Things I Am Thankful For

There are many things in this life that I am thankful for.

I am thankful for:

•  My wife.  After almost 17 years together, she's still by my side.  Considering how much of a stubborn, pigheaded, grumpy pain-in-the-neck I can be, well, this definitely tops my list for this year.
• My family - my wife's been nice enough to play host to four wonderful children.  They are smart, talented and the light of our lives.  I might not show it to them as often as I should, but I very proud of the people they are growing up to be.
• My extended immediate family.  I'm thankful that I've got family in the area that are more than willing to help when we need a hand.  I'm thankful that they are there.  Our lives would be much less without them in it.  From my mother and brother (the one that's in town) and the other brother and his wife (both of whom moved off to Texas and rarely wander back this way).  On the wife's side, I'm thankful that her mom and dad have both accepted me into their family with open arms.  They've even gone so far as to make the same invitation to the rest of my side of the family in town.  They're a very loving and generous couple.
• My health - as miserable as I am due to health issues, I am very thankful I can still function relatively normally.  On any given day, it's in doubt, but on average, my health is reasonable enough to let me live a semi-normal life.
• My job - Given the current economy, I'm truly grateful to still be employed.  Pay cuts hurt, but being unemployed hurts worse.  With my health making it difficult some days to be at work, the fact that I'm still employed, even with the health issues, makes me very grateful.
• Our cats - It's little things in life, like watching two fuzzy friends grow from a small kitten to full size cats that make the world seem even more amazing.  Guen and Bel are both very opinionated furballs but definitely members of the family.  Guen loves to come and lay beside a family member that's not feeling well.  She'll lean up against them and just lay there purring and keeping them company.  A little ray of sunshine to make it easier to deal with illnesses and fatigue. Bel (aka Bellatrix and Mud depending on what she's up to) is just like another kid in the house.  She's cute, she knows it, and she intends to use it against us.  :) She's also a very loving little pest that tries help make everyone feel better.

There are many other things in my life that I'm thankful for.  I just wanted to hit the highlights for everyone to see, here.