Thursday Thirteen #71

Today is Thanksgiving and I should be cooking my Mother's special creamy mashed potatoes, but I still have time. I already made the cranberry relish and cranberry chutney, so I'm just about set to go to my Sister-in-Law's home for a nice dinner. But first things first, I need to get my Thursday Thirteen for the week up!

13 Things I'm Thankful For

1. My daughter is fully potty trained. No more diapers for me! Except those that she wears at night--but that's just fine with me. The only problem is that she's so tiny, I can't get pants to fit her around the waist! Most pants in her size are made for toddlers who still wear diapers.

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2. My son understands and appreciates the humor of Monty Python. Not bad for a 7-year-old! The other day we were talking and I said, "Well, I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition!" and he responded correctly, "No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!" and he grabbed a pillow and started torchering me.

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3. My daughter has stopped sucking her thumb. She did this all by herself. She got a sore on her thumb (probably from too much sucking!) and requested a bandage. We kept the bandage on for a few days, and after a few grumpy days and nights, she was done with the thumb!

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4. My son lost his first tooth this week. Probably one of the teeth that bit me while I was nursing! I'm thankful that he's growing and becoming a young man.

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5. I'm extremely thankful for my neighbor, Brad. He's single-handadly responsible for bringing us to Creekistan and helping fix the house. All of the beautiful work done on the house is his.

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6. My piano. We finally got a piano about a year ago, and I've been playing it just about every day. I've started teaching my children how to read music and play. I'm even giving lessons to a friend's little girl. My Grandmother would have been proud.

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7. Satellite radio. I enjoy having good reception and a choice of stations. The only regular radio stations I can get around here are religious or country. Now I can listen to whatever I want.

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8. Satellite internet. Since I can't get cable or DSL service here, it was our only choice for high-speed Internet.

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9. Netflix. We don't get any TV stations and don't want satellite TV, so Netflix is our lifesaver! The turnaround is pretty fast (send movie back, day 1; Netflix receives movie and sends another one, day 2; and receive new movie at home, day 3.) Except for those days we suspect that our mail carrier is watching our movies before delivering them to us!

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10. My laptop. I would go insane if I didn't have a decent computer with good software to work from.

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11. Being able to stay at home full time. Yes it's hard living on only one income when you're used to two, but it's not that bad. My kids appreciate it, my home is running better, and I'm less stressed.

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12. The beauty of the forest that I live in. Each season shows something new and interesting. I was sad to see all the leaves fall from the trees, but now I can see more sky between the branches. And now I can walk deeper into the forest without getting lost in the underbrush.

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13. My husband is officially done with his Doctorate. We completed his dissertation earlier this week, it got approved, and now we're waiting on confirmation that early next month, he will officially be Dr. Evil Composer.