So much to be thankful for.

I've got the blues, a little, and the best cure is gratitude. Let's see, shall I make a little list?

• I'm thankful I have hair. It's grey, but I have it. (I got it chopped very short today and almost all the dyed stuff is gone, leaving me with a ton of silver.) I could have cancer and be going through chemotherapy and not have any. Or I could have thin hair, or a skin disease that cost me my hair, or I could be forbidden by law to show my hair in public. Nope, I have hair.
• I'm thankful for my warm, cozy home. We still don't have a kitchen, and yes it's frustrating, but we have the promise of a very nice kitchen, much nicer than we need. Our needs are met and our wants as well. Such blessings! And we have food to cook in the kitchen whenever we get it! And the house is warm! And the windows are closed! And the water runs! And the sewer works! And we have beds! And electricity! And phones!
• I'm thankful that I can play the violin. Not very well, and I'm out of practice, but I am getting to play in the pit orchestra for my high school aged children's autumn musical, The Wizard of Oz. I may not be great, but I'm the best violinist in the orchestra. (Also the worst. And most mediocre. I'm the only one.)
• I'm thankful for my church. I'm glad that I have work to do in it. I'm a little overwhelmed at the moment, as we have a council meeting this evening that promises to be a bit stressful, and also we are looking at filling the pulpit for a few months in 2009 so Pastor can take a sabbatical, but I'm so blessed that our church is healthy both spiritually and financially and that it is MINE. Every time I walk in that place and I'm alone, I approach the altar and thank the Lord for that church, and the honor of holding a key to the door. They trust me with a key!
• I'm thankful for my pets. They are luxuries, to be sure, and many people are having to drop theirs off at animal shelters as they are losing their homes. My pets are healthy and happy and have no clue what the Real World is like out there; they can lie around in snoozing piles, safely indoors, safely loved, safely immunized, safe.
• I'm thankful for my children's schools. Schools, run by humans, are flawed, and of course ours are not perfect, but they are pretty good. We have a close-knit community and great communication between faculty and parents. I get to spend an hour tomorrow morning in Lil Miss A's classroom helping with reading lessons. What a blessing, to know our kids are safe, happy and learning.
• I'm thankful for the United States of America, for democracy as interpreted through the U.S. Constitution, for elected leaders we may not like and may not have voted for but who are willing to get up there and do the job that only a couple of other people really want. I have been praying for the candidates all along, and I will continue to pray for President Bush and President Elect Obama, and I will continue to bolster President Obama with my prayers for his safety and guidance. I'll pray for blessings on his decision-making, his insight, his marriage, his parenting, his health, on those who advise him, and on those who would die to protect him from a bullet. (I pray they won't have to.) I'm thankful to be free to pray for whoever I want to pray for, whenever and wherever. I love my country and am very thankful for it.