just because everybody says the same thing, and when it gets to my turn, I feel like I'm "copying" everyone else when I say "Family, friends, church, home, job, country, health..." Don't get me wrong. I'm EXTREMELY thankful for all of those things. But my Father-in-law (F.I.L.) said "There's tons of things to be thankful for. I'm thankful for that toilet in there." Then I said, "I'm thankful for toilet paper!" Hey, this could be fun. So in the spirit of being thankful, here's my list of things to be thankful for. Feel free to pick one to say when it's your turn to say what you're thankful for this year.

In no particular order:

1. Indoor plumbing

2. Toilet tissue

3. Chocolate chip cookies

4. Chocolate chip cookie dough

5. BLT's

6. A freshly vacuumed house

7. A warm shower

8. Snuggies (I used to be a hater, until I got one for Christmas - it's the best)

9. A made up bed

10. Paid days off

11. Yard sales

12. Coupons

13. Good hair days

14. Soy Mocha Frappucinos

15. French fries (any kind - waffle, steak, crinkly, etc. I don't discriminate)

16. Getting all the green lights

17. Hearing a song you love on the radio

18. Heated seats

19. Twilight movies (guilty pleasure)

20. Finding a new author you LOVE and reading all of their books

21. Dansko shoes

22. Wasting time on Youtube

23. Painted toe nails

24. Munchkins (the Dunkin Donut variety)

25. Pop Tarts

26. Free time

27. Meeting Jane Seymour

28. Walking around Barnes and Noble

29. Remembering a funny joke long enough to repeat it

30. No new cavities

31. Date nights

32. Waking up at 4:00am and realizing you have 2 more hours to sleep - yay!

33. Nice clients

34. Bath and Body Works hand soap and shower gel

35. Caffeine

36. Dharma & Greg reruns

37. Seinfeld reruns

38. The day your online order comes in the mail

39. An unexpected card in the mail

40. Vintage Christmas balls

41. Hoodies

42. Tennis shoes

43. Feeling smarter after reading a non-fiction book

44. A new issue of your favorite magazine

45. Gift cards

46. Mascara

47. Going to Nascar qualifying at Martinsville (embrace the redneck within)

48. Free shipping

49. Panera chips (I know, I know, me and the potato products, enough already!)

50. Gas logs in the TV room

51. Sunday naps

52. Outlet malls

53. A funny commercial (Geico's bird in the hand, anyone?)

54. Coca-cola Classic in a glass bottle (mmm...)

55. Traditions

56. Going to the grocery store early in the morning when there's no crowd to fight

57. A good parking spot

58. Coach bags

59. Cats (the animal, not the musical)

60. A weekly TV addiction

61. Selling something for more than you expected on eBay

62. When the power comes back on after an outage (I literally cheer out loud)

63. Perfect weather on a big yard sale day

64. Reading through the birthday cards at Target

65. Movie quotes

66. Paid off cars

67. Fast internet

68. Cable TV

69. Inside jokes

70. 40% off coupons to Michaels and/or A.C. Moore

71. Movie previews

72. Google (makes my life easier)

73. Not being in school anymore (although the longer I live the more I realize high school never really ends, or so it seems)

74. 5:oopm on weekdays :)

75. Warm clothes straight out of the dryer

76. Flowers

77. Hymns ("great old hymns of the faith" to be exact, Stephanie)

78. pandora.com

79. Used book sales

80. Having a pair of scissors handy right when you need them

81. An empty dishwasher

82. The perfect picture for the perfect picture frame

83. Soft cinnamon pretzels dipped in vanilla icing from Sheetz

84. Wedding pictures

85. Lunch on Thursdays...and Saturdays

86. New Facebook friends

87. A pen that writes really well

88. 90's on 9 (XM radio)

89. Hammocks (although I don't have one, I imagine they would be the best)

90. Tylenol PM

91. Gift wrap

92. "Clever", aka cheesy, church signs

93. Finding the motivation to work out

94. Quarters (perfect yard sale currency)

95. Uno cards

96. Paper plates with dividers (it's irrelevant that it's all going to the same place)

97. Channel surfing

98. Hello Kitty

99. Longaberger

100. Being in the church sanctuary all by yourself (but not really alone)

I know that many of these may seem superficial, but a lot of them come with memories and warm fuzzies, which means they're somehow tied to relationships and family, which is what I'm truly grateful for. For example, #95 is Uno Cards and when I think of Uno Cards I remember sitting around the table after Thanksgiving lunch last year playing with a group of about 6 of us. The hubby and one of the cousins start "working together", aka cheating. So another cousin leans over to my little mom and says "Let's work together too". To which she replies in all seriousness, "No thanks, I work better alone."

I'm thankful for church signs (#92) because whenever my dad or I pass a particularly lame one we call each other and share. "Give the devil and inch and he becomes your ruler." It's just painful.

Or how about yard sales (#11). Yeah, I find really great deals, and sometimes I can find things to resell, but mostly I just like spending Saturdays with my little mom.

So there you go. Being thankful is fun and it will put you in a good mood. You should give it a try. You might be surprised how "rich" you really are.

"I hope nobody I know drives by and sees me standing in the yard staring at the house in my pajamas." ~Christmas Vacation