Day 159 of Thanksgiving.......

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Today I am so very Thankful for my Warm Comfy Bed!  We are having a cold snap here and I am so very thankful that I have a warm soft old bed to sleep in.  When the weather gets like this I am always reminded of how many people are without a safe warm and comfortable place to lie their heads at night.  How awful it must be to spend your days wandering the streets only to end the day by trying to find warmth in an old box or newspapers for cover.  The only thing wrong with my bed is that it makes it really hard to get up in the morning.  How very fortunate we are to have the things we take for granted.

Day 158 of Thanksgiving....

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Today I am so very Thankful for Neighbors!  We have been so very fortunate in the wonderful people that we share a street with!  For years we lived in a little house in a good sized neighborhood and that was awesome - always lots of people around and we all grew up together with our kids.  Then we moved here 8 years ago last month and it is a very small old neighborhood and we weren't sure how we would fit in because we were sort of the new kids on the block.  Well no need to worry - we have wonderful people all around us and I am so very thankful every day.  Back a few years ago, my sweet nurse neighbor Cheryl came to my rescue and stayed with me while I waited on an ambulance during a scary heart arrhythmia - she made me feel so at ease and I will always be so thankful that she was there.  Her hubby Sid helped my youngest jump off his battery just this morning so that he could get to work on time.  On the other side is Jack and he helps with any number of things - if something breaks down or you need a tool of any kind, he is there and he also makes a killer spaghetti sauce!  Down the street is Kim who opens her house for football games and holiday parties and more.  The young lady who lives with her Mom down the hill in front of us welcomes our wayward dog who jumps the fence and eats her cat's food and treats him like one of her own.  There is Leah and her hubby who live on the corner and she went to school with one of our boys and is always ready with a smile and a wave.  When one of our boys got married in our backyard this year, not one of them complained about the deluge of cars on our street - it was awesome!  We are so very fortunate to have the wonderful people all around us and there is just nothing like a good neighbor!!

Day 157 of Thanksgiving.....

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Today I am so very Thankful for our Home!  Many times it is bursting with laughter and people we love and we are so grateful for it.  So many people in the world don't have a warm safe place to call home and so many have lost their homes during the last few years.  Now, Hurricane Sandy has brought this all to mind again and each of us who is fortunate enough to have a place to call our own where we live with those we love, are so very blessed.  It's so amazing, a home can be big or small, one story or more, but when you walk through that door there is no better feeling.  Ours is old and not so big, but it is bursting at the seams with Thanksgiving and Love!

Day 156 of Thanksgiving.....

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Today I am so very Thankful again for Friends!  There are so many types of friends - close ones, online friends, lifelong ones, neighbors and more.  I have been so very blessed to meet some wonderful women during the last few years that support the Binky Patrol SC.  They give freely and for no reason other than to share from the heart without anything in return.  Through the process of trying to find people to get involved and do the work, I received a message from a wonderful absolute angel and her name is Anita Black.  Without her there would be no Binky Patrol Chapter in South Carolina.  Look in the dictionary under Angel and you will find her pictured there.  She is our quilter extraordinaire and just when I want to give up and think that just the few of us cannot do this, she comes up with a new idea or project and......she makes it happen.  She is talented, thrifty, creative and she just oozes love and positivity!  You absolutely cannot not know Anita and not love her - it is impossible. If you know her then you will know this little Angel is so her - not just floating about but running to be of service to those in need with a beautiful smile!!  Nita...my dear friend and fellow soldier I love you dearly and am so very Thankful for you today!!

Day 155 of Thanksgiving....

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Today I am so very Thankful for Community!!  Last night I had the wonderful opportunity to see a part of our community at it's best when we attended the annual Festival of Trees.  This is a fundraising event put on by a local group, The Palmetto Health Foundation.  What an awesome collaboration of talent this was.  The convention center was beautifully decorated by Christmas Trees and other decorations created and donated by the community.  All of these items are auctioned off to raise money for health care in our community.  During the event pictures of beautiful children who have been saved through treatment at Palmetto Health Children's Hospital flashed on giant screens.  What better way to begin the holiday celebration and what a joy to see the inspiring stories of these miracles!  Community is truly an awesome thing when it works!!

Day 154 of Thanksgiving....

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Today I am so very Thankful for Generous Hearts!  I have mentioned before that I volunteer with the Binky Patrol SC and I so love this - it gives me purpose and allows me to give back a little.  Since I have been unable to work, this group allows me to meet wonderful people and do small things to help.  Today I found the most wonderful surprise waiting on my front porch - bags full of beautiful handmade blankets to be sent up to New York and New Jersey!  This has just made my day and filled me once again with the believe that if you have a need and let others know, they will provide.  I am beyond thankful and humbled by generous and loving hearts today!!!  Thank you so much Kim, Jo Ann and Taylor Rae!! - you give me faith!

Day 153 of Thanksgiving...

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Today I am again so very Thankful for my Hubby!  This morning he had a car accident and we are so blessed that it wasn't bad and both he and the other driver walked away just a little sore and achy.  I keep thinking about the phone call I could have gotten telling a much different story.  He works very hard and he works lots of hours and then he works really hard around our house.  I worry about him driving tired or weary and when he called me this morning to tell me he had had an accident, all I could think about is how very blessed we are because he is fine.  The car - not so much but that can be fixed.  Thank heavens for my Hubby!

Day 152 of Thanksgiving.....

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Today I am so very Thankful for my Daughters-In-Law!  I now have three and as the mother of all boys, I really appreciate them so much.  They bring joy, beauty and so much love to our lives every day.  Shopping for girly things and hair doodads are among the other benefits.  We are very fortunate indeed to have three beautiful young women as a part of our family now.  Go Pink!!

Day 151 fo Thanksgiving....

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Today I am so very Thankful for Social Media.  While many are negative and disgruntled with social media, I have to be honest that I am very thankful for it.  My niece and I recently discussed the fact that it is a blessing as well as a negative thing.  For me, someone who rarely leaves home, it has been a connection to friends and family as well as a connection to other crafters.  Twitter and FaceBook have allowed us to come together and provide blankets, hats and booties and more to so many in need and it gives many of us purpose in life.  I have met so many wonderful people and we share and pray together over life's valleys and smile and cry together over life's joys. 

Day 150 of Thanksgiving....

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Today I am so very Thankful for my Family!  I know I have talked about them many times before, but I believe they deserve some extra thanks!  My four Boys and my Hubby are my life and they make life worth living!  Whenever I meet someone new, or even in short conversation with people, I will do my best to work into the conversation that I have four boys!  That fact is my greatest joy and most wonderful achievement.  Not to say that I have done anything extraordinary - I am just so proud of them and who they have become - they deserve all of the credit!  My life is so full of wonderful memories of their lives and a day doesn't go by that Hubby and I don't reminisce about things they have said and done.  What a joy they are!!   And now they have brought wonderful girlies into our lives...what a joy and a blessing they all are.

Day 149 of Thanksgiving....

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Today I am so very Thankful for Quiet Time!  When I was much younger, I had a wonderful friend that I worked with and she was a bit older than me.  She would tell me that she would be up early in the morning and I could never understand how it took her so long to get ready for our 8:30 start time.  Then one day she told me that she had trouble getting out of her chair where she would sit quietly with her cup of coffee and her small dogs and contemplate her day.  What??  I was the Mom of small boys and once I crawled out of bed there was no sitting - only in the final leg of my drive to the office did I sit and relax - just a little.  Well now I am older too and no longer working and I so cherish my sitting quiet time each and every day possible.  I see how friends are doing online, say prayers for those who need them, think about my day and most important of all, enjoy a cup of coffee and feel so very thankful for my life, my family and yes my fur babies too.  What a blessing a little quiet time can be!!  What a blessed perspective it can give.  For someone like me who tends to fill quiet with way too much chatter, the old adage about being still and quiet to hear the whisper of angels is so very true.

Day 148 of Thanksgiving....

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Today I am so very Thankful for our Military and all of those who have suffered and sacrificed for our safety and the lives we live!  I saw the most awesome little cartoon this morning and the caption was "Thanksgiving is when we are thankful for the things we have; Veteran's Day is when we pause to be Thankful for the people who fought for the things we have!"  This is so awesomely true and so easy to forget and loose sight of.  Right now our family has a young person serving in Portugal and this helps us to know how important this service is.  Thank you Anna - we love you and miss you so much!!!

Day 147 of Thanksgiving....

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Today I am so very Thankful for the Joy of Crafting!  I know I have talked about this before but after seeing this graphic today, it brought to mind again how much crafting gets me through life!  I craft for causes because my family has had enough of things that I try to create and because it gives me some small way to give back.  This weekend, while going through my stash with my husband, I was trying to explain to him how this works - that is the process of how a crafter looks at things differently and this passion is always always in our minds!  I think I will print this and frame it for him for Christmas - how crafty is that???

Day 146 of Thanksgiving...

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Today I am so very Thankful for Wisdom of Others!  So many times in life we are unsure of what to do or think or feel.  This is one of those times in my life and I am so very thankful for the inspiration and love that I feel from those around me who seek to understand life and what is truly important.  Each day I gain inspiration and thought provoking ideas and information from others who know so much more than me.  I am so very thankful that there will always be those who provide a smile, a good thought, and wisdom beyond their years with all of us.

Day 145 of Thanksgiving....

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Today I am so very Thankful for the Freedom to Vote!  We are so very fortunate in this country to have this privilege and we all need to take advantage of it.  We cannot complain and grouse if we don't get involved and cast our ballot.  While I may not always agree with others around me, I can walk into that booth and vote my heart and for what I believe in and that is a truly amazing wonderful awesome good thing!!

Day 144 of Thanksgiving.....

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Today I am so very Thankful for the Blessings of Marriage!  Three of my Boys are now married and I am so very thankful they have found someone to love and to love them.  There is no greater joy in life than to see your children happy.  We have celebrated two of their weddings this year and they both were truly magical as was my oldest son's which took place seven years ago.  My hubby and I have known each other for almost 30 years and have been married for 27 plus.  While the road is not always easy and some days are definitely better than others, I wouldn't trade this life and each and every day I am so very thankful that I have a partner to share this life with along with my Boys and their Girls!

Day 143 of Thanksgiving....

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Today I am so very Thankful for the Support of Others!  Having a chronic illness has taught me, like nothing else, that the support of those who understand you is essential.  It is very hard for others to understand something they cannot personally relate to and I completely understand.  For those of us who don't have an obvious illness - one that is not detectable easily, we suffer much stigma and anger from others.  Recently I found a new support group online and I have been so pleasantly surprised by their welcome and openness - it is just awesome.  This group has been the impetus to get me writing again and best of all, the feeling of not being so alone in my quest for making the best of this life even though it is different than the one I had planned.  Through our support of each other we all shine together and we are able to accomplish much!