Gratitude.

It's the time of year that Americans tend to reflect upon their gratitude--Thanksgiving.  I thought I'd share a few things for which I feel grateful.  

I'm grateful--very, very grateful--for my home, the six acres that came with it, and the fact that I can boot the kids out and they vanish into that six acres for a couple of hours at a time, in good weather.  I'm thankful that they love our property as much as I do, and have been doing their best to keep it nice.  I'm thankful, as well, for the garage that offers extra storage space, and a place for the kids to do messy crafts...when we finish getting it cleared out.  Yes, we are still working on that.  Yes, we have been working on that, on and off, for three years.  No, we're not finished yet.  

I'm thankful that we've been able to afford the maintenance that the house has needed.  And that we've been able to afford the kids' tuition, considering the school district we're in is utter shit.  

Honestly, I'm glad the district is utter shit, too--it helped keep the home price low enough we could afford it.  

I'm incredibly thankful that I have everything I do. 

I'm thankful that I still have my mother--so many don't--and my mother-in-law.  I'm thankful I have my aunts, my sisters, and my brothers (even the one I haven't met) still walking the world.  I'm thankful for my cousins, and my friends.

I'm thankful that I am, finally, starting to have days where I'm doing well enough to start deliberately exercising again.  I'd gotten up to being able to do eight minutes of flowing poses yoga before I got sick in February, and have had a flare-up every time I'd attempted to get back into the yoga after I recovered.  I have been able to do a little bit two or three days a week for the past week.  And I am thankful for that much, even though it's so much less than what I was capable of before I got sick in February. 

What I'm most grateful for, though, is that my immediate, nuclear family--my spouse, and both my children--are healthy, and that with God's help, I've been able to keep them that way, and well-nourished.  

What are you grateful for, this year?