What are you thankful for?

As we approach Thanksgiving and the holiday season, it beguiles my mind to wonder: What are you thankful for?  With the dreadful economy, I am sure that people have had better times and more to be thankful for at past Thanksgivings.  But it is in the hard times that we need to remember what it is that makes our lives better.  What is it that keeps us going when everything around us seems to be crumbling?  As this Thanksgiving draws near, I feel very thankful for creativity.  Of course, family tops my list as well as a roof over our heads, two vehicles that run, and my husband having a good paying job so he can provide for our family, but without creativity, I would be lost.  I feel that I am a very creative person and I love finding inspiration for my next project.  I love projects!  Crafts are the only thing that makes me really feel like me.  I can express myself wholly and completely.  However, I have to say that the number one item on my list of thankfulness is the toothless grin of my almost 3 month old and the laughs of my mischievous boys.  I love it when my baby gives me his gummy smile.  I love his chubby cheeks.  I absolutely love his little giggle when I tickle his toes.  I love my older boys’ deep laughs.  I love their imaginations when they tell me stories.  And I love hearing their little voices recite books they have memorized from all the times of snuggling on the couch reading together.  Yes, this Thanksgiving, I have much to be thankful for.
Now, what are you thankful for?  I want you to tell me what it is that makes you thankful this Thanksgiving.  How about we make this a contest?  Yes!!  What a great idea!  Here’s how it will work: the person with the most compelling thankfulness story I will award a $5 Starbucks gift card!  How awesome is that?  I will work out the details on how to get the card to you later, but for now, get to writing!  I will keep this at the top of my blog for now so you can find it easily.