Top Ten Things I Am Thankful For

I decided to do a top ten list of things I am thankful for, as after all, isn’t that what Thanksgiving is really all about?

I am so very blessed and often don’t really take the time to be thankful for those blessings. It’s easy to find the “don’t have’s” and “why me’s.”

So on this Thanksgiving Day here are the top ten things I am thankful for.

Number 10.  Modern Technology. I know, some of you are thinking, “You’ve got to be kidding me!” but I love technology, especially the Internet. How did we live without it?

Number 9. Comfort food. I love to eat and there is nothing that makes me happier than comfort food, like macaroni and cheese, green jello salad, deviled eggs, fried pork   chops, butter chess pie, cream cheese stuffed jalapenos. Now I’m hungry. Is the turkey ready yet?

Number 8. My friends. The saying goes, “If you have five friends that you can really count on then you are really blessed.” I am really blessed as I have great friends that I can definitely count on. Friends like Cheryl, Gail, Janice, Sue, Tanya, Lisa, Debbie, Cindy. And that’s not counting my sisters who I also count as my very best friends, but technically they come under the “family” heading.

Number7.  My home. It’s not grandeur by any means, but it’s ours and it’s paid for and I am so very thankful for that. Especially in today’s economy.

Number 6.   Being an American. I know, again, some of you are saying, “Come on. How cornball can you be?” But in reality there is no where else on earth I’d  rather live. Yes, America has her problems, but it is still the greatest country in the world and I am proud to be an American.

Number 5.  The privilege of being retired. I loved teaching but I love being retired. It is so awesome on those mornings when I didn’t sleep well or have a headache to have the freedom and liberty to turn over and go back to sleep and stay in my p.j.’s all day if that is what I want to do.

Number 4.  Having a Christian Heritage. I am so thankful that I was born to Christian parents and for the moral upbringing they gave me. No, it wasn’t always easy or pleasant, but those values are what has formed me into the adult I am today. Thanks mom and dad.

Number 3.  My family. I know how blessed I am to have such a great family, both born to and married into. You hear of families that fight and brawl and don’t speak for years at a time. Thankfully that has not been my family history. We enjoy getting together, spending time together, going on family retreats together and just in general being a family. I truly love all my family, Sandersons and Hares.

Number 2.   My sweet and loving husband. I can’t imagine my life without Kevin. He is a real jewel for putting up with me and my demanding, stubborn and bossy ways. He generally is the calm one when I am about to lose it. We’ve been through thick and thin together and still love each other very much. I don’t say thank  you to him and for him nearly enough.

Number 1.  My Savior, Jesus Christ. I am so thankful that Christ gave his life for me and that I accepted his gift of grace.

 

What are you thankful for? Stop and think about it on this greatest of holidays and express some thanks today. Happy Thanksgiving.

What Did I Put In My Tea?

Last week when we had to go to Oklahoma for a few days, Hester and her two boys stayed at the house to take care of our pets. After we got back Hester told me a funny story about Ethan that happened while we were gone. They were getting ready to eat dinner one night and Ethan wanted sweet tea. As he was sitting down at the table she heard him mumble to himself, “I sure hope I don’t get sick as I have no idea what I just put in my tea, but I’m sure it wasn’t sugar.” Hester told him he would be just fine as it was some kind of organic sugar. I died laughing when she told me. And the funny part is that even though he had no idea what it was he went ahead and stirred it in his tea. I’m not sure if that is too trusting or not. Anyway, I thought that would make a great post so here are some photos to help illustrate just what was stirred into the iced tea.

Can you guess what it is? Would you have used it?

I actually learned about it several years ago when I heard Sheri Rose Shepherd speak at a conference I was attending. She had been very over-weight at one time in her life and had really come to grips with emotional eating. She said if you have to use sugar, don’t use white sugar but use Sucanat.

It looks kind of strange, but is made from cane sugar but is not processed to remove the molasses like white sugar. Therefore the color is much darker than regular sugar. I use it most of the time, but if I run out, I fill the sugar bowl with “bad for you” white sugar.

You can find Sucanat at your local health food store, and now they even carry it at United. Try some today. I promise you won’t get sick.

Date Night at the Symphony

Back in October, Kevin’s dad called out of the blue and asked us if we would like to use their tickets to the Amarillo Symphony. We immediately said, “Yes.” We felt bad because DeAnna and the kids came up that weekend, but we went any way and it all worked out. We had a wonderful time and the guest performer was a violinist. We thanked Carl and Linda several times and told them if they ever were not going to use their tickets we would be glad to take them off their hands. Well, earlier this week we gave Carl and Linda a ride to the airport and they gave us their symphony tickets for tonight. We were thrilled! Amarillo Symphony Conductor is Kimbo Ishii-Eto. He is world renowned and is also the resident conductor of the Komische Oper Berlin. I’m not sure what the Guild had to do to get Ishii-Eto on board, but we are lucky to have him. The guest performer tonight was a pianist named Ian Parker. He played Chopin’s Piano Concerto No.1 in E Minor. It was absolutely marvelous. His fingers just flew over the keys. If you know much about Chopin you know he writes very delicate music with lots of runs up and down the keyboard that sounds fluid like a waterfall if played correctly. Parker never missed a note! Here we are all spiffy and ready to go. Not bad for a country bumpkin like me. The next Symphony performance is in January and the guest is a marimba artist. I hope we are lucky enough to go again. Maybe we might just have to pay for some tickets.