Three Little Thankfuls

Many years ago I took part in a blogging community writing group. One of my favorite writing assignments in that group was to write about three little thankfuls. Not the obvious and big things we should be grateful for (like family, friends, church, etc), but rather the small things that we maybe take a little for granted, or the things that really make us happy but we don't acknowledge very often. I loved that writing assignment and have taken some time every year to identify at least three more little thankfuls to write about. I've been doing this since well before it became popular in social media to do a month of gratitude, and I'll keep doing it because I love the tradition!

1 - I'm thankful that at just about any time of day or night, I can do a little channel surfing and find an episode of the t.v. show "Friends" playing. This show has the power to snap me out of bad moods, serve as a distraction when I'm stressed, make me laugh my loud and ugly laugh and even keep me awake and alert on long road trips. It makes me smile. I have all the seasons on DVD but it's more fun just to plop down on the couch, surf channels a bit to figure out which channel is playing back-to-back episode marathons of it at that moment and enjoy the episode luck of the draw. The other day I got to see Monica with beaded cornrows. A few nights ago I got to see Joey and Chandler emulating Richard before accidentally referring to him as "so much cooler than our dads!" Today I got to hear Phoebe sing "Lather, rinse, repeat... as needed". I love Friends. And I'm thankful that I can find an episode of it playing just about any time of day or night. (And I'm thankful that if it happens to not be on at the moment for some crazy reason, shows like The Big Bang Theory, Parks & Recreation and The Middle are now in syndication and on constant repeat!!)

Friends Thanksgiving episodes are some of the best :)

2 - I'm thankful that we live close enough to family now that we could make the trip to Utah fairly easily to spend the holidays with them. I'm also thankful that after spending a big chunk of time with Utah family this past summer we felt no obligation to take advantage of our proximity. We decided to stay home and enjoy a Thanksgiving here in Portland. I'm especially thankful for the luxury of being able to eat whenever we darn well please and not having to stick to any particular schedule. So far all I've bothered preparing is the cranberry sauce. And that feels lovely. Plenty of other traditional foods to prepare later, but for now, I'm enjoying the zero-pressure experience of just being home for the holiday as our own little family. Related little thankful: our new house came complete with a convection oven!

Cranberries done. Turkey smoking. The rest of the dishes will get prepared
when I'm good and ready :)

3 - I'm thankful for yard sales and Craigslist. They helped us furnish our home in just a few weekends, after leaving all of our furniture behind in Louisiana. And I'm really thankful for generous people who give perfectly good things away or sell them for dirt cheap so that when we furnished our home we didn't have to break the bank.

My favorite Craigslist find. An extremely plush, comfortable reclining couch.
Purchase price? $Free-ninety-nine. The newspaper on the couch cost more
than the couch itself. :D

So there are three little thankfuls that are at the top of my list this year. How about you? What are a few of the little, less obvious things that you're thankful for?

Happy Thanksgiving!